2026 Featured Artists @ Lipe

For 2026, the artists were given a prompt to develop work inspired by the theme of HOME. Check out these amazing creations below! All will be celebrated on July 18, at our unveiling celebration ART EXTRAVAGANZA in Lipe Art Park.

SANJANA SHARMA

Home is where ingredients meet - Some that were present for years, some that migrated over for opportunities, and some that took refuge in the Kitchen. What connects Syracuse is the ingredients and meals shared by diverse hands. Finding a space for these ingredients - sharing stories as memories. Syracuse Salt Potatoes that carry the legacy of the abandoned Salt Mines, the acidity of Orange Wedges that represent the lively nature of the Orangemen. These ingredients remain as the hallmark of modern-day Syracuse. From Jamaican Aunty torching Jerk Chicken and Jollof rice to Sushi passed from the hands of Asian migrants. Fermented Pickles that preserve stories of immigrant struggles. Differing in flavour profiles and borders that constrain them. Yet these ingredients remain creative and distinct for their Sweet sonnets, Savory speeches, and Spicy sagas. Ingredients as rich and diverse as its history. Home is where all types of ingredients meet.

Sanjana is currently working on the mural in lipe art park and finished photos of this mural will be posted soon!

Check out more of her work on her website or Instagram @shoebox_crayons

BHARATI MAHAJAN

My design for the Lipe Art Park Flag is inspired by the vibrant cultural landscape of Syracuse’s Near West Side Arts District. This neighborhood is home to a strong Latino community, including many Puerto-Rican and Cuban families, and I wanted the visual language of the design to reflect that presence. The color palette draws from the high-contrast Caribbean aesthetic often seen in urban environments in San Juan and Havana—bright, joyful, and expressive.

Check out more of Bharati's work on Instagram @bharatiiiyanari

PAT THE PAINTER

Since the theme this year was "Home" I incorporated a house cat and dog into my piece. I felt that these two pets represent home the best. I added images like a house, mailboxes, welcome mat, etc. to represent things remind me of home. I thought I could do repetive/decorative shapes on the side of the T Panel was as well.

See more of Pat's work on Instagram @pat_the_painter

NEIL MATTERN

My design for a single T-Panel at Lipe Park incorporates two views of Syracuse, both including the soon-to-be-altered I-81 interstate, which I travel nearly every time I return to my home of Syracuse, by day or by night. The sketch I've attached focuses on the skies of Syracuse, which is an aspect of this place that we share - that we are all at home under the same beautiful skies of Syracuse. I feel the upright format of the T-panel would lend itself to this subject. One side of the panel would show a view of Syracuse from near the old Oakwood Cemetery entrance at night, as the swooshing lights of vehicles create a line of bright yellow and red along the bottom of the piece, while the light of the city, moon and stars illuminate the upper portion of the piece. I would include a layer of glow-in-the-dark paint to accentuate the contrast of the light against a deep blue and black sky, with deep gray clouds illuminated by the moon. On the reverse would be a view of Syracuse from further South on I-81, showing a blue sky spotted with many migrating crows, while the JMA dome in the distance, and a familiar bright-green highway sign reading "Syracuse" signals that our home is just up the road. The sides of the panel would be decorated with the characteristic bright sunrises and sunsets of Upstate New York, painted vertically and providing a transition between the two sides of the T-panel. Thank you for your consideration for this public artwork. I feel this work would resonate with all Syracuse residents and give them the familiar feeling of "home". I would aim for a high level of realism in the painting, as I do with most of my work.

See more of Neil's work on Instagram @chinecolle

JESSICA YAFCHAK

When I heard that this year's design theme was ‘Home’, my first thought went to comfort food. What foods do people miss most when they leave Syracuse? What dishes best reflect the identity of Syracuse and its community? What’s the first thing you want to eat when you come back home to Syracuse? For this design, I decided to take inspiration from a recent book cart mural I did for a public library in Camillus (For reference, I’ve included the work in this application as one of my previous artworks, titled MM Book Cart) and made a pattern of some of the foods and dishes that were answered most when I asked these questions to friends, family, and colleagues from the area. These foods/dishes include: Poppy seed rolls and half moon cookies from Harrison bakery, salt potatoes, a Gianelli sausage with peppers and onions, Salt City coffee, Hoffman hot dogs, a BBQ platter from Dinosaur BBQ, and of course, an orange slice to represent the Syracuse Orange. The purpose of this design is to emphasize the strong relationship food has to the concept and feeling of being home, as well as highlight local businesses that aid in fostering that feeling among the residents of Syracuse.

See more of Jessica's work on Instagram @yaffytaffyart

ERIN BEITER & JESSICA VAN GORNIGEN

Our design is inspired by the various habitats that local and New York state native animals call home. Our deep-abiding love for the natural world around us moves us to represent it in our art. We are ESF graduates, so we have included scientific accuracies within our drawings as well as a few artistic liberties. The breadth of habitats represented in our design reminds us that many different habitats are interconnected, and that which affects one habitat or home, affects another. Jess is from New Jersey and Erin is from Buffalo, yet both have come to call Syracuse home.

We included animals and plants that we felt were characteristic of New York State, including a few state symbols. The state bird, the Eastern Bluebird sits on a branch with a nesting box in the background. The state mammal, the North American Beaver, is constructing a dam. We also highlight animals that are facing habitat loss, such as the piping plover on the beach with her clutch of eggs, and the lake sturgeon swimming along the bottom of the river.

See more of Erin's work on Instagram @needled.nature

See more of Jessica's work on Instagram @theart.rat

RAY TURNER

MY RETURN IS INEVITABLE AS THE RUSH OF WATER

AND YET, I YEARN FOR THE SKY

When i think of home, I think of safety and security. The people who have known me at my worst and best. Home is a contrasting idea. Somehow freeing and yet I feel shackled, constrained. This brings me to think of natural elements that are somewhat limited, either by physics or what humans have created. And yet nature is completely free. I will always return home to Syracuse, but I always desire to run away. Water, rivers, streams flow the same way. And the sky, the universe, is ever expanding. I use both my love for unique typography and strong symbolic images to create these images. I primarily work with acrylics and chalk. As a lifelong inhabitant of Syracuse, it would mean the world to showcase my art to the community.

See more of Ray's work on Instagram @faytestudio