April-May 2013 Issue #9 - City of Syracuse

Kathy Spoto started with Syracuse Parks & Rec as
a Rec Aide, making $1.90 an hour, she said with a
chuckle. She has been the director of the Northeast
Community Center, based out of Dr. Weeks
School. For many years the Arts & Crafts program
was housed at the Parks’ main office on
Spencer Street, and she did outreach programs, taking
projects to senior centers throughout the city.
Thirty-three years later, she is now the Supervisor of that Arts and Crafts program.
She has greatly enhanced the program. Current sessions include beading, ceramics,
watercolors, sewing, knitting and crocheting, and quilting, which is Kathy’s
specialty. Staff member Eva Zook helps with the pottery classes. Kathy watches
trends, and will try different projects and see which
ones are popular, she said.
She was also a key player in the renovation of a fieldhouse
at Burnet Park into the Arts & Crafts Center,
which opened in 2001, under then-Commissioner Pat
Kathy Spoto poses next to a quilt she made,
which will soon be displayed at the Parks
Department's main office on Spencer
Street.
Kathy Spoto looks at a ceramics piece being
crafted by Bobbi Uhlig on the potter's
wheel at the Arts and Crafts Center.
Driscoll. This new site has allowed Kathy even more
room to expand, and she credits much of the continued
growth of her division to the support of former
Commissioner Driscoll and current Commissioner
Baye Muhammad.
Those interested in learning more about what classes
are offered, can call the Center at 473-4789.