The glass boxes located throughout the school will be photographed in a joint effort by artists Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel, photography teacher Jan Juracek and the Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association (SHSAA) to revive interest in the artists’ Mnemonics Project, which originally brought the boxes to Stuyvesant High School.
The Battery Park City Authority, the Percent for Art Program of the City of New York, the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Education first commissioned Jones and Ginzel to complete their Mnemonics Project in time for the opening of the new Stuyvesant building in 1992. Four hundred glass blocks were randomly installed throughout the 10-story building. 
Images of the cubes will now be incorporated into the artists’ Web site, www.jonesginzel.com, which informs the public of the project and aims to inspire past and future Stuyvesant graduates to continue filling in the cubes.
Most blocks contain artifacts from different time periods and places, and pertain to history, cultures, science and nature. Other blocks contain relics from each Stuyvesant graduating class since the school opened in 1904.
Another 88 blocks were left empty for future graduating classes, up to the class of 2080, to fill with whatever defines their year.
According to Katherine Gressel, the artists’ assistant, Jones and Ginzel spent four years working on the Mnemonics Project. “They had to write hundreds of letters to ambassadors,” Gressel said of the process involved in acquiring the various artifacts. “It’s so fascinating how they did this.”
“One of their concerns now is that graduating classes haven’t been filling in the blocks,” Gressel said. The alumni boxes from the class of 1999 on have not yet been filled.
Senior Activities Advisor and technology teacher James Lonardo works with each senior class to decide what to put into the class boxes. The classes refer to various sources, such as The Spectator, for the significant events that make each graduating class unique.
The SHSAA mentioned difficulties in filling the cubes. “We have not been successful so far, because it’s hard to find tangible objects. It’s hard to put ideas in a box,” SHSAA Recording Secretary Christen Russo (’00) said. Russo also said it is especially difficult for alumni to determine what had been most important for them when they graduated from Stuyvesant.
The artists hope to provide insight for the graduating classes by putting photographs and information about the already-filled boxes on their Web site. “We thought the Web site would help,” Gressel said. “Students can look up the boxes. It’s supposed to help future graduating classes. It’s also for Stuy and the public to know about [the project].”
Juracek became involved in the project last year. One of her students, Sabrina Tasnova (’07), worked with the SHSAA. Tasnova was responsible for researching the locations of the glass boxes and the items inside them.
Three other students in Juracek’s photography classes, Kelvin Chan (’07), Daniel Chen (’07) and Henry Zhang (’07), volunteered to photograph the boxes and finalize the images. Hundreds of boxes had already been photographed, and the images had been sent to Gressel.
“We were able to get funding from the Alumni Board,” Gressel said. With the money, SHSAA interns, like Tasnova, were able to conduct more research on the glass boxes over the summer.
Principal Stanley Teitel said interns went to his office to research the boxes using the official record books stored in the conference room.
Tasnova also helped Gressel take some photographs over the summer, but the photographs needed to be retouched, so Gressel contacted Juracek this fall to ask for her help. Juracek was pleased to participate in the project. “I hope my students will get involved. To think that you could actually be part of the architecture of the building […] it’s just incredible. This is an interactive activity for generations,” Juracek said.
Seniors Ezra Glenn, Jacob Newman and Caroline Brickman, as well as other volunteers from Juracek’s current classes, will help with reshooting the images and editing them.
“The project is a little stalled now, because we are waiting for funding to pay for the [artists’] Web designer. But I think we’re very close,” Gressel said. The information about the glass boxes is ready, and the artists are waiting for the photographs to be taken by Juracek and volunteers.
Gressel saidshe hoped the database on the Web site will be ready by the end of December, when the class of ’02 hold their five-year reunion.
Jones and Ginzel want to raise as much awareness as possible about the Mnemonics Project. “I’m going to arrange to have them come in and rally up support,” Gressel said. The artists might hold an assembly at Stuyvesant to introduce the project to more students.
“They’re definitely planning to come in,” Gressel said. “We hope we can stir up enthusiasm to get the support we need.”