40 Below and SU grad students to shed light on Syracuse arts venues

40 Below and SU grad students to shed light on Syracuse arts venuesFebruary 07, 2007Brian Balutabbaluta@mda-cny.com

Thursday, Feb. 15, marks the start of the Urban Video Project (UVP), a public arts initiative seeking to bring art to the streets and buildings of Syracuse. Inspired by the Connective Corridor and Th3, an arts open held on the third Thursday of every month, the project is the brainchild of the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force and three Syracuse University graduate students.

Working closely with a number of University and community partners, UVP will produce a series of experimental outdoor video projections throughout the year, beginning with the return of Th3 on Feb. 15 from 5-8 p.m. on the exteriors of three of the 15 Th3 venues:

• Spark Contemporary Art Space, 1005 E. Fayette St.
• The Warehouse Gallery, 350 W. Fayette St.
• Delavan Art Gallery, 501 W. Fayette St.

“Video art is a unique form of public art because it can inject a sense of energy into a given environment,” says Blake Carrington, a first-year graduate student in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, who along with Christopher Gianunzio and Colin Todd are the creative force behind UVP. “We hope that this project will help to draw attention to Syracuse’s art scene and cause people to look at our city in a new way.”

UVP, the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force and SU want to expand the project to include more Th3 venues and other spontaneous projections, as well as the possibility of fixed video art installations along the Connective Corridor that could accommodate content from students and visiting artists. The end goal would be to establish Syracuse as a center for video art innovation.

“The organic and collaborative origins of this project illustrate the underpinnings of Scholarship in Action,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “These artists, who happen to be graduate students, are intrinsically motivated to communicate with, and promote critical reflection within, the community through their art. In 40 Below and Th3, they found like-minded community partners to make this happen, with support from SU.”

Th3 is free and open to the public with transportation provided by the Connective Corridor Shuttle Bus. For more information about Th3, visit http://www.th3syracuse.com. A route schedule/map for the Connective Corridor Shuttle Bus is available online at http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu. For more information on becoming involved in the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/publicartsyracuse or http://www.40belowsummit.com.