Urban Video Project Press Release

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

40 Below and SU Grad Students to Shed Light on Syracuse Arts Venues
Video Art will Illuminate Galleries, Connective Corridor, Starting Feb. 15

Thursday, February 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 5:00 to 8:00 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,” said Blake Carrington, a first-year graduate student at SU’s 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 Syracuse University want to expand the project to include more Th3 venues, 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 center for video art innovation.

“The organic and collaborative origins of this project illustrate the underpinnings of Scholarship in Action,” says SU Chancellor 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, go to www.th3syracuse.com. A route schedule/map for the Connective Corridor Shuttle Bus is available online at connectivecorridor.syr.edu. For more information on how you can become involved in the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, go to groups.yahoo.com/group/publicartsyracuse or www.40belowsummitt.com.

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About Th3

The citywide art open, known as Th3, began in 2006 as a celebration of Syracuse's thriving art scene and a developing collaboration amongst Syracuse's visual arts organizations. Each venue provides a different flavor of the Syracuse visual arts scene. Most venues offer refreshments and a unique programming for that special evening.
Th3 provides a common day and time for the public to visit fifteen of Syracuse’s visual art venues for an entirely free, entertaining and educational evening. With evening hours of 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., people can stop by a gallery or museum after work or bring their families. Visitors from out of town can make an evening of it by dining at one of the many highly praised restaurants on the Th3 route.
Participating Visual Art Venues:
Community Folk Art Center (CFAC)
Delavan Art Gallery
Everson Museum of Art
Eureka Crafts
Light Work (Robert B. Menschel Media Center)
Onondaga Community College (Arts Across Campus)
Point of Contact Gallery
Redhouse / Rothenberg Gallery
Spark Contemporary Art Space
Special Collections Research Center (E.S. Bird Library)
SUArt Galleries
Syracuse Technology Garden
ThINC's Company Gallery
The Warehouse Gallery
Westcott Community Art Gallery
About the Connective Corridor Shuttle Bus

The Connective Corridor Shuttle Bus (Centro Route #543) will operate during the winter and spring months on Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 11:40 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 11:40 p.m. The free shuttle service provides a convenient way to travel to cultural events and happenings at Syracuse University and in downtown Syracuse, including lectures and concerts on campus, theater presentations at Syracuse Stage, and Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Syracuse Opera performances at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, to name a few.

About the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force

The 40 Below Public Arts Task Force is leading the effort to initiate and identify quality public arts projects that work to create a sense of identity for our region’s urban cores. This Task Force is comprised of artists, community leaders and interested volunteers.

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