914Works is easy to miss.

Most people walk right by the modest flat glass door, punctuated only by the white “914” at the center of the front door, reflecting the bright snow outside.

On the corner of East Genesee Street and Irving Avenue, 914Works will open on Feb. 21. It’s an unassuming place that the College of Visual and Performing Arts hopes will be the missing link in the city’s art scene.

“This is drama’s little piece of the puzzle,” said Ralph Zito, VPA drama chair. “We want it to be the ‘elbow’ of the Connective Corridor.”

Zito is standing in the middle of the refurbished gallery, complete with brand new carpet, paint and rail lighting. Vestigial dents from the old wall studs are still visible.

“914Works is part of a larger cross-campus initiative,” Zito said. “We want it to link the city through art. And not even only VPA art, but architecture, technology, even journalism.”

He added that he did not want it to be a traditional gallery.

According to VPA’s Jan. 22 news release, 914Works will “offer an intimate space for VPA students and faculty to present individual or group exhibitions, readings and small-scale performances.”

Zito described these possibilities as a way to use the space itself to exhibit the work of Syracuse students and faculty members.

Scott Rose, the exhibit’s director, expressed his excitement for the space, particularly the options that it presents.

“If this is the bare space,” Rose said, gesturing across the room, arms spread wide, “there could be a performance in each of these corners. We really don’t want to limit students.”

914Works has yet to confirm any shows or exhibits following its opening, but that hasn’t stopped Zito and Rose from preparing the gallery. They’re finishing the puzzle as they go, reaching out to students and coordinating with faculty to ensure the space is constantly in use when it finally opens.

Preparing for that moment, they said, is more complicated than they thought.

“The learning process, it’s part of the fluid, organic nature of the space,” Rose said. “It’s refreshing. We’re willing to learn from the participants and we’re going to be sure to help them however we can. It’s a give-and-take dynamic.”

Aside from four chairs tucked into the corners, the space is wide open. Pillars are the only visual obstruction.

The Syracuse Stage is only a block away, another capillary in Syracuse’s drama program. The location is visibly larger than 914Works, dwarfing the latter in comparison. But together, the two structures represent a gathering of the city’s artistic talent, the potential for a larger collection of modern exhibits.

“You have this talent on SU campus, you have this drama scene downtown,” Zito said. “And sometimes it feels like two separate things. But the main part of our larger mission is to bring all of that together in this one space.”

And that, Rose and Zito agreed, is their main goal with 914Works. They hope to provide the canvas on which art can flow from SU into the rest of the city. Now it is up to the students, faculty and staff to make use of the intimate space provided.

Rose smiled as he glanced around the soon-to-be-filled gallery.

Said Rose: “Our hope is that it’s not just a gallery where we’re hanging pictures on a wall. There are so many possibilities here. It’s a process bringing all of this together, but the possibilities are there. We just can’t wait to watch it unfold.”

Published on February 3, 2014 at 9:04 pm