news story / By Japhet Weeks

West End Story — An unlikely union between experimental artists and the City of Eureka

(Aug. 16, 2007)  The formula was simple: Empire Squared plus The Placebo plus Synapsis equals a flowering of experimental performing arts in Eureka’s West End. Turns out, the equation was missing only one thing — a permit.

In December of last year, the City of Eureka ordered the performing arts collective Synapsis to close its doors to public performances because its building was neither up to code nor zoned for public gatherings.

Tricky balancing act: After 8 months of waiting, Carmen Olson (top) and Leslie Castellano of Synpasis in Eureka have secured a permit from the city allowing them to re-open their warehouse for public performances. Photo by Yulia Weeks.

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But after an almost eight-month hiatus, it looks like trapeze artist Leslie Castellano, Synapsis’s founder-director, will soon be swinging her arts collective back into action. At a meeting of Eureka’s planning commission on Monday, Aug. 13, the city granted Synapsis the conditional use permit it needs in order to turn its warehouse into a legitimate performance space.

The planning commission voted unanimously to approve the permit. Member Stephen Avis said he thought the location in the warehouse district was ideal. His colleague, Michael Eagan, said, “It can’t do anything but improve the area.” And Ron Kuhnel joked, “It’s nice to do something good once in a while.” People were expecting the permit to be approved, but the large audience that had gathered for the meeting still breathed a collective sigh of relief when the planning commission members had all cast their votes in favor.

Back at 47A W. Third St., the entrance and loft spaces of Synapsis are a cluttered collection of bric-a-brac. Toward the rear of the warehouse, in a large, bright room, the wooden floors are gathering dust. Two trapezes hang from the ceiling, and a black swathe of aerial fabric is wrapped around one of the space’s white wooden columns.

About three and a half years ago, Castellano and friend Rob Dixon were looking for a rehearsal space in Eureka and ended up renting a warehouse on West Third Street because it was the only place they found with wooden, rather than concrete, floors. The building was already home to Empire Squared, an avant-garde visual arts collective. Over time Castellano and Dixon’s emphasis shifted, and they formed the performing arts collective that would eventually be known as Synapsis. And Empire Squared loaned its space to The Placebo, an all-ages, alcohol-free music club that in years past had a hard time finding a permanent venue.

The name Synapsis comes from the biological term that describes the space between two nerve cells across which impulses pass. It serves as a metaphor, Castellano said last Saturday in an interview at the Synapsis warehouse. It’s an “activity that exists across an empty space.” Of course, not just any empty space. Artists are sometimes blissfully unaware of real-world impediments to their unimpeded creativity. Synapsis is a case in point. They were holding public gatherings in a building designed for storage.

However, if it hadn’t been for Jon Delp at J & L Towing and Transport across the street, who complained about the late-night noise, Synapsis might still be operating under the city’s radar. Reached by phone on Monday, Delp said, “I don’t care what they do over there so long as they don’t bother me.” But Synapsis won’t have to worry about Delp complaining much longer. After 35 years behind the wheel of a tow truck, the Eureka native plans to leave the state for greener (and perhaps quieter) pastures.

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