Annual Manual 2011: Outdoor art

Some people might think that Rochester's public art begins and ends with Art Walk in the Neighborhood of the Arts, the horses on parade (remember those?), and those polarizing benches. But there have been many neighborhood art projects, as well as public and private commissions of local artists, plus works of art created randomly here and there. When I began research for this piece, I thought I would cover the notables and uncover a few gems, but I honestly had no idea of the extent of Rochester's ever-shifting outdoor art.

Public-art installation in this city has gone hand-in-hand with efforts to improve neighborhoods and add a visual representation of communities' identities, whether funded or embarked upon independently. The following are highlights, but for a more comprehensive list, visit local photographer Richard Margolis' rochesterpublicart.com.

Neighborhood Projects

Art Walk (University Avenue, from School of the Arts to Culver Road) This collection of sculptures, including a whimsical cat by Vincent Massaro at Merriman Street, mosaic-covered light poles, sculptural benches, and artistic bus-stop shelters (like Nancy Gong's "Engineers Have Fun Too" work of etched glass in front of Gleason Works), is a multi-artist collaboration that got its origin when former Mayor Bill Johnson challenged city neighborhoods to come up with 10-year plans for themselves. The Atlantic-University Neighborhood renamed itself Neighborhood of the Arts, and there are plans to expand Art Walk in the future. For updates check rochesterartwalk.org.

Parking Meter Totems/Traffic Control Box Paintings (South Avenue from Mount Hope to Highland avenues) A host of artists have created sculptures to top former parking-meter poles in the South Wedge neighborhood, and many others were commissioned to create paintings on drab utility boxes. Scattered in South Wedge neighborhood (and other neighborhoods, including the 19th Ward), the painted boxes vary from colorful and abstract, to homages to important figures from Rochester's history, most notably Kevin Fitch's Frederick Douglass at the intersection of Main, West, and Chili avenues, and Stephen Dorobiala's Son House painting at the corner of South Avenue and Gregory Street. For more information visit baswa.org.

Sculpture

The Liberty Pole (Intersection of East Avenue, East Main and Franklin streets) The current steel sculpture is actually the third liberty pole to have graced our city; it was designed by local architect James H. Johnson, and erected in 1965. The original wooden pole was built in 1846 but eventually toppled, and the second was destroyed in a storm December 26, 1889. The current one seems to be having better luck, although it is often criticized as nothing more than an eyesore (except when it's strung with cascading lines of pretty white lights each holiday season). The site is also used as a meeting ground and space for protests and rallies. Visit thelibertypole.org for fascinating history on liberty poles as well as photos.

Horses/Benches on Parade (Various locations around the city and county) The imaginative alterations made by artists to these fiberglass fillies and seats range as widely as their locations around town. The High Falls Brewery Company sponsored the original charitable community-arts project, for which more than 150 horses were created and sold to business and private residences in 2001. The artsy equines are currently displayed on front lawns, and at local businesses and organizations. My favorite horse home is the balcony of Monroe High School at 164 Alexander St. The 2009 benches project was presented by Nazareth College and produced by Dixon Schwabl, in which 200 benches were decorated by area artists, and auctioned off to raise funds for local non-profits. For a complete list of locations and photos of the horses and benches, visit lowerfalls.org/horses (some links don't work, so click on the lists by artist, horse name, or site) and benchesonparade.com.

Seat of Forgetting and Remembering (Near the bluff of the Lower Falls) Four monoliths ring a central seat, covered in sculptured hands and faces. The piece was created in 2001 by Adriana Ippel Slutzky, a sculptor and art educator who taught at the Rochester School for the Deaf.

Port of Rochester (4791 Lake Avenue) Includes "Another Little Adventure," leaded glass panel work by Nancy Gong, and metal fish sculptures by Paul Knobloch. More artworks can be found on site indoors.

Frederick Douglass (Highland Park Bowl, South Avenue between and Reservoir Avenue and Robinson Drive) Sidney Wells Edwards' 1899 17-foot-tall bronze sculpture of the noted abolitionist who lived in Rochester for much of the mid-1800's.

Goethe (Highland Park Reservoir at South Avenue) Bronze bust by William Ehrich.

Mount Hope Cemetery (Mount Hope Avenue between McLean Street and Elmwood Avenue) Countless sculptural headstones, mausoleums, and architectural interests fill this sizeable, labyrinth-like, hilly, and sylvan landmark. One of the largest Victorian cemetery in the nation, Mount Hope is a beloved spot where you can admire both natural and man-made beauty.

"Let's Have Tea" (Susan B. Anthony Square between Madison and King streets) A sculpture of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass by Pepsy Kettavong, whose other works include, "Nathaniel Rochester," in the South Wedge at the corner of Alexander Street and South Avenue, and a bronze voting box on West Main Street, in tribute to Susan B. Anthony and friends' act of voting illegally.

"Genesee Passage" (1 Bausch & Lomb Place) Soaring steel sculpture by Albert Paley. His other monolithic work in Rochester includes the Main Street Bridge railings, the Millennium Bench on the Memorial Art Gallery's front lawn, "Sentinel" at Rochester Institute of Technology, "Threshold" at Klein Steel Corporation (105 Vanguard Way), and the untitled steel wheel at the National Museum of Play.

Murals

Murals are a trickier subject to pin down in this town - they are numerous, and they pop up and get painted over regularly. Some are commissioned by arts organizations and neighborhoods, others are commissioned by smaller businesses, and still others are created independently (and sometimes illegally). Most of the following are accessible to viewers, but beware of trespassing signs at some painted sites.

The "Legal Wall" (Behind the Village Gate, along the train tracks) This one-time free-for-all spot for area spray-painters to express themselves is now off-limits, but the work remains (and still changes, despite the legality being revoked).

Water Towers (Near Cobb's Hill Park, 475 Norris Drive) More graffiti work; look for the Mario Bros. scene.

Black Vampire Bart Simpson (Genesee Street and Columbia Avenue) It's worth checking out.

Merchants Road Mural (At Merchants and Culver Road) Rick Muto's creation celebrates the neighborhood with a cheerful scene; also see his Rose Garden and Rochester history mural at the post office at Lexington and Dewey Avenue.

Romaire Bearden-esque found-material mural (Wilson Commencement Park on Joseph Avenue) Local artist and arts-facilitator Shawn Dunwoody completed this piece with local youths.

The Rochester Subway (It would be illegal to enter at the east portal at South Ave by Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, so I'm not telling you to do that) Ever-changing and fairly epic graffiti and graf murals; includes work by some of the most talented and well known graffiti artists in this town, FUA Krew. Also check out annually updated imagery by FUA and friends at the BBoy BBQ site at 914 N. Clinton (and a few surrounding buildings). The graffiti jam takes place on a different day each summer, and remains up until the Krew replaces it the following year. Watch for updates on the 2011 paint date at fua-krew.org.

Comments for "Annual Manual 2011: Outdoor art" (12)

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Darren Thomas Brennessel said on Mar. 19, 2011 at 11:37am

I was compelled to write regarding the 2011 Annual Manual. Specifically the outdoor art article.I was amazed to find the the Artisan Works Gallery on Blossom Road was overlooked in the article. And even more amazed, if not annoyed, that the Cobbs Hill water towers are yet again featured as a tourist destination for seeing public art! This area is sketchy and unsafe for visitors in general, but especially out of town "tourists". To send anyone their to see illegal and vulgar graffiti and classify as public art is an insult to not only to true artists of this city, but also to the hard working owners of some of the best galleries of outdoor art in the city and in my opinion, the country. Artisan Works Gallery has more unique outdoor than any location in the city and it not only gives the tourist a feast for the eyes from the minute they walk through the parking lot, but then they can go inside to see over 100,000 pieces of art. A collection that puts this gallery into a category of a national treasure. I think it would be great if City Newspaper Art staff would take a walk over their some nice spring day and just absorbed the outside of the Artisan Works (save the inside for a rainy day) and see if you don't agree that when it comes to outdoor art Galleries and Murals this Gallery should be included int the Annual Manual. And please, stop sending people to the Cobbs Hill Water towers. I know it seems "cool" to have an "underground hipster" spot for bad boy anti-authoritarian expressionism, but this area is just dirty and unsafe.

Marc Mellon said on Mar. 20, 2011 at 9:10pm

Correction: The statue of George Eastman was installed on the Eastman Quadrangle of the University of Rochester in 2009, and was sculpted by Marc Mellon, who attended the university in the late 1960s. At the center of the quadrangle is a work by Ehrich, who designed the engraved stainless steel Meridian Marker, known as the Eastman Centennial Monument. The monument was donated in 1954 by Charles Force Hutchinson, a friend of George Eastman, in observance of the centennial of George Eastman's birth. The George Eastman statue was donated by Larry and Cindy Bloch; Larry Bloch currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the University.

Scott Collins said on Mar. 21, 2011 at 9:06am

Goethe did not create the George Eastman statue on the UR campus. It was artist and alumnus Marc Mellon. Some simple research would have been wise before writing this.

Rebecca Rafferty said on Mar. 21, 2011 at 4:10pm

Marc and Scott: thank you for your corrections, and my apologies; next time I will double check my initial sources. We will also be issuing a correction in next Wednesday's paper.

Darren: thanks for your note. This gives us an opportunity to open up a potentially good discussion with the Rochester community regarding our outdoor art scene, and specifically, the limited way that we tend to think of graffiti. To answer your first question: I did not consider outdoor art which belongs to art institutions (for example the sculpture on the grounds of the MAG) for this piece, because I spend a lot of time covering indoor art and their collections. With a limited word-count, I had to draw the line somewhere, and one of those lines was most outdoor art owned by museum/gallery. I am familiar with, and have visited ArtisanWorks; please refer to my 2009 review: www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/art/2009/05/ART-REVIEW-Living-Waters/
as well as this 2009 review by Luke Strosnider:
http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/art/2009/02/ART-REVIEW-The-Color-of-Loss/

I am interested in why you believe that Cobbs Hill/the water towers is a dangerous location. I am also interested in what your definition of 'true artists' might be. Talent and intellect can be found outside of the ordained gallery space, and some self-taught artists are just as talented and driven, if not more so, than some art-school products. From my own experience of looking at art in this town, there are plenty of established artists creating ho-hum work that no one dares to challenge as 'real art.' There are plenty of 'real artists' I've met who do not work half as hard at their craft. Should they, in every case, take precedence over those who do not have a proper artist's education and resume? There is much that we miss, in following that way of thinking.

You call graffiti 'vulgar.' What vulgarity is found in graffiti that cannot be found in the collections of any established museum (in the idea that we can learn something from it)? Can we learn nothing from the streets?

When I began writing for City Newspaper, one of my goals was to encourage readers, residents, and tourists to consider art made by local and emerging artists, not just the shows in the big art houses of Rochester. At times, there are valuable things being said by talented people who are either ignored by, or choose to go a different route from, established and ordained art spaces. The issue is often control. If you put it up on the streets, you have a direct (if temporary) line to an audience, unpolluted by rules that a gallery enforces or must uphold in the interest of funding.

Graffiti has a long history, in many countries, of being used as a voice by a protesting people when the free press is taken away. This is true today and elements of it can be found in this city -- not in all graffiti (some is just pretty, some is just boastful, some is just clever) -- but interesting stuff is there. In an era when a corporation (McDonalds, Starbucks, pick any corner-store pharmacy, the U.S. MILITARY, etc.) can advertize whatever they wish, where ever they wish, in efforts to sell sell sell their product and ideology, with no regard for what each member of the neighborhood wants to see, graffiti is a welcome change to many, and a way to take back the neighborhood. Decisions about what is seen can be made, and not just by entities who have lots of money and connections. There are many locations where the residents welcome the murals and look forward to annual creativity events (see the BBoy BBQ site on N. Clinton), but any and all graffiti is often assumed to be illegal and unwanted.

Still, even some of the illegal and unwanted graffiti should make us look up and listen. We have been conditioned to be afraid of looking, just as we have been conditioned to stay within the limits of 'safe neighborhoods' even when they don't always prove to be safe. The Neighborhood of the Arts was known as a rough neighborhood, before the public art went up. When I attended an ArtWalk meeting a couple of years ago, the speaker (a cop) said that the presence of the art -- and therefore the presence of residents on the street, looking at it -- did more to quell the crime rates than the Police Department could. It seems that telling people to go look at artwork and learn more of their city might discourage crime in other areas that need it. Fear of and hiding from certain areas draws terrible lines between our communities.

Graffiti will and must always be illegal and fairly uncomfortable to look at -- this is how we know we're getting another, perhaps truthier side of the big picture: because no one's paying for it. But again, this is some, not all graf. It's not all good or interesting, but I'm proud to claim these anonymous artists as part of Rochester art culture. Its presence makes us a real city, in a way. And history has proven that just because something is illegal doesn't necessitate that it is also a wrong. I encourage you all to think about this.

Graffiti may not be of your taste, but that doesn't mean it has no value. May aim in directing people to look at graffiti is to get people out around the City, refusing the order to be afraid of certain areas and certain people, to get to know who and what Rochester is, across classes and ideologies. To make judgment calls for themselves about value.
Even if it is 'cool' and 'underground hipster,' as you say, I still believe that there's something of value and interest to anyone who takes a good look.

Now, I encourage everyone to weigh in on this.

Darren Thomas Brennessel said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 3:18pm

Rebecca, I will just address a couple of points in this for now. The others later. I did not mean to imply that all graffiti as an art form (which I believe it is - I photograph graffiti all over the country for my photo collection of graffiti and appreciate it). I am referring to the graffiti in that water tower location that is specifically vulgarities, like offensive words and genitalia, which is not an artistic expression of a true artist, it is an expression by a destroyer of public property who has the goal of offending people. I am not offended by that type of graffiti but it's intent is obvious and it would offend some. Dangerous? Well, it's because I walk and bike that area hundreds of times a year and I have seen cars broken into dozens of times, I have seen drug deals going on, I have seen the after effect of vandals cutting down old trees and I have seen the police wrestling suspected criminals to the ground. I don't see any of this at the Artisan Works parking lot where the murals are located. I just don't think, given the alternative locations available to people that sending them to a place where people are illegally committing a crime of defacing public property and potential criminal activity occurs is appropriate. And again, the only thing I questioned in your article was the water tower as a destination for visitors and the exclusion of Artisan Works, which I don't consider an art institution like the MAG since The Artisan Works Gallery lets artists do whatever they want pretty much wherever they want unlike the very stiff MAG. I agree with all your other location suggestions. Even the 19th ward TSB project, which I participated in. Very dangerous area to walk, but at least a visitor can drive around and look and these examples of public art. And, specifically, addressing your spot light on murals is what motivated me to write. Not because I have some there at the Artisan Works Gallery, but because it is the best collection and the most numerous collection of murals in the city and very simply if you are going to send people to see murals that are out of doors, Artisan works one of the best places to go, regardless of it's institutional status. One need only to look at the art on the walls and question why this would not be a premier destination for people to view - specifically- the art form of The Mural.

Darren Thomas Brennessel said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 3:52pm

And, one thing I wanted to ad Rebecca. Thank you for not only responding, but responding in a way that stimulates an artistic philosophical discussion at level I have rarely experienced since graduating for college. I appreciate you honesty, philosophy and knowledge.

Water Towers are safe and fun said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 3:57pm

I have been to the water towers many times, have worked with artists there and have never seen any dangerous activity at all. (BTW, Mr. Brennessel, if you are biking on the trails in Cobb's Hill Park , It is YOU who is breaking the law!)

Darren Thomas Brennessel said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 4:44pm

To the Water Towers Are Safe Writer: Why are you so angry at me? This debate between Rebecca and myself is purely philosophical with no anger. And just because YOU have never seen any dangerous activity there does not mean that it doesn't exist (as pointed out in my response above - it obviously does). I HAVE seen dangerous activity and that in itself makes your self-centric perspective of the safety of this area moot ("if I haven't seen it it isn't so" - I am so tired of this perspective people have). And finally you have jumped to very incorrect assumption my dear person. I do NOT ride my bike on the trails. I never said I did. You have NOT caught me in a moment of hypocrisy - sorry. I ride on the road around the reservoir. I walk the trails. I have seen danger and crime all over this place and I am not trying to imply the Cobb's Hill is an unsafe place to visit by pointing out these incidents. I spend a lot of time there I am just pointing out facts specific to Rebecca questioning the safety of the area "AS A DESTINATION TO SEND VISITORS TOTO SEE PUBLIC MURALS". How do you not understand that I am talking about my opinion about a BETTER CHOICE to send people to see Murals? I am NOT opposed to murals in illegal public places either. I am only pointing that aspect out as it RELATES to this respected publication suggesting people go to The Water Towers to see illegally produced public art AS OPPOSED TO sending them to a sanctioned and safe place to see several dozen murals that is within the CITY OF ROCHESTER (which Rebecca did in all but one of her suggestions). If people want to go there and view the towers, as I have, I have no problem with that! I just think it is a bad idea for an official "Guide to Rochester" to send unsuspecting people to an area that is questionably safe to see defacing of public property (again, I am not opposed to this activity - as an artist - just opposed to it as a suggestion as a destination for public murals by City Newspaper, but not including the Artisan Works outdoor murals as a destination. I am not mad a Rebecca or City Newspaper (which I have read every week for 27 years and will continue to do so. It is the best newspaper in Western NY).
Does this make sense now? (now, I guess I sound angry - sigh)

Water Towers are Safe and Fun said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 5:08pm

LOL! I'm not angry. If any readers have not been to see these magnificent waters and the murals that are there, I encourage you all to do so. The water towers are on land owned by the Monroe County Water Authority, so I suppose that if the owners wanted to do something about the paintings or objected to it, they would have tried to stop it by now. That's really different than being "illegal." Peace!

Darren Thomas Brennessel said on Mar. 23, 2011 at 6:56pm

Safe Water towers:
You have a point there. Well taken. I thank you for your comments and respect you're opinion
Peace to you as well.

Ryan said on Apr. 01, 2011 at 2:04pm

Obviously taste is subective by definition, but one thing I have to agree on is that "f u" and messages of sexual "conquest" and "Andy loves Marie" spray painted on bridges, water towers and old subway walls falls far short of what I consider expression in the absence of free press and something of artistic merit.

Richard Margolis said on Apr. 04, 2011 at 12:12pm

I've enjoyed the discussion about public art the the Annual Manual and in this blog. I realized in reading the comments that I had overlooked the murals on the wall at ArtisanWorks when I put together the list for the web site. I have done a book on ArtisanWorks and included the murals in that project, so it would have been easy to add them to www.RochesterPublicArt..com as well. That was my oversight. And I have never seen the graffiti on the Cobbs Hill Water Towers. I will go look at them.
There are several other items that I should add, including Jill Gussow's mosaic mural on the East End Garage and Dale Chihuly's Chandelier in the new Kodak Theater lobby. I welcome suggestions that can be submitted through the Contact Form on the web site.
Richard

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