Rochester Contemporary Art Center and the Memorial Art Gallery have announced on Tuesday that The Rochester Biennial, which has been organized by and hosted at MAG for six years, will be organized by RoCo starting in 2017.
In the immediate future, Biennials will be based at RoCo, but they won't necessarily always be held at the art center at 137 East Avenue, says Bleu Cease, Rochester Contemporary executive director.
The Biennials will take on varied formats involving guest curators, partners, and other spaces. These exhibitions will be focused on unexpected artworks by early-career artists with a special community and participatory focus, providing visitors with unique experiences in Rochester's East End and beyond.
"We are very excited to now organize The Rochester Biennial," Cease says. "We are grateful to the MAG and excited to continue a tradition that MAG started, adding a new RoCo twist. Visitors should expect the works to be challenging and surprising -- these will be exhibitions that you won't want to miss."
In the past, one of the handful of artists featured in each Rochester Biennial was selected from the MAG's Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition -- a 64 year tradition showcasing the work of some of the best artists in our region. It's up in the air whether RoCo as the new curator will maintain this model.
This announcement continues the series of collaborative exhibitions and projects between Memorial Art Gallery and Rochester Contemporary Art Center. The current exhibition on display at RoCo, "Brooklyn Bridge," is presented in partnership with Memorial Art Gallery. RoCo will also partner with MAG in promoting the 15th Annual Fine Craft Show & Sale, November 7-8.
"We are thrilled that RoCo is taking advantage of this opportunity to propel The Rochester Biennial to the next level," says MAG Director Jonathan Binstock. "By continuing to share the responsibility of recognizing outstanding artistic talent in the region, the MAG and RoCo can create more opportunities for local artists to show, including solo exhibitions at the MAG."
The George Eastman House has announced that it has changed its name to George Eastman Museum, and has launched a new website at eastman.org. Leadership at Eastman Museum say the name change reflects all that the institution encompasses: one of the world's foremost museums of photography and cinema, and the historic mansion and gardens of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman.
"Our new name better conveys our institution's core identity as a dynamic museum with world-class collections in the fields of photography and cinema," says Bruce Barnes, the museum's director.
The possibility of renaming the institution came up when Barnes was interviewing for the position of director, but he decided to shelve the idea while settling into his new job.
The museum, originally chartered in 1947, was originally called "The George Eastman House Museum of Photography," and went through a few iterations, including "International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House," and until recently, just George Eastman House with a subtitle of "International Museum of Photography and Film."
"We've used the subtitle less and less in the three years since I've arrived because I just find it to be kind of clunky," Barnes says.
Barnes says that while traveling in Europe, he discovered people seem to have a better sense of the scope of the institution. Though there are people who are in the know here, he says, "there were a number of people in the United States who mistakenly believed that all we were was the historic house," unaware of the photography, film, and technology aspects.
"Which is kind of ironic," he says, because while the museum was opened in 1949, "it was given the name 'George Eastman House' to denote that it was located at Eastman's historic estate." But the actual house wasn't restored until the 1980's, it was just the bones of the building being used to house photographs and photographic equipment. "So the historic house portion of the institution didn't emerge until 1989-1990."
After two years of gathering anecdotal experience regarding the confusion of the name, "we did a very major brand positioning analysis and strategic analysis which overall took about a year," Barnes says. Staff embarked on a formal analysis via a survey designed by Brad VanAuken of Brand Forward. That process lasted for six to eight months, after which the newly branded George Eastman Museum enlisted the services of local firm A3 Design. In addition to a new name and website, the Museum has a sharp new logo.
Rochester Fringe Festival once again sets attendance record
Attendance for the fourth annual First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival (held September 17 through September 26) hit more than 63,000 people, a new high mark for the Fringe, organizers announced on Monday. And ticket sales were up more than 20 percent. The 2015 Fringe featured more than 500 performances and events; last year's Fringe included 380 shows, and drew out 60,000 attendees.
An estimated 13,000 people gathered in Martin Luther King Jr. Park at Manhattan Square for Friday on the Fringe, and to witness New York City's Grounded Aerial team dance across the side of the 21-story One HSBC Plaza, while Rochester troupe BIODANCE performed on the park's metal structure, A Tribute to Man. Last year's Friday on the Fringe performance by Circus Orange drew about 10,000 attendees.
The 10-day Fringe featured site-specific, participatory acts such as Berlin's world-renowned Rimini Protokoll, which created Remote Rochester, the second US "Remote" production -- the first was in New York City. The event sold out all but its first few performances.
Many of these performances took place on stages at new participating locations, including Lyric Theatre, The Strong National Museum of Play, Abilene, and the festival's largest venue: RAPA at School of the Arts, which hosted 80 shows.
Venues reported the following sold-out shows: "Don't Go Drinking on an Empty Heart" (Bernunzio Uptown Music); "The 24 Hour Plays," "Left for Dead Improv," "Erik and the Wolf," "Heart and Soul: Medicine and Life" (Writers & Books); "Shitty Lives," "Stages of the Game Teen Improv," "Triple Entendre" (MuCCC); "H | Histories" (Eastman School of Music, Sproull Atrium); "Merged III," "Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster Tells His Own Story)" (Geva Theatre Center Fielding Stage); "ShakesBLOOD" (Abilene); "Percentage"(RAPA at SOTA); and "Shenanigans with Shero" (Blackfriars).
"The board is just as excited as everyone else by the way this festival is maturing," said Board Chair Justin L. Vigdor. "As community support for Fringe continues to grow, we look forward to becoming even more inventive, inspiring and international."
The Fringe specified that attendance figures are based on modern crowd estimation techniques using a standardized formula (based on the work of Drs. Herbert Jacobs, Ray Watson and Paul Yip: area divided by crowd density) as well as by venue counts and ticket sales, and are deemed accurate within 10 percent, plus or minus.
In honor of the haunted month, the harvest, and to herald in the horrors of snow, expect lots of spooky art celebrations and openings for First Friday. The following highlights are just a few of the art openings offered tonight; check out more options listed at firstfridayrochester.org and in our calendar. All events run 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and are free to attend unless otherwise stated.
Head over to Haunted Hungerford (Hungerford Building, 1115 East Main Street) for two nights of frightening fun. There will be more than a dozen participating studios, a costume contest, studio raffles, and more. The event will take place on Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Learn more at the Facebook event page.
Experience monsters of another sort at Rochester Picture Frame (2094 Main Street), where Robert Ernst Marx will present 62 humbling artworks in celebration of 60 years of exhibitions and his 90 years of life. Marx will present 21 new paintings, including the massive "A Judgment on Us," in addition to etchings, drawings, and sculptures. The central theme of Marx's artwork is "The Arrogance of Power," with subtle commentary on such topics as war and women's issues. The show takes place 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the show remains on view through October 30. For more information, call 749-9110 or visit roberternstmarx.com.
Check out "Printed Matter," The Print Club of Rochester's 2nd Annual Print Fair, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Rochester Contemporary Art Center (137 East Avenue). The annual event highlights the depth and breadth of the printmaking community in Upstate NY. The public will have the opportunity to purchase artwork directly from participating artists Sue Leopard, Maria Savka, Kurt Feurherm, Audrey Freedman, Barbara Fox, Kristine Bouyoucos, Catherine Shuman Miller, and Heather Swenson. Admission is $2, and free for Print Club of Rochester and Rochester Contemporary members. For more information, call 461-2222 or visit rochestercontemporary.org.