2019 Exhibitions & Events
Heather Swenson’s newest project Observation Towers combines the artist’s interest in printmaking and sculpture and brings her work into a public space for the first time. Through mimicking parts of their surroundings while simultaneously pulling visual information from other spaces, these structures...
Crafting Democracy showcases how objects of material culture can provoke and engage everyday citizens, including those of marginalized identities, as productive tools in deliberative democracies. Craft can also aid those wanting their voices to be amplified through the process of...
Help add color, through a yarn intervention at this site, to honor the work of the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, who invited Douglass to speak at Corinthian Hall (now a parking lot) on July 5, 1852, where he delivered...
Visual Studies Workshop is pleased to present new works recently made in Rochester, NY by contemporary artists that approach or call for changes to current world subjects including, but not limited to environment, immigration, health, race, policy, social awareness, feminism,...
October 4, 2019
Rochester, NY artist Megan Sullivan’s video Sister Moon, is a meditative look at the feminine nature of water and the moon. The spiritual character calls to the viewer to ruminate on the sacred, sustaining and regenerative nature of the elements....
This interactive video installation by W. Michelle Harris names some of the Black people who lived in this area prior to the Civil War as a mode of remembrance—a simultaneous street-side and waterfront wake. Though they are often rendered invisible...
Build the world you wish to see with Blockitecture, a set of architectural building blocks that can be stacked and nested to create towers, cities and dwellings in various configurations. Inspired by our current moment and our changing city, Blockitecture...
*DELAYED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE* Parking (Lots of Love): Anna and Frederick Douglass’s 1st Rochester Home” The Douglass Family lived in a house on Alexander Street from 1848-1851, their first home when they moved to Rochester. Now it’s a parking lot...
*Screening on Thursdays & Saturdays, 59 mins Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies, 1994 by John Maybury (b. 1958, London) is a landmark work, in terms of its use of high-end post-production techniques and visual f/x to construct an...
43ºN by 77°W is an exhibition of abstract contemporary photography investigating the effects of geographic climate on the industrial landscapes. Dating back to the 19th century Rochester, N.Y. has a been a hub for innovative thinking, modern manufacturing technology, and...
14 Plots (Spill File No. 0650898) is a site-specific installation by Colin Lyons which memorializes the environmental legacy of 62-64 Scio Street. On August 31, 2006, an oil leak was discovered during the removal of a 2,000 gallon underground storage...
Permeable membranes like shelter, skin, city, and identity separate as well as connect insides and outsides. Where does one begin and the other end? Inside Out is a group exhibition of new and recent works curated by Colleen Buzzard. Image:...
Visions of Public Art is an exhibition of imagined public art installations in Rochester, New York. As the proposed installations are all in theory, there are no physical, budgetary, or legal restraints on their design. The final exhibition will consist...
Michael Goldman/Consolidated Studios (San Francisco, CA / b. Rochester, NY) considers himself part craftsman, part entertainer and part teacher. Employing ample humor Urban Pictograms expand upon his early signage experiments from San Francisco which made obvious some of the darker...
Parcel 5 will be transformed into the biggest canvas in Rochester during Current Seen. Local artists will design a work entitled Midtown Mandala, using gravel as the active medium. Community volunteers will use brooms to sweep an acre-sized mandala to...
Hit the street each week to find the latest in this new series of paintings and public installations by Thievin’ Stephen. About the Artist Thievin’ Stephen (Rochester, NY) cuts through stencils, samples, and the world we inherited, in search of...
*Screening on Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays Avatar Poetics is a program of videos by artists who use animation, digitally mediated modes of performance, and computer-generated characters to explore themes of the virtual ‘self’ as it relates to queerness, cyberfeminism, fantasy world-building,...
Rochester’s history with racial division is not unlike other cities in this nation. In spite of contributions that span generations, communities of color continue to struggle under the weight of biased policies. Pluralistic trends have done little to dampen motivations...
Best Foot Forward explores the intimate connection between walking, thinking and making. This exhibition brings together artwork that is the outcome of walking; of being a pedestrian in a specific place and time as a way of knowing and connecting...
For 30 years, FUA Krew has grown from a local group of graffiti artists into a collection of some of the top graffiti artists from around the world. Experience their progression as seen through their own eyes. Featuring never-before-seen historical...
Read Art @ Greenwood is a performative exhibition that embeds artists books in the stacks of Greenwood Books, a beloved independently owned and operated used bookstore adjacent to Rochester Contemporary Arts Center. Artists books from independent publishers and presses, art...
In this series the artist Mara Ahmed has re-created her own history by using old, black and white photographs of her ancestors, juxtaposing them against South Asian architectural details, and subverting boundaries by placing them on the wrong side of...
A feminist series of artworks by Siena Pullinzi focusing on the objectification of the female body, sex, and the internal conflicts of loneliness and isolation. Women depicted in these prints are a self reflection of how these topics coexist on...
Games for Windows: Experiments with Game Footage is a store-front window exhibition curated by Nilson Carroll at The Liquor Store in Rochester, NY. Expanding the tradition of cinema and games, each artist uses various gestures of play to create experimental video...
State of the City brings together a range of artists from various backgrounds and artistic practices. Each of the projects featured in this exhibition examine different cultures, communities, and stories that exist within our city. This effort also continues a...
Join the Rochester Art Collectors for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art, walking from Visual Studies Workshop to Rochester Contemporary Art Center. Each venue will host a brief presentation. This program is FREE and open to the...
It is not enough to not be a racist. Join Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI), Rochester Contemporary Art Center, and other partners for a walk across our city and show your commitment to supporting race equity in Rochester. The ANTIRACIST...
A cohort of photographers, born between 1950 and 1970, committed themselves to documenting these struggles for social change as they unfolded. Progressive and independent, some published their work in The Village Voice, the nation’s first alternative newsweekly, and some joined...
Art writing, reporting and criticism are key components that support a thriving, dynamic art scene. While CITY Newspaper and WXXI warrant considerable praise for their promotion and coverage of the visual arts, there is equally a consensus that the Rochester...
November 1, 2019
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
Are you a business or property owner in Downtown Rochester? We want you to be part of Current Seen 2021! This year, Current Seen presents art exhibitions, public art and storefront pop-ups along East Avenue and Main Street. In addition...
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
The term “curating” has become common parlance in the business world and in the popular culture. Retailers tell us they curate their inventory. Coffee roasters and craft brewers tell us curate their raw materials. Our friends tell us they curate...
November 15, 2019
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
Join social artist Ray Ray Mitrano for an overview of this un-permitted monthly creative protest, how it was funded, and the broader context of urbanist activism mixing into the gentrification of Rochester’s downtown. A slideshow presentation of Parcel 5 Community...
Crafting Democracy showcases how objects of material culture can provoke and engage everyday citizens, including those of marginalized identities, as productive tools in deliberative democracies. Craft can also aid those wanting their voices to be amplified through the process of...
Visions of Public Art is an exhibition of imagined public art installations in Rochester, New York. As the proposed installations are all in theory, there are no physical, budgetary, or legal restraints on their design. The final exhibition will consist...
State of the City brings together a range of artists from various backgrounds and artistic practices. Each of the projects featured in this exhibition examine different cultures, communities, and stories that exist within our city. This effort also continues a...
Visual Studies Workshop is pleased to present new works recently made in Rochester, NY by contemporary artists that approach or call for changes to current world subjects including, but not limited to environment, immigration, health, race, policy, social awareness, feminism,...
A feminist series of artworks by Siena Pullinzi focusing on the objectification of the female body, sex, and the internal conflicts of loneliness and isolation. Women depicted in these prints are a self reflection of how these topics coexist on...
In this series the artist Mara Ahmed has re-created her own history by using old, black and white photographs of her ancestors, juxtaposing them against South Asian architectural details, and subverting boundaries by placing them on the wrong side of...
Read Art @ Greenwood is a performative exhibition that embeds artists books in the stacks of Greenwood Books, a beloved independently owned and operated used bookstore adjacent to Rochester Contemporary Arts Center. Artists books from independent publishers and presses, art...
For 30 years, FUA Krew has grown from a local group of graffiti artists into a collection of some of the top graffiti artists from around the world. Experience their progression as seen through their own eyes. Featuring never-before-seen historical...
Best Foot Forward explores the intimate connection between walking, thinking and making. This exhibition brings together artwork that is the outcome of walking; of being a pedestrian in a specific place and time as a way of knowing and connecting...
*Screening on Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays Avatar Poetics is a program of videos by artists who use animation, digitally mediated modes of performance, and computer-generated characters to explore themes of the virtual ‘self’ as it relates to queerness, cyberfeminism, fantasy world-building,...
Permeable membranes like shelter, skin, city, and identity separate as well as connect insides and outsides. Where does one begin and the other end? Inside Out is a group exhibition of new and recent works curated by Colleen Buzzard. Image:...
43ºN by 77°W is an exhibition of abstract contemporary photography investigating the effects of geographic climate on the industrial landscapes. Dating back to the 19th century Rochester, N.Y. has a been a hub for innovative thinking, modern manufacturing technology, and...
*Screening on Thursdays & Saturdays, 59 mins Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies, 1994 by John Maybury (b. 1958, London) is a landmark work, in terms of its use of high-end post-production techniques and visual f/x to construct an...
Build the world you wish to see with Blockitecture, a set of architectural building blocks that can be stacked and nested to create towers, cities and dwellings in various configurations. Inspired by our current moment and our changing city, Blockitecture...
Heather Swenson’s newest project Observation Towers combines the artist’s interest in printmaking and sculpture and brings her work into a public space for the first time. Through mimicking parts of their surroundings while simultaneously pulling visual information from other spaces, these structures...
Help add color, through a yarn intervention at this site, to honor the work of the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, who invited Douglass to speak at Corinthian Hall (now a parking lot) on July 5, 1852, where he delivered...
Games for Windows: Experiments with Game Footage is a store-front window exhibition curated by Nilson Carroll at The Liquor Store in Rochester, NY. Expanding the tradition of cinema and games, each artist uses various gestures of play to create experimental video...
Rochester’s history with racial division is not unlike other cities in this nation. In spite of contributions that span generations, communities of color continue to struggle under the weight of biased policies. Pluralistic trends have done little to dampen motivations...
Hit the street each week to find the latest in this new series of paintings and public installations by Thievin’ Stephen. About the Artist Thievin’ Stephen (Rochester, NY) cuts through stencils, samples, and the world we inherited, in search of...
Parcel 5 will be transformed into the biggest canvas in Rochester during Current Seen. Local artists will design a work entitled Midtown Mandala, using gravel as the active medium. Community volunteers will use brooms to sweep an acre-sized mandala to...
Michael Goldman/Consolidated Studios (San Francisco, CA / b. Rochester, NY) considers himself part craftsman, part entertainer and part teacher. Employing ample humor Urban Pictograms expand upon his early signage experiments from San Francisco which made obvious some of the darker...
14 Plots (Spill File No. 0650898) is a site-specific installation by Colin Lyons which memorializes the environmental legacy of 62-64 Scio Street. On August 31, 2006, an oil leak was discovered during the removal of a 2,000 gallon underground storage...
*DELAYED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE* Parking (Lots of Love): Anna and Frederick Douglass’s 1st Rochester Home” The Douglass Family lived in a house on Alexander Street from 1848-1851, their first home when they moved to Rochester. Now it’s a parking lot...
This interactive video installation by W. Michelle Harris names some of the Black people who lived in this area prior to the Civil War as a mode of remembrance—a simultaneous street-side and waterfront wake. Though they are often rendered invisible...
October 4, 2019
Rochester, NY artist Megan Sullivan’s video Sister Moon, is a meditative look at the feminine nature of water and the moon. The spiritual character calls to the viewer to ruminate on the sacred, sustaining and regenerative nature of the elements....
It is not enough to not be a racist. Join Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI), Rochester Contemporary Art Center, and other partners for a walk across our city and show your commitment to supporting race equity in Rochester. The ANTIRACIST...
Join social artist Ray Ray Mitrano for an overview of this un-permitted monthly creative protest, how it was funded, and the broader context of urbanist activism mixing into the gentrification of Rochester’s downtown. A slideshow presentation of Parcel 5 Community...
Join the Rochester Art Collectors for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art, walking from Visual Studies Workshop to Rochester Contemporary Art Center. Each venue will host a brief presentation. This program is FREE and open to the...
A cohort of photographers, born between 1950 and 1970, committed themselves to documenting these struggles for social change as they unfolded. Progressive and independent, some published their work in The Village Voice, the nation’s first alternative newsweekly, and some joined...
Art writing, reporting and criticism are key components that support a thriving, dynamic art scene. While CITY Newspaper and WXXI warrant considerable praise for their promotion and coverage of the visual arts, there is equally a consensus that the Rochester...
November 1, 2019
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
Are you a business or property owner in Downtown Rochester? We want you to be part of Current Seen 2021! This year, Current Seen presents art exhibitions, public art and storefront pop-ups along East Avenue and Main Street. In addition...
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
The term “curating” has become common parlance in the business world and in the popular culture. Retailers tell us they curate their inventory. Coffee roasters and craft brewers tell us curate their raw materials. Our friends tell us they curate...
November 15, 2019
Have you visited Rochester’s Small Venue Biennial for contemporary art, yet? Join us for a tour of CURRENT SEEN venues and public art on the following Friday nights. Each venue will include a brief presentation from artists and curators with...
Join social artist Ray Ray Mitrano for an overview of this un-permitted monthly creative protest, how it was funded, and the broader context of urbanist activism mixing into the gentrification of Rochester’s downtown. A slideshow presentation of Parcel 5 Community...
2019 Sites
Core Venues, Framework Venues, and Public Art
Big Ideas. Small Venues.
Current Seen supports the region’s growing contemporary art community by bringing new curatorial voices and new artists together near East Ave. and Main St., connecting audiences along these historic streets. Core Venues (Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester Public Library, Visual Studies Workshop, and RIT City Space, and Framework Venues (galleries, community and alternative spaces, and pop-up venues) will host curated exhibitions of local and national artists related to the general theme: our current moment / our changing city.
Background
In 2015, Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) inherited the brand “Rochester Biennial” from The Memorial Art Gallery. RoCo’s goal was to work with other small & mid-sized venues to build a multi-site contemporary art program in Downtown Rochester. For the 2017 edition RBNL, RoCo, VSW, and RIT City Art Space (then Gallery r) each presented exhibitions which investigated collaboration and influence. Curated experiences, a Placemaking Processional, and a series of progressive artist talks linked the venues.
A Small Venue Biennial
Now focus branded, Current Seen expands upon the 2017 program to bring together more community partners and create a contiguous string of contemporary visual art exhibitions, pop-ups, and public art along East Ave. and Main St. This geographic focus addresses the corridor as both a dividing line and a connective thread.
Current Seen draws upon various models, yet is dedicated to supporting Rochester’s small and mid-sized venues who are committed to advancing the regional art community. Like the influential 4th Berlin Biennial was built upon the historic and complicated Auguststraße, Current Seen laces together programs near some of Rochester’s most recognizable addresses, and offers a new history of the corridor by Gerry Szymanski and Kyle Semmel. Like Rochester’s own Wall Therapy has mixed international and local artists to build a highly visible mural arts program, Current Seen features artists ranging from the legendary British filmmaker John Maybury to regionally emerging artists exhibiting in their first solo exhibition post-graduation.
Building upon First Friday, Current Seen is intended to foster collaboration, help spaces achieve greater collective impact, celebrate the act of curation, and aid artists in reaching new expanded audiences. The list of programs includes more than 20 exhibitions and events organized by both experienced and emerging curators spanning three generations. Organizers are named on each individual exhibition page. A series of Thursday night after parties are planned and will be hosted by Current Seen partners. The lead organizer of Current Seen is Bleu Cease, Executive Director of RoCo.
Sites & Hours
Sites are within 2 blocks of East Ave. & Main St. between Prince St. & King St. Most exhibitions will open to the public on First Friday October 4. Nearly all venues will be open Thursdays 1-5pm, Fridays 1-9pm, and Saturdays 1-5pm. Some venues are open additional hours. Exhibitions are free or nearly free. Public Art projects are available to be experienced 24/7.
Partners
Many organizations and groups are committed to supporting Current Seen including Arts in the Loop and The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester. See all Partners and exhibition sponsors here.
The mission of Arts In The Loop is to energize Rochester’s center city by leveraging the Arts, Entertainment and Media sectors. Arts in the Loop shares the enthusiasm for the theme: our current moment / our changing city and will organize several projects as part of Current Seen furthering their research and audience engagement.
The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester is a nonprofit corporation and industry association serving arts, culture, and heritage in our region.
Thanks to all our partners as we work together to further advance and celebrate contemporary art in Downtown Rochester in 2019, 2021 and beyond.
Want to get involved?
1. Curate an Exhibition
There is still time to organize a project in one of several available spaces, or other possible locations along East Ave. & Main St. We’ve asked that all Framework Venues make a few basic commitments. If you are interested, please email us (exhibitions@rochestercontemporary.org) right away.
2. Adopt a Framework Venue
Several spaces are extending their capacity to be a part of, and to help build Current Seen. They need your help. Please contact the venue curator directly if you would like to volunteer or donate to a project.
3. Help Promote and Attend
Mark your calendar for the opening receptions on First Friday October 4 and make sure you visit all the projects before November 17. Follow us: @CurrentSeenROC
4. Write about our current scene
We are seeking to encourage new and diverse art writing, expand the reach of Current Seen programming, and convey Rochester’s art community to a larger public. Contact Sarah Webb (sew.rochester@gmail.com) for more information.
September 5, 2019
October 22, 2022
November 15, 2019
November 8, 2019
November 1, 2019