Sunday, November 10, 2024

Consider Arts & Culture

 


Autumn in New York, we visit The Memorial Art Gallery


This year has been a real merry-go-round, and I did not expect it to be so difficult to comprehend how this election season would end!

We went on a visit to The Memorial Art Gallery to see the new mural in the Hurlbut Gallery, by an artist I had not heard of - Avinash Kumar.  This South Asian has created a large scale painting that  engages a viewer like me, especially because the subject matter is something I have also explored in the past.  It is bold, has geometric elements, it has a flying bird and so much more!



Avinash Kumr mural called: "Illusionary Odyssey"

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It has now been a year since I moved my studio away from the Hungerford Building on East Main Street in Rochester -- out to my home in Fairport, New York - with fresh air and a terrific view!  As we enter the holiday season, I can think about what we just went through,  and I can imagine the past as prologue. I can also  wonder how younger artists ( for example my students who have graduated from R.I.T. ) will deal with their new reality.. everyone has to find and define their own path!

This year started out in a big way for me and my family, and how we move forward is anyone's guess.  I could share with you the way to communicate your ideas about the arts. and cultural situation here in our  region by taking a survey.  I read in the latest CITY Newspaper that there is a planning commission asking for feedback and asking our community for their help by going online to register their own ideas at:
rochesterartsplan.com

We need people to advocate for the arts!  In the visual arts - for example - who reviews some of the many shows that take place in our area?  This is one of the reasons why I write my blog...to at least call out to folks who read this note - there are people who deserve to be noticed, and they bring a richness to this region!

Making a plan is essential, and also knowing how  and when to lobby for funds to promote the arts is necessary, so we need people who can work with us creative types and negotiate the way forward!



Sculpture in my new town of Fairport, New York
by Carlos C. Perez


There are ways we can all move ahead as a community, and I can look forward to the exhibition in the fall of the members who contribute to The Rochester Contemporary show that is coming soon.  I just dropped off a framed print for the show that I call: "Re-Entry".


"Re-Entry", print by Alan Singer soon to be on exhibit at RoCo

Now before I head off to work in my studio, you might want to visit the site that Renee Rose has set up with her online magazine Explore Art.  I gave her an interview earlier this year and here is a link to see this  conversation: