Arts Blog

With beautiful weather forecasted for a good part of the weekend, the time is ripe for a day trip to the lovely Finger Lakes region. Maybe there's a wine tasting, a drive through the sweetly rolling farmlands, or checking out some art. Here's a few suggestions to get you started. For more events, check out the listings in our calendar.

In the historic Victorian village of Clifton Springs, Main Street Arts (20 West Main Street) is currently hosting "Structurally Speaking," a national juried exhibition with a focus on both natural and human-made structure. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, photography, and sculpture by a roster of more than 30 participating artists from 16 states, and includes work by Rochester-based artists Deborah Beardslee, Zach Dietl, Nate Hodge, Namdoo Kim, Tom Kredo, Yoonjee Kwak, and Jean K. Stephens.

The show ends on Saturday, June 30. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (315) 462-0210 or visit mainstreetartsgallery.com.

The summer art exhibit at Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery (71 South Main Street, Canandaigua) opens this weekend. "The Lake Effect" showcases Rohrer's own paintings of the surrounding Finger Lakes region, including gardens, hills and vineyards, wide open skies, charming towns, and the lakes themselves.

A reception for "The Lake Effect" will be held Saturday, May 30, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show continues through August 1. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 394-0030 or visit prrgallery.com.

Enthusiasts of historic photographic methods will especially by interested in seeing "Portraits," an exhibition of wet-plate collodion tintypes and ambrotypes by Jenn Libby that opened over the weekend in the Little Theatre Café (240 East Avenue). A reception for the show will be held tonight, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Invented in 1851, ambrotypes and tintypes were a popular format for portraiture even though they were not reproducible. Victorian in origin, these one-of-a-kind portraits on glass and metal feature modern subjects, and were created locally by Jenn Libby at her Genesee Libby Studio in the Hungerford Building.

A fascinating, time-traveling juxtaposition is found in each image: a kohl-eyed, blonde chick in a fur hat and black leather jacket, a young woman in a Catwoman mask, and a young man in a Bruce Lee t-shirt are all captured in the watery, sepia tones of another era.

"Portraits" continues through June 19. Admission is free, and the café is open Sunday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m.; Friday from 5 to 11 p.m.; and Saturday, from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, call visit geneseelibby.com.

Another installment of the 2015 VSW Spring Film Series will be held Friday, May 29, at Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince Street). At 7 p.m., VSW will show a program of 16mm films by French experimental filmmaker Rose Lowder, exploring the beauty of the botanical world, scenes of daily life in various towns and villages, and extraordinary moments of ordinary existence.

"Lowder's films are methodically composed entirely in camera, using a precise, frame-by-frame technique which, when projected, culminates in an astonishing perceptual experience of light, color, form, and motion," per the press release. The 70-minute program will feature a selection of work from 1978-2009, representing Lowder's ongoing career as an artist working in 16mm film. Admission is a suggested donation of $5. For more information, call 442-8676 or visit vsw.org.

For more events, check out our calendar.

Monday is Memorial Day, so if you work a job that gives you banker's holidays off, you have a three-day weekend. Good for you. If you don't, sorry, but maximize that weekend with some fun events, anyway. Here are a few of our suggestions; for more events, check out the listings in our calendar.

Kick off your weekend on Saturday morning with a trip to the Public Market, and stop by The Yards (50-52 Public Market) to check out Shawnee Hill's pop-up solo show. Hill will present more than 75 original artworks and prints available, depicting elegant women and birds, ominous anatomical studies, and mythically charged mixtures of all of the above. The space is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/theyards.

Since it's a holiday weekend, consider a day trip. Corning Museum of Glass (1 Museum Way, Corning) recently opened a massive exhibition devoted to ancient mold-blown glass. "Ennion and his Legacy: Mold-Blown Glass from Ancient Rome," which runs through January 4, 2016. With 129 works, which includes pieces drawn from CMoG's own collection as well as borrowed items, the show explores the diversity of Roman mold-blown glass in size, shape, and decoration, which was traded across the Mediterranean world. Carefully preserved through the ages, these fragile vessels -- perfume bottles, flasks, and what are believed to be souvenir glasses from chariot races and gladiatorial combats -- provide a glimpse into Roman life, with regards to religion and mythology and celebrity culture surrounding gladiators and Roman empresses.

An educational section of the exhibition will describe the different techniques used to create mold-blown glass forms. And an exhibit-within-the-exhibit, "Ennion: Master of Glass," organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, brings together 24 of the 50 known, still-surviving works by Ennion, a glass artists who transformed the industry, as the first glass artists to sign his works. This part of the exhibit will be on view through October.

CMoG is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $18 for the general public, $9 for Corning residents, and free to members and kids ages 17 and under. For more information on the exhibit and related events, visit cmog.org

Spectrum Gallery (Lumiere Photo, 100 College Avenue) has extended its current show, "Jane Walker:In Search of Things We May Have Lost...," through June 14. In each of her tender black and white images, Walker's subjects -- rural farmers in the Southern Tier -- pose for her with the animals they love.

In one image, a young woman in flip-flops stands on a gravel road, towing a turkey by a leash. A younger girl decked in winter wear cradles a downy hen, its lizard-like claws gripping her coat, and a man seated on a trash can in the threshold of a dark barn proudly hoists a turkey in one hand. "The people in these photographs, their animals, and the places they inhabit are my world -- the world I love -- and there is nothing better than sharing what one loves with others," Walker says.

Lumiere Photo is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit spectrumgalleryroc.com.

When I walk among very old trees, I feel the same sort of peaceful emptiness brought about by examining pictures of the breathtaking cosmos. By peaceful emptiness, I mean the emptying of the stressful crush of human concerns, while contemplating the eternity in which our struggles barely register. The feeling derived from great expanses of time distilled into something observable, yet still hard to fathom, is cleansing in a way.

The work of photographer Rachel Sussman reflects this sentiment, and she travels widely to stand among and document our planet's most elderly inhabitants. Her "The Oldest Living Things in the World" series depicts the usual suspects -- trees -- including California's bristlecone pines, Japan's cedars, Africa's baobabs, an 80,000-year-old "cloud colony" of quaking aspen in Utah, and olive trees on the island of Crete. But Sussman also showcases lichen that's survived Greenland's icy brutality for thousands of years, long-living species of coral, samples of 600,000-year-old bacteria from Siberia, and other fit microbes that have so far beat the odds.

What makes Sussman's photography fascinating and important is not just the subject matter, but the way that she frames it. She includes visual clues on environment, reveals ancient organisms slipping into modern endangerment, captures conservation efforts, and updates her hand-scrawled descriptions to notify viewers of the extinction of organisms that were lush during their close-ups. Sussman's spotlight on some of Earth's most resilient life forms has earned her a 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship and a spot as a featured speaker at the 2010 TED Global conference.

On Thursday, May 21, George Eastman House (900 East Avenue) will host Sussman as part of its ongoing "Wish You Were Here" photography lecture series. During the 6 p.m. talk, Sussman will discuss her "The Oldest Living Things in the World" series, and her work on view in Eastman House's current show, "In the Garden."

Admission to the talk is $10 for the general public, $5 for students, and free to members. The museum's galleries will remain open until 8 p.m. on Thursday, should visitors like to see the shows afterward. For more information, call 271-3361, or visit eastmanhouse.org.

For more events, check out our calendar!

Consider some cultural events for your weekend wanderings. Here are a few of City's suggestions; for more events, check out the listings in our calendar.

"Every great drink starts with a plant," says Amy Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of "The Drunken Botanist." "Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley. Gin was born from a conifer shrub when a Dutch physician added oil of juniper to a clear spirit, believing that juniper berries would cure kidney disorders."

In her book, Stewart discusses the historic intersection of cultivation, chemistry, and concocting a stiff drink. Featuring more than 150 plants, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi, the work includes more than 50 drink recipes, growing tips for gardeners, and witty advice.

On Saturday, May 16, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Stewart will visit Rochester for a book signing and lecture at Broccolo Garden Center (2755 Penfield Road, Fairport). Tickets are $20 per person and advance registration is required. For more information and to secure your seat, visit broccolotreeandlawn.com/giftsandtickets

The Lockhart Gallery at the Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Avenue) is specifically dedicated to hosting shows put together by MAG's curators, and spotlighting work drawn from the gallery's own collections. These exhibitions usually focus on various forms of printmaking, and have a new fascinating theme each time.

The recently-opened show, "In Search of Shadows," includes not only prints, but also paintings and drawings from a variety of artists who have used the universal theme of shadow to depict layers of symbolic, metaphorical, and psychological realms upon our experience of the physical world.

"In Search of Shadows" features serigraphs, lithographs, etchings, woodcuts, watercolors, ink drawings, photographs, and works in other media work by an international collection of artists, including Ernest W. Watson, Paride Castellan, Lyonel Feininger, Andreas Feininger, June Hildebrand, Luciano Guarnieri, Andy Warhol, Grant Wood, Martin Lewis, Edward Hopper, and others.

The moody and at times foreboding images depict our many relationships with shadow -- a familiar house transformed by the night when sleep is disturbed by an intruder, the inviting shadow of a tree on an oppressively hot day, urban walkways crisscrossed by the grids of sun-blocking constructions, sexy silhouettes, the looming specter of persecution and war, and the exciting obscurity the nightlife provides to restless souls.

This show remains on view through August 18. MAG's hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission is $5-12, half price on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. For more information, call 276-8900 or visit mag.rochester.edu.

On Wednesday, May 13, WXXI and University of Rochester Medical Center will host a screening of documentaries by young filmmakers at The Little Theatre (240 East Avenue). The event is part of the Raising 100,000 Voices project, which is in its 10th year and is part of a national outreach effort designed to help us understand the needs of the community from the perspective of the next generation to inherit this world.

The event will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and will feature 11 videos from 50 filmmakers, with topics including safety on public buses, foster care, staying in school, and acceptance of disabilities. Participating filmmakers for this series includes groups from the 209th Regiment of Cadets, Charles Settlement House, Inc., Dazzle School of Visual and Performing Arts, ImagineYOU, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Monroe County Youth on the Move, School No. 39 of the Rochester City School District (RCSD), Frank Fowler Dow School No. 52 (RCSD), and the Office of Mental Health Promotion (OMHP) of the University of Rochester's Department of Psychiatry.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. To learn more, visit http://wxxi.org/education/raising100kvoices/.

ARTISANWorks (565 Blossom Road) has recently acquired the "Art of War" collection of paintings by Canadian artist Viktor Mitic, and will show the work in an exhibition this week. Moved by the destruction of the giant, sixth-century Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban, and with consideration toward our hang-ups about violence and celebrity, Mitic painted images of famous people and iconic works of art, and then outlined the images with bullet holes using guns and live ammunition. The images include Marilyn Monroe, Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy, Madonna, Gandhi, and John Lennon.

"The Art of War" opens to the public on Sunday, May 17, 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free to members and children ages 5 and younger. For more information, call 288-7170, or visit artisanworks.com.

For more events, check out our calendar.

Mother's Day weekend usually entails brunch (OK, let's be real, weekends in general usually entail brunch), but given the glorious weather and loads of exciting things to do, supplement the omelets and mimosas with a side of the arts. Here are a few weekend art suggestions; for more events, check out the listings in our calendar.

On Saturday, May 9, George Eastman House (900 East Avenue) will open "In the Garden," a photography exhibition showcasing images by more than 75 photographers, and spanning the history of photography, from daguerreotype to inkjet prints. Drawn from the museum's unique collection of photographs that explore uses of gardens and how humans cultivate the landscapes that surround them, the show features a wide range of subjects in this theme, from famous locations such as Versailles to the simplest home vegetable garden; worlds imagined by artists, to food production recorded by journalists.

"In the Garden" will remain on view through September 6. Eastman House hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14, $12 for seniors, $5 for students, and free to members and children under 12. Eastman House will also offer a Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday at 10 a.m., and garden tours throughout the month of May. For more information, call 271-3361, or visit eastmanhouse.org.

Also on Saturday, Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince Street) will host "Expanded Cinema," an evening of live performances featuring local artists who use film, video, light, and sound to create interactive cinematic works of art. The performances will feature projections in multiple formats (16mm and Super 8 film, video, slides, overhead projectors and glass lantern slides from the late 1800's) created from the extensive media archives available at Visual Studies Workshop. Participating artists include Tate Shaw, Ray Ray Mitrano, Tara Merenda Nelson, Almudena Escobar Lopez, Curt Markham, and others. The event begins at 7 p.m. and there is a $5 suggested donation. Contact Tara Merenda Nelson at [email protected] or 442-8676 with any questions. Visit vsw.org for more details.

In March, Ock Hee Hale, owner of Ock Hee's Gallery (2 Lehigh Street, Honeoye Falls), announced to customers that due to a sobering health scare, she will simplify her business, which has included a retail store, art gallery, and landscaping design.

"I asked myself the same question that I asked myself 20 years ago when I was planning a business: What is it that you love to do the most?" After much consideration, Hale decided she will close the retail and gallery sides of the business at the end of December 2015, and focus on the gardening that her mother taught her when she was 4 years old.

The second of the final few art shows will open this weekend. A reception for "Namaste," a presentation of the work the 10-woman artist group, D.R.A.W., will be held on Saturday, May 9, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Featured artists include Mary Buchan, Elyse Capell, Jean DeHaven, Connie Ehindero, Christine Knoblauch, Kate Lipsky, Anne Marcello, Carolyn Marshall, Andrea Sands, and Debra VanWert-Sneeringer.

The public is invited to meet the artists and see a performance by the Rochester Women's Chorus, Concentus. "Namaste" will remain on view through June 13. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.

After the gallery and store close, Hale will continue to live in the converted train station at 2 Lehigh Street, and rent out the commercial space. She will also focus on her not-for-profit endeavor for terminally ill individuals that helps people prepare for their own death.

For more events, visit our calendar.

Mayday, mayday! It's First Friday! This weather is perfect, eliciting looks of longing toward the window and fantasies about an early, outdoor dinner and a fun evening of art openings. The following highlights are just a few of the events offered tonight; check out more options listed at firstfridayrochester.org and in our calendar. All events run 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight  and are free to attend unless otherwise stated.

An opening reception for "ReActivate" will be held tonight at Genesee Pottery's Firehouse Gallery (713 Monroe Avenue). The show features ceramics by Emma Moran and Alyssa Lown, who are earning their BFA's from RIT's School for American Crafts. This is a quickie show, so don't sleep on it: "ReActivate" will close on Saturday, May 9. Genesee Pottery hours are Monday through Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 271-5183 or visit geneseearts.com.

Visual Studies Workshop Gallery (31 Prince Street) will host an opening reception for "Marion Faller: Flora and Fauna," an exhibition from the VSW archives featuring selections from three bodies of work by American photographer and VSW alum, Marion Faller (1941-2014): "Second Flora," "Snapshot Anthologies," and the book work, "Resurrection of the Exquisite Corpse."

Opening in VSW's MFA Gallery, "The Educators" features work by VSW alumni who have made an impact on their respective communities through their work as teachers. The majority of works in this exhibition have been drawn from the MFA thesis trace archives in VSW's Research Center. Both this show and "Marion Faller" continue through July 3.

VSW's Project Space will hold a closing reception for Laurie O'Brien's series of collages that explore a world that is becoming both increasingly more connected and distant.

Call 442-8676 or visit vsw.org for more details.

RIT's "Metal Interpretations" will be featured in Rochester Contemporary's RoCo Upstairs Gallery (137 East Avenue, upper floor). The exhibition is a showcase of student work from RIT's School for American Crafts, Jewelry and Metals Design Department, featuring work from students in all years, including both graduate and undergraduate students. For more information, call 461-2222, or visit rochestercontemporary.org.