For a city our size, we’ve got plenty of culture. There’s
enough for every taste and energy level, but not too much to overwhelm. Here’s
only a partial list; check the weekly calendar in City for information on other groups, venues, and specific events.
Visual arts
A\V 8 Public
Market, 423-0320, www.avspace.org | newer, small space in Rochester’s Public
Market, hosts contemporary out-of-the-mainstream visual, media, and music
artists
Anderson Alley
Artists 250 North Goodman Street, #212,461-3940 | three floors of artists’ studios, open to the public once a
month on Second Saturdays
ArtisanWorks 565 Blossom Road, Suite L, 288-7170, www.artisanworks.net | 40,000 square feet
completely covered with art, home to Elizabeth Collection and 25 artists’
studios
Arts & Cultural
Council 277 North Goodman Street, 473-4000, www.artsrochester.org | The
organization that represents and organizes local artists now shows area work on
its remodeled first floor.
Center at High Falls 60
Browns Race, 325-2030, www.centerathighfalls.org | in the historic High Falls
district, both a museum of local history and an art gallery devoted to local
artists.
1570 Gallery 1570
East Avenue, 770-1923 | an art gallery inside a senior living complex, displays
work by local and national artists
4 Walls Gallery 34 Elton Street | a brand-new space at 34 Elton Street, a growing arts center
Genesee Center for
the Arts 713 Monroe Avenue, 271-5183 | home to Genesee Pottery and the
Community Darkroom, both of which offer classes, space to work, and galleries
George Eastman House 900 East Avenue, 271-3361, www.eastmanhouse.org | once the estate of Eastman
Kodak founder George Eastman, now home to the International Museum of
Photography and Film, including photography exhibits, one of the world’s oldest
film archives, and the Dryden Theater, where movies are screened almost every
evening.
International
Art Acquisitions 3300 Monroe Avenue, 264-1400,
www.internationalartacquisitions.com | thousands of works, with an emphasis on
18th- and 19th-century American and European paintings
Little Theatre Cafรฉ 240
East Avenue, 232-3906 | a popular pit-stop before or after a movie, as well as
its own destination for live jazz and artwork on the walls
Memorial Art Gallery 500 University Avenue, 473-7720, mag.rochester.edu | Rochester’s art museum:
The permanent collection has 10,000 works from 5,000 years of history. It may
be New York State’s most comprehensive art collection outside of the New York
City.
Mill Art Center and
Gallery 61 North Main Street, Honeoye Falls, 624-7740 | studio space for
workshops and an adjacent gallery
Nan Miller Gallery 3450 Winton Place, 292-1430, www.nanmillergallery.com | shows a variety of
styles: pop, abstract, realism
Oxford Gallery 267
Oxford Street, 271-5885, www.oxfordgallery.com | 40-year-old independent
gallery, a solid, prestigious presence on the local scene
Rochester
Contemporary 137 East Avenue, 461-2222 | devoted to keeping contemporary
arts alive in downtown Rochester; a good bet for multimedia work,
installations, as well as alternative 2-D work
Williams Gallery First Unitarian Church, 220 South Winton Road, 586-6085 | artwork on display in
the Louis Kahn-designed church building
Visual Studies
Workshop 31 Prince Street, 442-8676, www.vsw.org | the area’s media-studies
hub offers community and degree (an MFA in visual studies through SUNY
Brockport) classes in photography, visual books, film/video, and digital media.
The Siskind Gallery, The Collector’s Gallery, and Bookstore have a variety of
work.
At the colleges
Finger Lakes
Community College Williams-Insalaco
Gallery 34 4355 Lakeshore Dr, Canandaigua, 394-3500
Monroe Community
College Mercer Gallery 1000 East
Henrietta Road, 292-2021
Rochester Institute
of TechnologyBevier GalleryJames E Booth Building, 475-7680 | Gallery r775 Park Avenue, 242-9470, www.rit.edu/~galleryr | NTID Dyer Arts Center Johnson Building,
475-6855 | SPAS Gallery Gannett Bldg
7B, 475-2770
SUNY Brockport Tower Fine Arts Center and Rainbow Gallery 180
Holley Street, Brockport, 395-2805
SUNY Geneseo Lederer Gallery Brodie Hall, 245-5211 | Lockhart Gallery McClellan House, PHONE
| Opus Gallery MacVittie College
Union, 245-5516
University of
Rochester Gallery at the Art and
Music Library Rush Rhees Library, River Campus, 275-4476 | Hartnett Gallery Wilson Commons, River
Campus, 275-4188 | Rare Books and Special
Collections Library River Campus, 275-4477 | Rossell Hope Robbins Library Rush Rhees Library, River Campus,
275-0110
Museums
ARTWalk University Avenue, 234-6670, www.rochesterartwalk.org | interactive, outdoor
museum along University Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts
Center at High Falls 60 Browns Race, 325-2030, www.centerathighfalls.org | Rochester history, great
view of the historic High Falls
Charlotte-Genesee
Lighthouse Museum off Lake Avenue, 621-6179 | nautical and lighthouse
memorabilia, tours into the lighthouse tower
Ganondagan 1488
State Route 444, Victor, 742-1690, www.ganondagan.org | site where thousands of
Seneca people lived 300 years ago; hiking trails, visitors’ center, special
events
Genesee Country
Village and Museum 1410 Flint Hill Road, Mumford, 538-6822, www.gcv.org
| a reproduction 19th-century village, open in the summer complete with a
old-time baseball league; the adjacent nature center is open year-round.
Geneva Historical
Society Museum 543 South Main Street, Geneva, 789-5151,
www.genevahistoricalsociety.com | exhibits and events celebrating local history
Honeoye Falls-Mendon
Historical Society Museum 1 Allen Park Drive, Honeoye Falls, 624-9803,
624-1611 | exhibits and events celebrating local history
NewYork Museum of Transportation 6393 East
River Road, 533-1113, www.nymtmuseum.org | antique trolleys, vehicles,
memorabilia, model railroad and track car rides
Rochester Museum and
Science Center 657 East Avenue, 271-1880, www.rmsc.org | a
science museum for kids with rotating exhibits that make science fun, also
houses the Strasenburgh Planetarium,
where there are star shows and big-screen movies
Sonnenberg Mansion
and Gardens 151 Charlotte Street, Canandaigua, 394-4922, www.sonnenberg.org
| 19th-century mansion and formal gardens
Seneca
Park Zoo 2222 St Paul Street, 467-9453, www.senecazoo.org | the zoo,
with all the requisite animals and educational events for families; open 364
days a year
Strong Museum 1
Manhattan Square, 263-2700, www.strongmuseum.org | children’s museum hosts
rotating exhibits, tons of events; see the reproduction of Sesame Street, the
play grocery store, and the National Toy Hall of Fame
Susan B. Anthony
House 17 Madison Street, 235-6124 ext 19 | the old abode of that suffragist
and civil rights activist, including the porch where she was arrested for
voting
Poetry and literature
Blackstorytelling
League of Rochester 234-7710, www.blackstorytellingleague.org | promotes
African cultural arts and expression through storytelling
Boa EditionsLimited 260 East Avenue, 546-3410,
boaeditions.org | not-for-profit poetry publishing house; more than 150 titles,
several award-winning
Brockport Writers
Forum SUNY Brockport, 395-5713, www.brockport.edu/wforum/ | an impressive
reading series that brings writers and poets
HazMat Review www.hazmatlitreview.org
| literary journal that is made by and publishes local writers
Lake Affect Magazine 288-4239, www.lakeaffectmag.com | community magazine with a dedication to
publishing creative work
Pure Kona Poetry Daily
Perks Coffee House, 389 Gregory Street | long-running open mic series,
religiously held every Thursday
Rochester Arts
& Lectures 546-8658, www.artsandlectures.org | the lecture series that
brings most of the big-name writers to town, almost always a sell-out
Writers & Books 740
University Avenue, 473-2590, www.wab.org | a community literary center,
offering classes and events in all writing genres, including the Genesee
Reading Series and If All of Rochester Read the Same Book.
Dance
Bush Mango Drum & Dance 34 Elton
Street, 235-3960, www.bushmango.com | community classes, workshops for city
kids, and performances in West African drumming and dancing
Elizabeth Clark Dance
Ensemble 442-5988 | performance and education group, offers modern dance
concerts and community classes in different locations
Garth Fagan Dance 50 Chestnut Street, 454-3260, www.garthfagandance.org | We are shameless
braggarts when it comes to the Tony Award-winning, world-traveled
choreographer. The troupe performs at least one weekend of concerts in the area
each year, and children can take advantage of the Imagination dance classes.
Hallmark Danceworks www.hallmarkdanceworks.org | non-profit modern dance company
Park Avenue Dance 461-2766, www.parkavenuedancecompany.org | offers ongoing classes, also
presents modern-dance concerts and brings in visiting choreographers for master
classes/performances
Rochester City Ballet
1326 University Avenue, 461-5850, www.rochestercityballet.org | an
excellent, growing nonprofit company, performs The Nutcracker with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra every year
Rochester Swing Dance
Network 244-2815, www.rochesterswingdance.com | holds weekly, participatory
dances, often with live music
SUNY Brockport 350
New Campus Drive, Brockport, 395-2787, brockport.edu/finearts | a great dance
program yields several performances throughout the year
Yevshan Ukrainian
Dance Ensemble 477-5852, yevshan_ukies.tripod.com | nonprofit group,
performs at events and schools
Theater
AKWAABA: The Heritage
Association 482-5192, www.akwaabatours.org | reenacts Underground Railroad
stories and other stories from the time of Rochester’s abolitionist movement
Blackfriars Theatre 28
Lawn Street, 454-1260, www.blackfriars.org | a solid, mid-sized professional
theater in a remodeled church in the East End, puts on five shows a year with
local talent
Bread and Water
Theatre www.breadandwatertheatre.org | a newer, fresh, non-profit theater
group on the scene, offers an annual Rainbow Theatre Festival devoted to gay
themes
Downstairs Cabaret
Theatre 20 Windsor Street, 172 West Main Street, and 540 East Main Street,
325-4370, www.downstairscabaret.com | an amazingly prolific theater staging
cabarets, musicals, comedies, and straight-up dramas in three locations; the
indefatigable I Love You, You’re Perfect,
Now Change has been running for four years. We can’t get enough.
Geva Comedy Improv 232-4382, www.gevatheatre.org | they pull it out of a hat, and it’s hysterical;
late-night weekend shows with cheap beer at the Geva Theatre Center
Geva Theatre Center 75
Woodbury Boulevard, 232-4382, www.gevatheatre.org | the largest regional
professional theater, there’s always something on either the traditional main
stage or the NextStage, reserved for newer works
Greater Rochester
Repertory Companies 624-8360, www.grrc-arts.org | nonprofit theater that
puts on several shows a year, also runs a summer performing arts program for
kids
JCCenterstage Jewish Community Center, 1200 Edgewood Avenue, 461-2000 | professional
community theater, uses local actors, also has a play reading series
A Magical Journey
Thru Stages 935-7173, www.mjstages.com | a multi-generational troupe that
stages Broadway musical revues for charity
Nuts and Bolts Comedy
Improv 503-7815, www.nutsandboltsimprov.com | very funny, off-the-cuff
humor, shows about once a month at Downstairs Cabaret Theatre
Off-Monroe Players 234-0500, www.off-monroeplayers.org | It’s all Gilbert and Sullivan, twice a
year, for free
Rochester Association
of Performing Arts 727 East Main Street, 325-3366,
www.ggw.org/rapa/index.html | teaches children and adults in music, theater,
and dance and offers a season of plays and musicals
Rochester
Broadway Theatre League 875 East Main Street, 325-7760, www.rbtl.org
| We may get them late, but we get them. Thanks to RBTL, several
big-name Broadway shows make stops at the Auditorium Theatre.
Rochester Children’s
Theater Nazareth College, 4245 East Avenue, 385-0510,
www.rochesterchildrenstheatre.org | shows for young ones; in residence at
Nazareth College
Rochester Community
Players 234-7840 | Rochester’s oldest community theater includes the Irish
Players and the Shakespeare Players, who perform free summer shows at Highland
Park Bowl.
Shipping Dock Theatre Visual Studies Workshop, 31 Prince Street, 232-2250,
www.shippingdocktheatre.org | City theater
critic calls it the “best brave little theater”; despite venue issues,
continues to put forth dedicated treatments of “thinking” plays
TYKEs 875 East
Main Street, 723-6080 | a new group called Theater Young Kids Enjoy, performs
on the Auditorium Theatre’s upstairs stage
University of
Rochester International Theatre Program Todd Theatre, UR River Campus,
275-4088, www.rochester.edu/theatre | a standout college theater group, puts on
experimental, rigorously staged work
This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2005.
