First Friday, no joke

Don’t be an April fool; go check out the multitude of art openings taking place this week. First Friday, the monthly city-wide gallery night, is held by non-profit, university, and commercial and indie art venues in Rochester, where we all trot about from station to station, filling our eyes and ears with what’s new and exciting in our community. On Friday, April 1, 6-9 p.m. (and sometimes later) you can check out art openings, poetry readings, and musical performances in various locations. Visit firstfridayrochester.org for a list of this month’s participating venues, and check out all the flyers in cafes and such for more events happening the same night. Here are just a few:

Rochester Contemporary (137 East Ave., rochestercontemporary.org) and The Surface Design Association will present the “Northeast Regional Contemporary Fiber Exhibit,” with artworks by 22 fiber artists from the region. The reception takes place 6-10 p.m. At FourWalls Art Gallery (179 Atlantic Ave., fourwallsartgallery@gmail.com), a photographic thesis exhibition by Sara Tkac entitled “You Look Just Like Her” will open 6-9 p.m.

During your travels through the Hungerford Building (1115 E. Main St., thehungerford.com) be sure to stop by Crocus Clay Works (Suite 225, 414-5643, crocusclayworks.com) to check out the functional and decorative ceramic wares, as well as “Bears and Brews,” featuring handmade works by John Ballou, the local artist behind JackBear Stamps, as well as local brews, 5-9 p.m. On the first floor, check out “Numb: Portraits from the Pharmaceutical Age,” by Lisa Zarnstorff at Grassroots Gallery (Suite 157, thegrassrootsgallery.com), 5-10 p.m., and artwork by Maidie Andrews at All Things Reggae Art Gallery (Suite 166, mamajahwit@yahoo.com), 6-10 p.m.

 

Check out Ann Porter's stained-glass works in the "Hawks and Doves" exhibit at the Shoe Factory Art Co-op.

“Hawks and Doves: Perspectives on American and the World in Conflict” opens 6-10 p.m. at The Shoe Factory Art Co-op and the Military History Society of Rochester (250 N. Goodman St., Floor 2. 732-0036, shoefactoryarts.com), with art contributed by a horde of 28 local artists, including some of my faves: Jim Mott, Stephen Dorobiala, and Ann Porter. On the same floor, head over to The Blackbird Press studio of Robert Marx (Suite 211-213) for an exhibition and sale of the artist’s paintings, prints, and sculpture, taking place 4:30-8 p.m.

This info-bit originally published on Wednesday in Rochester City Newspaper.

Couple of calls for work…

Happy New Year! One of my goals this year is to post many more calls for work that pop up in and out of Rochester. Here’s a start, with a call from Equal=Grounds coffee house on South Ave:

Click to enlarge!

Also, The Shoe Factory Art Co-op has put out this call for work, for their Valentine’s Day show, entitled “Hearts and Daggers: A Rochester Love Story.”

That’s it for now, but expect a poke with your First Friday preview before noon today – FF is this Friday! Peace, babies.

First Friday 11/5 preview

This brief preview of tonight’s First Friday openings originally printed in Rochester City Newspaper.

Nov FF events include the maiden show hosted by The Shoe Factory Co-op, featuring boot & shoe-themed work. Photo by Michael Rivera.

November seems to be photography exhibit month, but that’s not the only media Rochester has in store for you this First Friday. The monthly city-wide gallery night is held by non-profit, university, and commercial and indie art venues in Rochester, where we all trot about from station to station, filling our eyes and ears with what’s new and exciting in our community. On Friday, November 5, 6-9 p.m. (and sometimes later) you can check out art openings, poetry readings, and musical performances in various locations. Visit firstfridayrochester.org for a list of this month’s participating venues, and check out all the flyers in cafes and such for more events happening the same night. Here are just a few:

Equal Grounds coffee house (750 South Ave, gallery@equalgrounds.com) will host an opening reception for “A Flash of the Surreal,” an exhibition of high-contrast black-and-white photography by Laura Prochilo, 6-8 p.m. “Simplicity” is another photo show of work by the Community Darkroom Monitors, which opens at the Community Darkroom at the Genesee Center for the Arts and Education (713 Monroe Ave, 244-1730) 7-9 p.m.

The Gallery at the Record Archive (33 1/3 Rockwood St., 244-1210) presents works from the “Dreams” series by D.C.-based photographer and painter Tré, with a reception 6-9 p.m. featuring music by Tommy Brunett. And at Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave, 472-2005), John Francis McCarthy shows us “The Finger Lakes: Glimpses of Paradise” and signs books 5-8:30 p.m.

On the new-gallery front, we have painting, sculpture, photography, and more in the “Shoes and Boots: Variations on a Theme” show at the Shoe Factory Art Co-op (250 N. Goodman St., studios 212 & 215, shoefactoryarts.com), a new art collective made up of local artists Jim Mott, Beth Brown, Russ Lunn, and Heather Erwin, and featuring a multitude of local artists. The 6-10 p.m. opening reception will also feature live “sole” music, and guests are encouraged to sport their favorite footwear.