In the Spring of 2020 the Coronavirus pandemic shut down our city as it spread all over the world. Quarantine become the new normal, and our connections with our communities were held together through the virtual worlds of video conferencing, email, and social media. We all had to adapt toward working, learning, teaching, socializing, protesting, and loving from home. Students in the Rochester City School District were transitioned into virtual school while staff at Flower City Arts Center had to quickly adapt programming to fit the new virtual reality.

Flower City Arts Center and School of the Arts (SOTA) teamed up on two projects to offer students opportunities to engage with our virtual youth programs while receiving credit in Susan Rudy’s 9-12th grade art courses in Art History and Photography. Ms. Rudy’s students are full of talent and creativity and Flower City Arts Center’s talented and creative staff provided a platform for them to learn more, make art, and publish a collaborative book.

Over the course four weeks, students explored modern art movements and took inspiration from those explorations to create their own works of art. SOTA @ Home with Flower City Arts Center: Modern Art from Our Perspective is the result, and proudly exhibited here for your enjoyment.

Special Thanks To

SOTA Students of Art History I and II,

Susan Rudy, Teacher, School of the Arts

Kelly Nicastro, Principal, School of the Arts

William & Sheila Konar Foundation

Juliana Muniz, Director of Photography, Flower City Arts Center

Liz Raymonda, Teacher, Flower City Arts Center

Kylie Newcomer, Teacher, Flower City Arts Center