News


In the News

Flower City Arts Center empowers students to share stories through photography

by Sergio Cruel | Spectrum News 1 | Nov. 12, 2024

Art can provide a powerful outlet for individuals to express their unique voices. Through mediums like painting, photography and sculpture, artists communicate personal experiences and social issues, inspiring conversation and change.


Veterans Day events in the Rochester area honor those who served for freedom

by Editor | 13 WHAM | Nov. 11, 2024

"The image is titled Chess Masters, and it kind of puts a playful image on a darker subject," said explained artist Christopher Cilento, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran. "It goes into the duality of my mind. The push and pull between darkness and light. For me, it's been a way to get all the stuff that's in my head and get it out, where I can work with it."


Veterans convey intimate, honest expressions of imagery through the Odyssey Project

by Kori Sciandra | The Daily News Batavia | Nov. 11, 2024

Through reflection and intrepidity, combat veterans participating in the Odyssey Project have created pieces of art and images that “create safety and trust through the creative process,” with the guidance of Odyssey Project Founder Brendan Bannon.


‘My, My, Tiger’s Eye’ exhibition brings graduate student artwork to the Rochester community

by Felicia Swartzenberg | RIT University News | Sept. 19, 2024

"'It is crucial for an artist to see their work in public. Looking at works-in-progress in the studio can seem myopic, and seeing the finished piece unencumbered in a gallery setting is a chance for clarity,' said [Ceramics Director Kate] Whorton. 'Art is a connection point between people, between the artist and the viewer, and the feedback from a well-received exhibit can be instructive and crucial for young artists.'"


Depth of field: Photography educator Mark J. Watts brings community into focus.

by Jessica L. Pavia | CITY | June 25, 2024

"'There's nothing like teaching,' said Watts. 'When I see that light bulb go off---and I have that opportunity plenty of times where people are walking in never seeing a darkroom before, and then they get it because I've helped them--- that's so rewarding for me.'"


Six CCSD students selected for summer ceramics residency program

by Editor | Westside News | June 23, 2024

Six Churchville-Chili Senior High School ceramic artists will have the opportunity to participate in a new high school residency program through Flower City Arts Center this summer.


Social justice self-portraits take the spotlight in 'Pass Us the Mic'

by Patrick Hosken | CITY | May 24, 2024

The idea of using the human body as a canvas is often invoked with regard to tattoos and other corporeal modification. But for Rashaad Parker, a filmmaker who runs the Expanding the Field after-school program at the Flower City Arts Center, the concept allows students to explore how their work intersects with broader issues.


Press Releases

Witness the Journey Home from War: The Odyssey Project Comes to Rochester

(Rochester, NY – Flower City Arts Center, 713 Monroe Ave.) - In photographs and cyanotype self-portraits, 75 veterans show us the deeply personal impact of combat. Over the past five years, the veterans of the Odyssey Project have made these intimate photographs—meaningful images crafted from memory, love, loss, and war. These images explore the themes of the warrior’s return in an epic visual poem. [ Read the full PDF Press Release]


Expanding the Field program invites Ceramist Dr. Sharif Bey for an Artist Demo & Class.

(Rochester, NY – Flower City Arts Center, 713 Monroe Ave.) Dr. Sharif Bey, renowned ceramicist and college professor, will give a live wheel demonstration and lecture on Saturday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Dr. Bey’s sculptures are inspired by modernism, functional pottery, Oceanic Art, and Art of the African diaspora. Read the full PDF Press Release

George Eastman Museum to open newest exhibition space, Gallery Obscura, featuring Studio 678 Photo Club

(Rochester, N.Y., March 3, 2023) —Gallery Obscura, George Eastman Museum’s newest exhibition space, is set to open on Saturday, March 4. The inaugural exhibit will be produced in collaboration with the Flower City Arts Center and will run through June 1. [Read the full PDF Press Release]


Flower City Arts Center Announces Kristin A. Rapp as New Executive Director

(ROCHESTER, NY - February 23, 2023) The Flower City Arts Center Board has announced that Kristin A. Rapp has been appointed as the Center’s new Executive Director, effective February 20th, 2023. Kristin A. Rapp comes to Flower City Arts Center having woven together a colorful array of arts, education, healing, and leadership experiences. [Read the full PDF Press Release]


Film Explosion

(ROCHESTER, NY– January 13, 2023) — Explore the “explosion” of interest in film photography at Flower City Arts Center, located in a historic former firehouse at 713 Monroe Ave. The Photography and Digital Arts department (formerly known as Community Darkroom) of Flower City Arts Center was established in 1977 by Visual Studies Workshop graduate student Anne Beach. [Read the full PDF Press Release]


Title of the document