Staticfree Blog

One of the main things I've discovered about Rochester is that all the good stuff is hidden. There are nice walkways along the riverside and canal - paths that go all the way from across my street to the downtown area. There are wonderful small restaurants, like First Taste Grill on Park Ave. which has amazing french toast. But, unless a local told you about them, you probably wouldn't find them.

No local told me about Artisan Works until just yesterday - and I've lived here for 5 years. This place is the Disney Land of local artistry and art collection - it's huge. I spent a number of hours there and didn't get to see all of it, let alone absorb it all in any detail. Every square foot of wall - including hallways and stairways - has art hanging on it. In one place, even the ceiling has pieces hanging from it.

There is a section they call The Workshop and Blvd. Geribaldi which has the work of the Artisan Works resident artists displayed everywhere. The resident artists have workshops there where people can see more of their work.

I was brought there by Mark Groaning who makes (amongst other things) spherical geometric figures out of metal. His work is found all around Artisan Works - mostly laser-cut metal designs, but also paintings as well.

We were very lucky and were given a tour by Louis Perticone, the director of the place. He showed us absolutely everything, including one particularly long hall there had an enormous number of master works. I was quite impressed by the Salvidor Dali collection, but liked more some of their other collections (whose info I neglected to copy down).

As the entire place is non-profit, they partially support themselves by hosting parties. Apparently there was one recently that I was told I was invited to (although having received no invitation, I'm not entirely sure if that's the case). Hopefully RIT has another event there - I'd love to go back.

The more I look into this place, the more I find that no one in Rochester seems to know it exists. It's an impressive place - certainly not something one can experience in even one visit. Tina and I will be going back sometime soon - anyone care to join us?