Upcoming Arts Projects
Program | Description | Key Dates |
| Public Art Equity Project: My Rochester | The inaugural Percent for the Arts project created four murals throughout the city. See “Completed and Upcoming Project Descriptions” below for more information. | This project is complete. Visit the completed works at Ave D R-Center, Edgerton R-Center, Lincoln Library, and School #22 |
| Public Art Equity Project: LOCUS:FOCUS | Local artist Almeta Whitis is collecting stories from current and former residents of CONEA/Upper Falls and those stories will be embedded in a mosaic artwork designed by Buffalo artist Nada Odeh. See “Completed and Upcoming Project Descriptions” below for more information. | This project is in progress. Check back for more details! |
| ArtsBloom | ArtsBloom is the Percent for the Arts program dedicated to arts education, literary art, performance art, and visual art. In this year's cycle, $100,000 is available. See the Request for Proposals webpage to learn more here. | Request for Proposals released on March 26, 2025. Proposals due by 11:59 PM EST on Sunday, May 11, 2025. See the RFP webpage for more information! |
| Arts & Culture Plan for the City of Rochester and Monroe County | The City and County are working with a consultant to develop a unified vision for arts and culture, and the goals and actions needed to achieve that vision. | Monitor the progress at the plan webpage here! |
| City Mark Capital Art Project | The project scope calls for an art installation with a focal point at the center of the Sister Cities Bridge that celebrates the "City Mark," the five-petaled symbol of Rochester's "Flour City" past and "Flower City" present that has become a sign of community pride. Click here for more information | The deadline for this RFQ has passed. |
| Children's Art Competition for Peace | Rochester is invited to participate in the annual International Mayors for Peace Children's Art Competition! Children and youth ages 6 to 15 are invited to create and submit a drawing or painting inspired by a specific theme. The top entries are displayed in a special exhibit at the City Hall Link Gallery. The selected artworks will then have the opportunity to compete internationally for the prestigious Mayors for Peace President's Award! | Applications open now! |
| How We ROC | The How We ROC Program highlights Rochester's vibrant events and diverse community through the lenses of talented local photographers. Selected participants receive a $1,500 stipend, year-long media credentials to major City events, and the opportunity to showcase their work in a City Hall Link Gallery exhibit. | The deadline for this RFP has passed. |
More in-depth project details below.
A City of the Arts and for the Arts
Rochester is home to a robust arts and culture community and a blossoming network of creative professionals in the local economy. Rochester’s historic roots established a legacy of large arts and cultural institutions. Today, the arts have grown into a multitude of small arts organizations and individual artists.
Whether visiting one of the City’s museums, viewing new work at artist studios such as the Hungerford, taking a dance class or simply walking past a mural, the arts instill a sense of place, connect diverse residents and provide a retreat in Rochester.
Rochester has demonstrated a commitment to strengthening arts and culture. From 2016 to June 2022, the City funded over $2.6M of public art and arts education using City operating funds, City cash allocations, CDBG and other grant funding, and Library-specific funding. An additional $2M of City funding has supported special events, including many annual festivals, since 2017. For more information about these arts and culture investments, see these links:
- To learn more about the $2.6M of public art and arts education funded by the City, see the information here.
- To learn more about the special events funded by the City, click here.
- All of this information was compiled into the City's arts and culture investment map, which can be found here.
The City is currently working to update this inventory of arts and culture investment.
With this strong framework, Rochester has an opportunity to further grow and strengthen the arts. While the Neighborhood of the Arts and Downtown are centers of arts and culture, residents want to see a diversity of arts and cultural amenities in their neighborhoods throughout the City.
Artists and small arts organizations are similarly calling for more equitable distribution of public art funding, including for often underrepresented artists and organizations. Artists and small arts organizations are also grappling with the recent dissolution of the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, which previously provided centralized advocacy and support for the creative sector.
Percent for the Arts Program
Each year, the City of Rochester sets aside 1% of the total development costs of qualifying capital (infrastructure) projects to help fund public art in the community. For example, a $3.5M bridge project would result in the City setting aside $35K for public art. The art does not necessarily have to be installed on that bridge.
Most years, there are several capital projects that would contribute to this calculation. The City then has a variety of processes and programs to invest that money throughout the community. This formalized process began in Fiscal Year (FY) ’21-’22, resulting in $200K set aside for public art programs such as the Public Art Equity Project described below. Plans are underway for investing the $236K from FY ’22-’23 and an estimated $271K from FY ’23-’24, including some current opportunities listed below:
Arts and Culture Committees
The City of Rochester works collaboratively with local artists to advance the community’s desire for a more dynamic city of the arts and for the arts, one in which the arts are accessible to all Rochesterians regardless of where someone lives or their ability, and where there is committed support for small organizations and individual artists representing the diversity of Rochester.
The City Arts Team (CAT) and the Arts and Creative Community Committee (AC3) were created in April 2021 to move this vision forward.
CAT
The CAT is an interdepartmental committee established to advance various arts-related initiatives for the City. CAT members are City staff that have experience and ongoing involvement in the selection, installation, and maintenance of public art. Members include staff from the Office of Management and Budget, Law Department, Department of Recreation and Human Services, Department of Environmental Services, Office of Special Events, the Bureau of Communications, the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development, and the Office of City Planning (lead staff). The team's primary responsibilities are to:
- Formalize and implement the Percent for the Arts program.
- Develop an Arts and Culture Plan to identify the vision, goals and action plan to further support and grow the creative community.
- Establish the structure and mission of a City Arts Commission.
CAT Members
- Kevin Kelley (lead facilitator), Manager of City Planning, Office of City Planning
- Heather Anderson (lead staff), Senior City Planner, Office of City Planning
- Barbara Pierce, Director of Communications, Bureau of Communications
- ReyJeanne Antoine, Communications Aide, Bureau of Communications
- Holly Barrett, City Engineer, Department of Environmental Services
- Ellen Micoli Soffa, Assistant Landscape Architect, Department of Environmental Services
- Sabrina Boykin, Assistant Architect, Department of Environmental Services
- Sara Scott, Director of Recreation & Parks Stewardship, Department of Recreation and Human Services
- Johanna Brennan, Municipal Attorney, Law Department
- Liliana Ruiz, Director of Special Projects & Educational Initiatives, Mayor's Office
- Anne DaSilva Tella, Director of Development, Neighborhood and Business Development Department
- Kara Osipovitch, Manager of Special Events, Office of Special Events
- Kristina Heiligenthaler, Principal Staff Assistant, Office of Management & Budget
AC3
The AC3 is a group of stakeholders that represents various artists, genres, venues, and institutions within this critical sector of the Rochester community. This committee serves as an advisory panel, with the goal of giving feedback and lending their expertise on the projects that are the CAT’s primary responsibilities.
The AC3 also serves as a strong partner in advancing various initiatives through outreach, advocacy, research, and forging connections with other partners. The Office of City Planning facilitates the overall AC3 process and coordinates with committee co-chairs and the CAT.
AC3 Members
- Annette Ramos (Co-Chair), Rochester Latino Theatre Company
- Thomas Warfield (Co-Chair), Rochester Institute of Technology
- Shawn Dunwoody (Co-Chair), Dunwoode Design
- Antonietta Alfano, Come Fly With Me Healing, Alfano Speaking Ventures, Disability Rights Activist/Advocator
- Bleu Cease, Rochester Contemporary Arts Center, First Friday and Make Art Day
- Amanda Chestnut, Roc Arts United
- Reenah Golden, The Avenue Blackbox Theatre and WOC Art Collaborative
- Annette Jiménez Gleason, Rochester Area Community Foundation
- Orlando Ortiz, Puerto Rican Festival
AC3 records all meetings and publishes them to YouTube. You can view these meetings by clicking the button below.
Upcoming Project Descriptions
The inaugural Percent for the Arts programs are being administered by two consultants. See below for more details.
LOCUS: FOCUS (mosaic art)
Roc Arts United is administering this public art program. LOCUS:FOCUS will create two mosaic artworks that capture the contemporary spirit and memory of a neighborhood through the oral histories of current and past residents.
The resulting monuments will “set in stone” tangible community connections to public spaces. The creation process will be collaborative, both inspired by and physically constructed with the support of neighborhood residents and vested community members. Continue visiting this webpage or visit this website >> for updates. Work on the oral history projectis in progress with installation of the mosaic artwork completed in the spring of 2026.
My Rochester (murals)
Aria Strategies LLC is administering this public mural program under the theme My Rochester, an exploration of what Rochester means and has meant to artists and communities from different backgrounds and lived experiences, their hopes, hard work, losses, and victories. There are many Rochesters; depending on lived experiences, Rochester is a different city to each of us. This project invited artists to showcase their lived experiences with and in Rochester, and share their experiences through their personal lens.
Four murals were created:
Visit the ArtsBloom 2025 Request for Proposals (RFP) webpage for information on the RFP, active now!
ArtsBloom is the City’s non-capital art competition funded through the Percent for the Arts program. It is designed to fund arts education, performing arts, and temporary art, as opposed to permanent physical installations (capital art) that are funded through other Percent for the Arts programs.
The goals of this program are to enrich and expand the experience of public art for all Rochesterians by reaching historically underserved residents, while increasing economic opportunities for local artists and small arts organizations in Rochester. The concept for the ArtsBloom Project was developed in partnership with an advisory panel of local artists and members of the arts community called the Arts and Creative Community Committee (AC3).
2024 ArtsBloom awards will fund the following nine projects:
- Carla Stough Huffman: $10,000 for four youth poetry and flash fiction workshops at the Rochester International Academy and three R-Centers, resulting in the creation of chapbooks.
- Cordancia Chamber Orchestra: $20,000 for a free children's concert series featuring music of Black and Latinx composers, with narrators and color booklets.
- Geva Theatre: $20,000 for ROC Geva Pass Phase II which will offer free theatre workshops and winter camps for ages 14 and up from the city’s lowest income zip codes.
- Hochstein School: $20,000 for Dance Connections: Free World of Dance youth camps, weekly community classes, and professional development for city dance professionals.
- Kuumba Consultants: $20,000 for The Wonderful Wizard of Roc City, a multidisciplinary performance inspired by community stories about home and belonging in Rochester that will take place across multiple city locations in 2025, celebrating the uniqueness of our community.
- Rathaus Press: $20,000 for a free afterschool arts program for LGBTQ+ high school students, offering zine-making sessions and public showcases, alongside the creation of a free book documenting the program.
- Rochester Latino Theatre Company: $20,000 for ”Alchemy of Healing,” a community art project based in several schools addressing identity and racial trauma through self-portraits, scar photography, and public exhibits.
- ROC ROYAL, INC.: $20,000 for a free 8-week afterschool program fostering creative entrepreneurship for youth ages 7-18 through various art forms, culminating in a showcase of talents.
- Writers & Books: $20,000 for free literary arts programs including SummerWrite camps and academic year workshops, fostering creativity, confidence, and literacy skills for youth aged 10-14
Heather Anderson is the Project Manager for ArtsBloom. You can contact her at heather.anderson@cityofrochester.gov.
The Arts & Culture Plan will provide a blueprint for investing in and improving the local creative ecosystem. It will be created by the community, for the community, with facilitation assistance provided by City staff, County staff, and a planning consultant. The Rochester 2034 Comprehensive Plan identified an arts and culture plan for the City as one of the actions to achieve the goal of supporting, growing, and sustaining the creative economy. The City already has an advisory group of local arts stakeholders – the Arts and Creative Community Committee (AC3) – that has been working on the Plan’s framework.
The City and stakeholders are prioritizing community outreach for the Arts & Culture plan with the following goals:
- Ensure that the community knowledge and expertise of a broad segment of residents are captured in the Plan
- Value the expertise of members of the public who make a time commitment to the Plan
- Foster civic leadership in local artists
- Facilitate innovative thinking around outreach for the City and County
To ground this Plan in the community, the City will facilitate several opportunities for engagement, including Artist Engagement Teams and stipends for public members of teams with recurring meetings and focus groups. Minneapolis piloted the use of Artist Engagement Teams to assist with outreach as a way to move beyond traditional modes of outreach to more effectively engage residents most impacted by the legacy of inadequate and often racist policies and practices. Minneapolis has continued to use Artist Engagement Teams beyond the pilot to shape City outreach.
Visit the Plan's webpage to stay up-to-date on the progress of developing the Plan!
Examples of arts and culture plans from other cities:
As part of the ROC the Riverway initiative to improve and revitalize public space on both sides of the Genesee River, the City of Rochester is seeking an artist for a capital art project to be located on the Sister Cities Bridge. The sculptural artwork will be a celebration of the iconic City Mark. Responses are due by Thursday, Aug. 8.
An online information session was held on June 25. The session recording is available here.
- Arts in the Loop – an initiative started by the Eastman School of Music and a strong partner of the AC3.
- Meet on Main – an Arts in the Loop study of arts funding and organizational models in five other cities.
- Arts + Culture Section of Rochester 2034
- Percent for the Arts Program — Heather Anderson, Associate City Planner and Project Manager, heather.anderson@cityofrochester.gov.
- Special Events — Kara Osipovitch, Manager of Special Events, kara.osipovitch@cityofrochester.gov.
- Youth Art Programs (Roc Paint Division, Peculiar Asphalt, etc.) — Sara Scott, Director of Recreation and Parks Stewardship, sara.scott@cityofrochester.gov.
- Arts Programming through the Rochester Public Library — Melanie Lewis, Deputy Director of Community Libraries, melanie.lewis@libraryweb.org
- All other City arts initiatives — Kevin Kelley, Manager of City Planning, kevin.kelley@cityofrochester.gov.