News Release - Council President Scott, Councilmembers, City Leaders Celebrate Opening of Avenue Black Box Theatre

City of Rochester

News Release

(Thursday, June 7, 2018) – City leaders joined Theatre Artistic Director Reenah Golden to celebrate the grand opening of the Avenue Black Box Theatre at 780 Joseph Ave. today. The venue will bring arts and culture to an area of the Rochester that has been historically underserved by these services.

“It gives me great pleasure to see the Avenue Black Box Theatre open on Joseph Avenue to bring live theater and a rich selection of arts programs to Northeast Rochester,” said Mayor Lovely A. Warren. “I want to thank Reenah Golden and all of her supporters for making this tremendous investment in our neighborhoods. Cultural and artistic institutions play an important role in our community because they inspire creativity and sharpen the mind, which helps create more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities for our citizens.”

“I am so excited to bring the Avenue Black Box Theatre – Theatre for Everyone – to a neighborhood that has not been served by the arts for far too long,” said Ms. Golden. “We know that exposure to arts education and experience in the arts raises academic achievement, community pride and economic vitality in any community that embraces the arts, so I have no doubt that this theater will be a force for positive change in this neighborhood. I am so grateful to the many community partners and sponsors who have shared our vision from the beginning and given so generously to help us bring the blessing of the arts to people of Joseph Avenue and Northeast Rochester.”

The Avenue Black Box Theatre is a 60-seat multidisciplinary performing arts venue to provide arts education, entertainment, job-training in the arts, and community outreach in the Joseph Avenue area. The theater will also pave the way for more performing arts programs under development for the area and will provide extracurricular arts-education programming for neighborhood children. Founding partners include: the Joseph Avenue Arts and Cultural Alliance; the Rochester Latino Theatre Company; and the Avenue Children’s Theatre Project.

Avenue Black Box Theatre Artistic Director Reenah Golden is a local poet, actor, community activist and educator.

Joining Ms. Golden at the ribbon cutting were City Council President Loretta C. Scott; Council Vice President Adam McFadden; Allen Williams, Director of Special Projects and Educational Initiatives; Neighborhood and Business Development Commissioner Bayé Muhammad; and Councilmembers Elaine Spaull, Jacklyn Ortiz, Michael Patterson and Mitch Gruber.

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News Media: For more information, contact Press Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.