In this series, produced by Rochester Art Collectors, local art collectors open their private spaces to a small group of registered guests. The host collector offers an informal guided tour of their art collection. Each collector sets the best date, time, duration, maximum number of guests as well as other parameters of the program.

The overall feel of the program is informal and dress is casual. None of the works displayed are for sale. All of the works are owned by the collector(s).

The series was launched in 2021. This was the eighth program in the series.

"Total Immersion" tours are open to a limited number of Rochester Art Collectors members on a first-come basis. The exact address was only disclosed to the 20 confirmed attendees. This program, like every other offered by Rochester Art Collectors was free to attendees.

The group of confirmed participants were welcomed into a lovely late Victorian era private residence located in the City of Rochester. Guest were encouraged to casually walk through a unique art collection. Soon after the start time a guided tour that highlighted selected work from the collection was conducted.

In prior "Total Immersion" tours the host-collectors conducted each tour. In this case, our host invited several artists represented in the collection to talk about works owned by the collector and on display that day.

The artists who presented their works included Michael Powers Tarantelli, Annalisa Barron, Unique Fair, Ludmilla Begley, Richard Colon, Erica Bryant & Matt Vanderlee. A partial list of artists in the collection on display during the tour is listed at the bottom of this article.​

About the collector & the collection
​The collector has been acquiring art since living in New York City in the 1980s where the works reflected the collector's varied intellectual, aesthetic and cultural interests. After settling in Rochester the collector's discerning eye reoriented to include works created by notable artists from the region. More recently, a passionate & intense interest in the vision and ideas of underrepresented visual artists has dramatically deepened and expanded the range of this collection.

The collector enjoys commissioning new works. The most recently commissioned work - a truly remarkable portrait that recalls old master techniques and expressive qualities - will be on display. Honestly, even if we were only able to see this one new painting, the tour would be worth the time. There are numerous other works in the collection that are or the highest level and that have never been seen in a public exhibition.

On July 27th Rochester Art Collectors partnered with RIT City Art Space and one of Rochester's most important art collectors, art curators and art influencers, Erich S. Lehman, owner of 1975 Gallery, to bring you a provocative talk centered on a large new exhibition titled "SKETCHY!"

​“SKETCHY!” was trip through the art and creativity of skateboarding, featuring a look back at over 25 years of Rochester skate photography, decades of skateboard graphics, and the fine art of the skateboarding world.

Located steps away from one of Rochester’s most iconic skatespots – Liberty Pole – “SKETCHY!” will run all Summer long and will feature extra programming throughout the run of the show.

​Program Details

7:00 pm - Attendees spent about 30 minutes before the program began walking through the large and exciting exhibition.

7:30 pm - Rome Celli from Rochester Art Collectors introduced John Aasp, Gallery Director, College of Art and Design at Rochester Institute of Technology talked about RIT City Art Space. Then Rome introduced the speaker, Erich S. Lehman.

Erich S. Lehman - curator of "SKETCHY!", owner of 1975 and art collector - talked about the exciting, large scale exhibition featured at RIT City Art Space, "SKETCHY!", his remarkable art collection and the collecting interests of his generation in a talk we're calling "SKETHCY!" Gen X Collects.

After the talk attendees had another opportunity to look through the exhibition.

This program was FREE and open to the public with registration in advance through eventbrite.com

Rochester Art Collectors collaborated with Rochester Institute of Technology, Shop One, The Print Club of Rochester and University Gallery (all located in close proximity on the RIT campus) to provide attendees with a unique combination of experiences and lots of opportunities to add to our art collections on June 29th this year.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Our group gathered at RIT's lovely art boutique, Shop One at 2:00 pm. Attendees had time to see a wide range of fine arts and crafts created by RIT students and alumni and say hello to friends.

At 2:30 pm Rome Celli from Rochester Art Collectors welcomed the group and introduced Shop One manager, Maddy Schoenfeld and Wendy Marks, Director F&A Galleries.

​Then Wendy led a 30 minute walking tour that highlighted many of the public art sculptures located on the RIT campus.

The walking tour ended at the University Gallery, host of The Print Club of Rochester's 93rd Annual Members Exhibition, where we were able to see dozens of works from Rochester's finest printmakers AND take advantage of The Print Club of Rochester's annual Print Fair & Sale!

On May 23rd Rochester Art Collectors collaborated with Oxford Gallery to present a provocative DIALOG:ART program during the Gallery's HUGE spring exhibition, "The Stuff of Dreams", featuring works of art created by 46 regional artists (listed below) in a wide range of styles. Oxford Gallery is Rochester's longest continuously operating commercial art gallery.

DIALOG:ART is an ongoing series of facilitated discussions initiated by Rochester Art Collectors in 2018.

​Each DIALOG:ART program examines a different topic of mutual interest to collectors and artists. The goal is to foster greater understanding and respect between those who purchase art and those who make art.

Program description

Starting at 6:00 pm attendees had a chance to walk through the exhibition, "The Stuff of Dreams".  and socialize.

After 30 minutes Rome Celli welcomed attendees and introduced Jim Hall, owner of Oxford Gallery. Jim talked about the history of Oxford Gallery and offered some background about The Stuff of Dreams.
From about 6:45 pm until about 7:30 pm Rome facilitated a group discussion about the price of art. Everyone who attended was encouraged to participate. 

Here are a handful of related topics we touched on:

• How is the price of art set?
• How do consumers, artists, collectors, gallerists think about & experience pricing?
• The price of art vs. the value of art.
• How does pricing influence the decision to sell or buy a work of art?
• Does the price of any particular work vary based on circumstances? Should it vary?
• Is it appropriate to negotiate over the price of art? How do you discuss pricing?
• How does pricing work when you commission an artist?

On April 19th Rochester Art Collectors partnered with Aaron Delehanty, River Campus Curator of Hartnett and Frontispace Galleries and Instructor in the Art and Art History Department of the University of Rochester to present a unique tour of THREE art venues on the University of Rochester river campus:

• Frontispace Gallery - 4 Herons: Seneca artists of the Genesee

Works by nationally and internationally noted artists: Ernest Smith, G. Peter Jemison, Kalen Fontenelle, Lauren “Goodie” Jimerson - Curated by Michael Galban, Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site.

• Hartnett Gallery - Studio Art Senior Exhibition

Culminating exhibition of new works by Dustin Paden

• Art & Music Library - Objects from the permanent collection + tour

Program Details & Schedule
At 5:30 pm we gathered inside the lobby area of the Library Road entrance (aka, the "back entrance") to the Rush Rhees Library and then walked over to our first stop, the Hartnett Gallery.

Attendees will be treated to a culminating senior exhibition of new works by Dustin Paden. After walking through the exhibition Aaron Delehanty gave a brief presentation on the background and purposes of the Hartnett Gallery.

The group will then took a very short walk to the Frontispace Gallery to see   "4 Herons: Seneca artists of the Genesee"  that included works by nationally and internationally noted artists: Ernest Smith, G. Peter Jemison, Kalen Fontenelle, Lauren “Goodie” Jimerson. The exhibition was curated by Michael Galban, Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site. (More information below.)
​
Mr. Galban, Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site and curator of the Seneca Art & Culture Center, talked about the artists and the works in the show. After hist talk the group took a quick tour of the UR Art & Music Library which is located at the back of the Frontispace Gallery.

Michael Galban's current research focuses on historic woodland arts, Indigenous/Colonial history, and lectures on the subject extensively. He sits on the board of directors of the Museum Association of New York (MANY), the editorial board of the New York History Journal, and is currently working in the Indigenous Working Group component of REV WAR 250th NY commission.

The video above was recorded by Mike Molaire at Frontispace at the University of Rochester on April 19, 2024

About the artists featured in "4 Herons: Seneca artists of the Genesee"

G. Peter Jemison (Seneca Heron Clan) b. 1945-present

​G. Peter Jemison, of the Heron Clan from the Cattaraugus Territory, Seneca Nation, is a multi-media artist and recently retired site manager of Ganondagan, a New York State Historic Site in Victor, New York. Jemison’s career spans over six decades across a wide swath of diverse accomplishments with a worldwide impact. Through his art, Jemison has explored a variety of topics, from creating political works that portray contemporary social commentary to those that reflect his relationship with the natural world.

Widely shown and collected, Jemison’s works are rooted in the framework of Native American art. Known for his naturalistic paintings and series of works done on brown paper bags, his art embodies Orenda, the traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) understanding that all aspects of creation contain a spiritual force. His paintings, videos, and mixed media works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. He is also an esteemed administrator, curator, editor, and writer. In 2004, he was elected Board Member at Large of the American Alliance of Museums (formerly the Association of Museums) and was the founding director of the American Indian Community House Gallery in New York City.

Jemison’s works are included in such significant collections as The Modern Museum of Art (MoMA); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The National Gallery, Washington D.C.; AKG (formerly, Albright Knox Gallery), Buffalo, NY; The Heard Museum, Phoenix; The Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe; The Denver Art Museum, Denver; The British Museum, London, UK; and the Museum der Weltkultern, Frankfurt, Germany.

Ernest Smith (Seneca, Heron Clan) b. 1907- d. 1975

Born on October 28, 1907, in a log cabin on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation near Akron, NY Ernest Smith or Gao’yaih (from the middle of the sky) became a well-known Seneca artist. The youngest of seven children of Louise and Peter S. Smith, Ernest was educated at the Tonawanda Reservation School and in the Buffalo Public Schools. Although largely self-taught in art, he was influenced by his brother Kidd, an accomplished woodcarver and by the landscape artist Roy Mason of Batavia.

From 1935-1941, Ernest participated in the Indian Arts Project under the direction of Arthur C. Parker of the Rochester Museum. Over two hundred and forty in watercolor, tempera and oil were produced, depicting traditional life of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). In 1973, Ernest returned to the Rochester Museum to take part in a research project sponsored by the Anthropology Department of the State University of New York at Albany and the Rochester Museum & Science Center. At that time, he gave commentary on each of his paintings which were recorded. The resulting text was edited by William Fenton and Jeanette Collamer who also conducted the interviews.

Throughout his life Ernest continued to paint. His works can be found in the Smithsonian Institute and the United States Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board in Washington D.C.
Ernest dies in 1975 on the Tonawanda Reservation. His work have continued to be a source of inspiration to generations of Haudenosaunee people as well as anyone interested in the Haudenosaunee.

Lauren “Goodie” Jimerson (Seneca, Heron Clan) b. 1982-present

Goodie is a member of the Seneca Nation and grew up on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation located south of Buffalo, NY. Lauren Jimerson is a trained art therapist and fine artist who lives and works in the Rochester area and has spent the past 20 years raising her children and acclimating to her ancestral lands in the Rochester area.

Lauren began examining the complex subject of historical trauma while attending graduate school at Nazareth College. This was when she discovered that her life experiences served as a profound connection to the loss of cultural identity that took place throughout American history, more specifically the Boarding School Era. This provided the first step of many towards Lauren’s passage to self-discovery, resistance, reclamation, and self-acceptance. Lauren has presented at national conferences and universities about the pedagogy of historical trauma and resiliency and its effect on human development.

Lauren also examined the momentous role of food sovereignty while serving as the project manager at the Iroquois White Corn Project at Ganondagan State Historic Site in 2016. While holding this position, Lauren educated individuals and audiences on the history and significance of a local ancestral food staple as well as developed recipes and provided workshops.

Kalen Fontenelle (Seneca, Heron Clan) b. 1999-present

Kalen was born at Ganondagan nearby Victor, NY. He attended the Victor public schools and has started some college work at Monroe Community College. Kalen is currently working at the Seneca Art & Culture Center as a cultural and historical interpreter as well as working in marketing, social media, and manages the digital media components of the museum.
​
According to matrilineal custom, Kalen is Seneca from the Heron clan. His father is from the Zuňi pueblo and is from the parrot and coyote clans. Kalen’s work varies widely as he explores his artistic interests. He has worked in digital art, woodworking, and more recently leathercraft.