Rochester Art Collectors has suspended all in-person programs for the time being due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following programs that were scheduled have been canceled: Crafting Democracy | Talk by Eboni Jones | RIT Bevier Gallery | March 14, 2020 Red Dot Challenge:2020 | Info Session #2 | Boulder Cafe & Lounge | March 16, 2020 Buying Art at Auction | The Ronald and Krista Reed Collection | Cottone Auction House | March 28, 2020 Red Dot Challenge:2020 | Game Launch | April 1, 2020
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Rochester Art Collectors is rolling out the super-fun FREE fantasy art collecting social media game Red Dot Challenge here in Rochester! You’ve heard of fantasy sports games like fantasy football, right? Well there’s also fantasy dating games, fantasy travel games, and fantasy role playing games. Fantasy art collecting is a recent entry into the growing social media fantasy gaming world. Informational meetings about Red Dot Challenge: Why is Rochester Art Collectors bringing the Red Dot Challenge to Rochester?
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Rochester-based author and former gallerist, Shirley Dawson, gave a talk at Cad Red Gallery in the Village of Pittsford inspired by an entry in her blog, Rochester Art Review. A nearly complete video of her presentation is embedded below. The text below the video was reprinted from her blog with permission.
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I am surrounded by beautiful objects collected over a lifetime. I combine texture, color and shape in a way that enhances individual pieces and lends an aura of taste and interest to the complete environment.
When I die, the first stop for these treasures? An estate sale. Nobody in my family wants an entire houseful of “things”— they have houses full already. Increasingly, museums have no use for even good art unless it comes partnered with a sizable donation to store and care for extraneous objects. So for a few bucks, you can own my “eye.” But out of context, my valued objects will lose their punch. Against your cabbage rose wallpaper, my pottery will look like crap and my paintings are far too specific for somebody else’s traditional living room. After the household sale, the dregs and leftovers will be loaded onto a truck and sent off to Goodwill…or Habitat for Humanity… or some church somewhere. All good. I want to help the less privileged even after I’m dead and what better way to cheer up a refugee family than with a 4’ x 6’ painting of smears of gray and black paint! Or a big beautiful ceramic pot tenuously balanced on its 2 inch foot, so fragile that the slightest breath will send it crashing into oblivion? After tripping over that donated painting for the millionth time, a Habitat supervisor will say “Enough! Send this to…the dumpster, the trash heap.” Nobody will utter the slightest objection because like all things in this world, orphaned art eventually becomes just more disposable clutter. The bitter truth is that only a tiny fraction of artful objects will find long lasting value…just as high school phenom basketball players will mostly fail to reach the NBA…and odds are that the super talented singer in your choir will NOT become the next Aretha Franklin. You doubt me? Then you haven’t gone to estate sales lately. Or visited nursing homes. Or been called to help dispose of abandoned artwork left in a storage facility. I was bereft after one such incident. My friend Nancy wrote: “You’ve come face to face with the dark side of collecting. And as with everything else, it’s as if a mirror is being held up asking ‘what about you?’” Yikes! Has my life — my entire career — been misspent? Is collecting merely a nicer word for hoarding? Does the old adage “one man’s treasure is another man’s trash” apply to EVERYTHING, even art? Well, yes, but along with all the warts, collecting brings along unexpected positives.
And there it is — ultimately, collecting is a case for belonging — community. When we collect objects, we collect the stories too. We weave the thread of our being into the continuing thread of makers and the history of the things they make. It doesn’t matter what happens to these objects after we’re gone. If they find another home, good! If not, they haven’t been made — nor owned, nor loved — in vain. They served for awhile. The makers and their objects — the collectors who bought them —continued the evolutionary experience we share. That’s the best any of us can hope for. On Tuesday, October 23rd at 6:30 pm we held our second "Collectors Circle" program. This one was held at Oxford Gallery. It was just as successful at the first one, held earlier in the year at Makers Gallery.
The Collectors Circle program is open only to members and seating is limited to just 30 people. We like to gather in an exhibition space during a current show. Typically a special guest speaker is invited to present on a topic of interest to member-participants. The first 30 minutes of the program are are social . Members take some time to look at the work on exhibit; grab a bite and a sip while chatting with one another. Before too long we gather in a large circle. Each collector presents an original work of art from their collection to the group. Usually we hear a little background about the work and how the collector came to own it. Sometimes we hear why it's important to the owner's collection or why it's important to the collector or both. This time around we heard stories about works of art saved by relatives who were refugees fleeing Nazi's during the World War II era and later given to the collector. At one point the lights were dimmed so that we could all experience the luminescence of an Op-Art piece from the 80s. An early 20th century landscape was presented along with details about the painter and it's importance to the collector. We even saw a bronze casting of a disposable cup lid from a show in 2016; As you can tell there was a wide range of work! After the collectors presented their works of art we turned the floor over to Oxford Gallery owner, Jim Hall. He talked about the long history of Oxford Gallery. Established in the 1960s Oxford is the longest continuously running commercial gallery in Rochester. Jim and his wife, Ginny, have owned the gallery for 25 years. Oxford represents over 40 artist and exhibits their works on consignment - usually organized around exhibition themes - throughout the year. In addition, Jim is an active art dealer specializing in 19th century works. He closed his talk with a traditional definition of art collecting that prompted a lively discussion. The group broke up around 8:30 pm. The next Collectors Circle will be held early in 2019. Details will be announced sometime after January 1, 2019. Rochester Art Collectors and the Memorial Art Gallery collaborated for several months on a program that took place last night at the MAG: "Lure Of The Local." The panel discussed the local/regional art market; characteristics and trends found in our area; and the resources available to collectors interested in buying art made in and around Rochester.
Panelists included: Roslyn Baskt Goldman, a longstanding art adviser and art appraiser; Jessica Marten, Curator in Charge/Curator of American Art at the Memorial Art Gallery; Alex Gruttadaro, owner of Makers Gallery and working artist; and Rome Celli, representing Rochester Art Collectors. This was the second presentation in The Collecting Series at the Memorial Art Gallery. ![]()
Rochester Art Collectors is pleased to team up with The Print Club of Rochester and the Bevier Gallery at RIT for a fun event around prints and printmaking all in the context of the Print Club's juried exhibition, The presentation is titled: "A Primer On Printmaking: Understanding & Collecting Fine Art Prints"
This presentation is ideal for someone who wants to learn the basics of printmaking from a collector's point of view and wants to see a wide ranging exhibition of fine art prints as well. Location: Bevier Gallery James E. Booth Hall 7A 73 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, New York, 14623 Visitor parking available in lots E and F (Map below.) 6:00pm until 6:30pm - Fun Social Mixer! Hang out in the wonderful Bevier Gallery at RIT. Take in The Print Club of Rochester's annual juried exhibition of fine art prints made by artists from around the region and around the world: "Political Impressions." Work in this show will be for sale. Details about the show are below. 6:30pm until 7:30pm - Here's what you will learn from the presentation:
Presenters: Elizabeth Durand and Barb McPhail This event is free and open to the public. There will be a special reserved seating section for those members of Rochester Art Collectors and The Print Club of Rochester who register for this event in advance. CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT AT THIS PRESENTATION The Print Club of Rochester's annual juried exhibition will be up during the event.
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