Week #4 (Tuesday, November 19th through Monday, November 25th) was relatively quiet.
​​

• Player #3 added one work valued at $125 to Fantasy Art Collection #3.

​Audio-only link below will open in the iTunes app, if you have it, or a new browser window.

Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is Rochester's fantasy art collecting game.

<<<outside the frame>>> is a limited series, interactive podcast recorded on ZOOM covering the game and discussing the regional art scene in the greater Rochester area. Members of the public are invited to participate in each episode alongside the invited guests and players on the show.*

Episode #1, recorded on Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00 pm, included a number of invited guests who - along with attendees - contributed to a vibrant conversation about the game and the regional art scene.

The episode kicked off with an introduction to the game and how the public can participate alongside players. Then everyone involved contributed to a freewheeling conversation about the regional art scene with invited our invited guests and Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players.

The lineup in this podcast:

• Mev Mahon, Marketing & Communications Director at Flower City Arts Center and photojournalist by training
• Rachael Gootnick, multi-disciplinary artist and owner of Just Terrific Handcrafted Goods -
• Nancy Valle, player & multi-disciplinary artist and retired educator
• Jappie King Black, player, retired educator & multi-disciplinary artist.
• The host and moderator was Rome Celli, organizer of Rochester Art Collectors and Gamemaster of Red Dot Challenge, Season 1​

Looking ahead to future episodes...

• Episode #2:  Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm EST (Click to register & get the link.)*

In this episode we'll dig into the emerging fantasy art collections and game strategies followed by a conversation about the massive exhibitions being offered this year. Then we'll open up the conversation to topics of interest to participants.
​

• Episode #3:  Tuesday, January 14th at 7:00 pm EST (Click to register & get the link.)*

The Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 "BIG REVEAL" event in February will be the focus of the first part of the final episode. We'll also update you on gameplay as we approach the closing days of Season 1. After that we'll talk about the local art market in 2024 among other topics.

Each of the three podcasts has it's own registration & ticketing. Please look closely when you register to make sure you have the correct dates.

All the podcasts are FREE and open to the public with registration in advance on Eventbrite.

* All the episodes will be recorded live and posted here on reddotchallenge.org

Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is a program of Rochester Art Collectors.
​
Participating in Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is FREE and open to the public. None of the players are paying to play or receiving any compensation. The program is privately funded and entirely non-commercial. Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is not a fundraiser of any kind for any organization.

​The works of art chosen by Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players for their fantasy art collections are not being purchased with real money. Red Dot Challenge is a FANTASY art collecting GAME. Players are having fun PRETENDING to buy/collect the art and modeling art collecting behaviors.

In all instances the artists retain the copyright for their work as well as all other rights and privileges provided by the law.

If you are interested in purchasing a work of art you've seen during Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 gameplay, please inquire at the venue where the work is exhibited.​​

Week #2 (Tuesday, November 5th through Monday, November 11th) brought nine photographs of artworks into five fantasy art collections.
​
Interestingly, during Week #2 is two of the players posted works by the same artist, Judy Gohringer. All four of Judy's works were identified and photographed by the two players in her studio at the Anderson Arts Building. Bravo, Judy!

• Player #2 added one work valued at $175 to Fantasy Art Collection #2.
• Player #3 added one work valued at $100 to Fantasy Art Collection #3.
• Player #4 added three works valued at $95 to Fantasy Art Collection #4.
• Player #5 added three works valued at $825 to Fantasy Art Collection #5.​
• Player #11 added one work valued at $800 to Fantasy Art Collection #11.

* Bold indicates gameplay activity over the last seven days although the numbers are cumulative since the beginning of gameplay on November 1, 2024.

Originally from Connecticut, Mev McMahon fell in love with the Rochester area while earning her BFA in Photojournalism at RIT. Her passion for photography developed in tandem with her appreciation for history. Growing up, Mev traveled with her archaeologist parents to numerous historical sites with a camera in hand. During college, she researched, acquired, and sequenced thousands of images while working as a Picture Editor for major publications such as TV Guide Magazine and NBCNews.com. Not one for NYC living, she moved back to her adopted home to give back in the best way she knows how: using visual storytelling to showcase the work of local nonprofit organizations.

These days Mev is the Marketing & Communications Director at Flower City Arts Center, a community-based not-for-profit organization that educates, encourages, and inspires all people to create and enjoy the visual arts, design, and media. Flower City Arts Center embraces the fact that the arts elevate humanity, are naturally therapeutic, and provides tools for expression in the language of the heart in a world that needs healing. Flower City Arts Center strives to create social change through arts, education, and creative entrepreneurship. They provide high-quality arts programs to the most in-need people in our community.

Flower City Arts Center celebrated 50 years in 2020. Established in 1970, Flower City Arts Center is housed in a historic firehouse constructed in 1895-1905. They are the only community visual arts center conveniently located within the City of Rochester. In 1974, Flower City Arts Center was incorporated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit educational institution. In addition to our staff and board, they up to 20 artists-in-residence and many instructors, studio artists, volunteers, and interns.

Instagram: @mevmcmahon (Mev McMahon)

Rachael Gootnick is a working artist and savvy businesswoman.

Her art-based business, Just Terrific Handcrafted Goods, and her studio are located at 208 N. Goodman Street near the Memorial Art Gallery in the renovated School 31 Lofts building.  Rachael's art practice focuses on book repair & restorations, book art, and miniature book jewelry.

This year, as in prior years, she is a judge in the annual "Art Of The Book & Paper" exhibition at the Rundel Memorial Library.  New in 2024, the Rundel Library administration added an auxiliary exhibit adjacent in the Arts Division – The Works of the Judges of the Art of the Book & Paper. See the beautiful artists books and collages by Diane Bond, Gerald Mead, Susan Tkach and, of course, Rachael.

On Monday, November 18th Rachael will talk in some detail about Art Of The Book & Paper. Her presentation will begin at 5:00 pm. It will take place on the first floor of the Rundel Memorial Library near the exhibition location. 

As if she weren't busy enough, Rachael's work is also currently on display at Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, NY.

Instagram: @justterrific (Just Terrific • Rachael Gootnick)

Nancy has been a working artist and educator in the Rochester area for too many years for her to count. Her professional experiences have included teaching visual arts at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels as well as leading professional development workshops for teachers and art workshops for adults in the community.

Because of her many wonderful art experiences and interactions with other artists, she has come to greatly value Rochester's extraordinary arts community.

As a working artist, Nancy has engaged with many visual art forms & media including painting, graphic design, sculpture, metal-smithing, glass, ceramic sculpture and, most recently, printmaking.

Nancy ​maintains a studio/gallery in Rochester in Village Gate as well as an outdoor studio in rural Greenwood, NY, a source of great inspiration for her work.

Instagram: @nancy.valle.1 (Nancy Valley)

Yes, her name is Jappie.

Her grandfather’s name was Jasper and his nickname was "Jap". He had 4 daughters. Jappie's mother was the youngest. Jap invented the name "Jappie" for her mom and her mom gave it to Jappie.

King was her father’s last name and Black her husband’s. All together they are what she considers her real name. Her husband suggested that she add his name to hers so that when names were alphabetized for exhibitions hers would be first. That doesn’t always work since her name is sometimes placed with the Ks. She says she doesn’t hyphenate her last name because that costs extra to print.

Jappie moved around a lot as a child with her parents, 1st to Argentina then back to the states, later to Mexico. She's a graduate of the Ateneo Fuente/Universidad de Coahuila and the Interlochen Arts Academy and has a BFA in Textile Design from Rhode Island School of Design as well as a MFA in Fibers from Syracuse University. Jappie was a tenured professor commuting to NJ from Brockport for nearly a decade. She may have felt somewhat rootless in the past, but at this point she has lived in New York longer than anywhere else in her life.

Jappie is now retired from teaching and spends her creative energy making and exhibiting her visual art.

Jappie and her husband, Richard, are playing as a team. Richard may also join us...

Instagram @jkbreddot (Jappie King Black)

Looking ahead to future episodes...

• Episode #2:  Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm EST (Click to register & get the link.)

In this episode we'll dig into the emerging fantasy art collections and game strategies followed by a conversation about the massive exhibitions being offered this year. Then we'll open up the conversation to topics of interest to participants.

• Episode #3:  Tuesday, January 14th at 7:00 pm EST (Click to register & get the link.)

The Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 "BIG REVEAL" event in February will be the focus of the first part of the final episode. We'll also update you on gameplay as we approach the closing days of Season 1. After that we'll talk about the local art market in 2024 among other topics.
Each of the three podcasts has it's own registration & ticketing. Please look closely when you register to make sure you have the correct dates.

All the podcasts are FREE and open to the public with registration in advance on Eventbrite.

* All the episodes will be recorded live and posted here on reddotchallenge.org

Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 gameplay began on Friday, November 1st.

There are many ways to follow and participate in the game. We know most people will be following the fantasy art collections. That's great! Updates to the fantasy art collections will be posted on "Red Dot Mondays" (every Monday during gameplay).

If you love tracking box scores, stocks and other stats, you'll love the weekly Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 recap posts.

Each week we'll focus in on the numbers. How many players added how many pictures of art to their fantasy art collections? How much did they expend from their fantasy art budgets to add those pieces? What's left in their budgets? What are all the totals since gameplay began? When the numbers begin to mount, we'll take a look at the averages and comment on the players' strategies. Eventually, we'll breakdown gameplay in each of the three fantasy budget categories: $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Fun, right?! We think so, too.
. 
Let's get starting right now...

Week #1 (Friday, November 1st through Monday, November 4th) saw three players post pictures of four artworks to their fantasy art collection albums on Facebook. (Click here to see the choices and find the fantasy art collections.) Each player must identify at least seven works of art during gameplay: November 1, 2024 through January 31, 2025.

Players rushed to visit many of the dozens of venues exhibiting artworks for sale in the six county metropolitan Rochester area starting on "First Friday". After their visits players posted and shared their activities on Instagram (Click here to find the players.) so followers could see where they were and which works of art they were considering for their fantasy art collections. 

​One picture was added to Fantasy Art Collection #9. This player has a fantasy budget of $10,000. The work chosen was priced at $450 leaving $9,550 in that player's fantasy budget.

One picture was added to Fantasy Art Collection #11. This player has a fantasy budget of $10,000. The work chosen was priced at $1,440 leaving $8,560 in that player's fantasy budget.

Two pictures were added to Fantasy Art Collection #12. This player has a fantasy budget of $10,000. The works chosen total $1,800 leaving $8,200 in that player's fantasy budget.​

Each fantasy art collection is associated with a player. The players have been identified <here> but not which fantasy art collection they are assembling. Followers are challenged to match the players with their fantasy art collections.

Click here to find out how to match each player with their fantasy art collection.

The first week of gameplay will be reviewed and discussed in some detail during the inaugural Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 podcast, <<<outside the frame>>>, on Tuesday, November 12th at 7pm. Details <HERE>.

In order to make Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 easy to follow players will post the newest pictures to their fantasy art collection albums on Sunday evenings. That means followers will be certain to see all the additions when they check in on Red Dot Monday mornings.

Game play begins on November 1st so the first Red Dot Monday will be November 4th. Every Monday from then on will be a Red Dot Monday until gameplay ends on January 31, 2025.

Not every player will post new pictures every week, of course, but some players will and the collections will grow over time. A weekly check-in is a great way to follow the fantasy art collections.

Checking for new posts is super-easy!

• On Facebook search for "Rochester Art Collectors" or click HERE. Every work is posted to the front page. All twelve fantasy art collections are assembled in photo albums.
• On Instagram search for @reddotchallenge or click HERE. Every work is posted to the main page. All twelve fantasy art collections are assembled in the "Highlights" section.
• On RedDotChallenge.org you can find all the fantasy art collections by clicking HERE and scrolling down.

Although it's handy to check the fantasy art collections on Red Dot Mondays you don't have to wait. Followers can check the fantasy art collection albums at any time.

You can participate in the game alongside the players, too. Hit the links below to learn more:
​

• Challenge #1: Identifying artists in the fantasy art collections
• ​Challenge #2: Matching players with their collections.

Today is "Opening Day" for Red Dot Challenge, Season 1. Gameplay extends from today until January 31, 2025. The game culminates with a BIG REVEAL event in early February. Details of that event will be announced soon.

As of today artworks offered for sale in the many dozes of public exhibition spaces across the six county metropolitan Rochester region may be considered by the twelve Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players for inclusion in their fantasy art collections on Facebook. In addition to following the fantasy art collections as they develop on Facebook, the public can follow the players activities on Instagram. By following along you'll be able to match the players with their fantasy art collections and name the artists found in each of the fantasy art collections. Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is a unique game that's runs on two levels with followers participating alongside players in real time.

This time of year sees a peak number of artworks offered for sale at galleries, art centers, stores, coffee shops, offices, universities, pop-up holiday sales and so on. It is estimated that many thousands of artworks will be exhibited for sale in our region during gameplay, from today until January 31, 2025. This is the PERFECT time of year to experience and purchase art!

Please look at the very top of this page (above the top of this post) for quick links to all the elements of Red Dot Challenge, Season 1.  Start following the fun today!

Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is a program of Rochester Art Collectors.
​
Participating in Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is FREE and open to the public. None of the players are paying to play or receiving any compensation. The program is privately funded and entirely non-commercial. Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is not a fundraiser of any kind for any organization.

​The works of art chosen by Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players for their fantasy art collections are not being purchased with real money. Red Dot Challenge is a FANTASY art collecting GAME. Players are having fun PRETENDING to buy/collect the art and modeling art collecting behaviors.

In all instances the artists retain the copyright for their work as well as all other rights and privileges provided by the law.

If you are interested in purchasing a work of art you've seen during Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 gameplay, please inquire at the venue where the work is exhibited.​

The date of this post indicates the most recent date this fantasy art collection has been updated.

Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is a program of Rochester Art Collectors.
​
Participating in Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is FREE and open to the public. None of the players are paying to play or receiving any compensation. The program is privately funded and entirely non-commercial. Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 is not a fundraiser of any kind for any organization.

​The works of art chosen by Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players for their fantasy art collections are not being purchased with real money. Red Dot Challenge is a FANTASY art collecting GAME. Players are having fun PRETENDING to buy/collect the art and modeling art collecting behaviors.

In all instances the artists retain the copyright for their work as well as all other rights and privileges provided by the law.

If you are interested in purchasing a work of art you've seen during Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 gameplay, please inquire at the venue where the work is exhibited.​