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.*

The final episode, Episode #3, recorded on Tuesday, January 14th at 7:00 pm, included a number of featured guests who - along with attendees - contributed to a vibrant conversation about the game and the regional art scene.

Episode #3 kicks off with an overview of the game that includes an update on gameplay through January 14, 2025 accented by comments from several of the Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players. Following the overview we'll hear from our first featured guest before announcing details associated with Red Dot Challenge, Season 1's culminating event, The BIG REVEAL!

All this leads into descriptions of two important exurban arts venues, the Village Gallery in Caledonia, NY and the Mill Art Center & Gallery in Honeoye Falls, NY by the leaders of those creative centers. The episode concludes with a freewheeling discussion of the current arts scene in exurban areas that ring Rochester's suburbs.

The featured guests on this episode were:

• Bleu Cease, Executive Director and curator at Rochester Contemporary Art Center
• Linda & Bill White, owners of The Village Gallery in Caledonia, NY
• Kathryn Bevier, executive director of the Mill Art Center & Gallery in Honeoye Falls, NY

The Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players who joined the conversation were:

• Ludmilla Begley
• Susan "Su" Begy
• Mike Molaire​

Click here to find all the players.

The host and moderator was Rome Celli, organizer of Rochester Art Collectors and Gamemaster of Red Dot Challenge, Season 1​
​

Bill White is the owner of The Village Gallery in Caledonia, New York. He's also a practicing artist and a retired educator.

Bill spent 39 years as a Professor of Painting at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA.  He has received grants from the Cabell, Mellon & Ford Foundations and in 2012 was honored with the Kendig Individual Artist award. Bill is a member of the Midwest Paint Group, and has been a guest artist with the Zeuxis Gallery. He has had residencies at the Cite International des Art, Paris, France and the Vermont Studio Center.
 
In 2017 Bill and his wife Linda moved to Caledonia, NY to be near family and enjoy their retirement years by opening The Village Gallery. In addition to the gallery,  Bill offers classes and lectures throughout the year.

​Instagram: @billwhitepainter (Bill White)​​

Kathryn Bevier is Director of the Mill Art Center and Gallery in Honeoye Falls, New York.

​Kathryn earned her BFA at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts.  From 2008 till 2016, Kathryn was the General Manager of Enkaustikos, an artist paint manufacturing company in Rochester, NY.

​Of her many responsibilities, development of education was an integral part of her position. She is very active in the local Rochester arts community through her involvement in teaching. As of the Fall of 2018 she proudly assumed the role as director of the Mill Art Center and Gallery.

​Instagram: @kathtrynbevier (Kathryn Bevier)​​

Ludmilla "Luda" Begley is an artist and a poet with a multicultural and multilingual background. She moved to Rochester five years ago after a lifetime of nomadic adventure and an array of careers stretching from advertising creative director to Royal Shakespeare Company interpreter, from university professor to freelance fiction editor. Currently her studio is located upstairs from Rochester Contemporary Arts Center.

Michael is a serious financial professional during office hours, a rock star by night, and a passionate punk poet around the clock. With a solid filmmaking and musical background,  he has been prominent on the Rochester music scene for over two decades with his main band Cavalcade and other alternative projects. He is currently exploring and expanding his artistic palette, branching out into new milieus and genres.

Unfortunately, Michael will not be able to join us on the podcast.

Luda & Michael are playing as a team. They are considered ONE player in Season 1.
​
Instagram: @lunar_berserkr_art (Ludmilla Begley)​​

Sue "Su" Begy is an interdisciplinary artist with an MFA from School of Visual Arts in NYC (2010). She creates stone and steel sculpture, graphite drawings, and collaborative projects. Her most recent work explores what we share as humans, what connects rather than divides us.
​
Su has lived in New York City, Los Angeles, Colorado, Santa Fe. She returned to Rochester (her hometown) about three years ago. Su says she has been fortunate to share studio space, collaborate, and exhibit with some amazing artists in the cities she's lived in. She also tells us she's traded for some fantastic artworks over the years!

Su likes to ski, hike, and read science fiction. She also loves to attend all types of live performances. She can spend hours and hours in art museums. Su and her husband, Clay Simmons, raised 3 children and now live in Brighton.

​Instagram: @susanbegy (Susan Begy)

​​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 #2, recorded on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm, included a number of featured guests who - along with attendees - contributed to a vibrant conversation about the game and the regional art scene.

Episode #2 kicks off with an introduction to the game that includes an update on gameplay through December 10, 2024 with comments by several of the players. Then our featured guests talk a little about their activities in the arts. The episode concludes with a freewheeling discussion of the current arts scene in Rochester, New York.

The featured guests on this episode were:

• Adam Eaton, artist/photographer and executive director of Rochester Artist Collaborative
• Erich S. Lehman, artist, gallerist (Gallery 1975), itinerate curator, prodigious art collector, arts producer as well as co-curator of WALL/THERAPY.
• Nick Koch, artist/photographer, curator

The Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players who joined the conversation were:

• Reaghan McCan
• Mike Molaire
• Matt Vanderlee
• Susan Mandl & Seth Oser (playing as a team)
• Kelly Cheatle 

Click here to find all the players.

The host and moderator was Rome Celli, organizer of Rochester Art Collectors and Gamemaster of Red Dot Challenge, Season 1​

Looking ahead to our last episode during Red Dot Challenge, Season 1
​

• 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

Episode #2 of <<<outside the frame>>>, the Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 limited series interactive podcast, will go live on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm on ZOOM*. The recorded stream will be posted here soon after.

This episode of the show will include a number of featured guests, as well as a few of the Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players. Information about our guests is available below.

The key distinction between <<<outside the frame>>> and a typical podcast is the way it's open to the public. EVEYONE who registers in advance on Eventbrite will get a link to the show and be able to participate in real time along with the guests!

In this episode we'll provide a quick overview of the game and then dig into the emerging fantasy art collections and game strategies. We'll probably talk a bit about the MASSIVE art exhibitions offered this season. Then we'll introduce our featured guests and open up the conversation to art-related topics of interest to everyone on the ZOOM.

CLICK HERE to register and get your link to Episode #2:  Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 pm EST

​Adam Eaton is an artist & creative director born and raised in Rochester, NY. He uses photography as a medium to explore the beauty of Black people and examines how art and culture shape our definitions and perceptions of beauty while celebrating diversity. His commitment to art and the Rochester community has led him to create Rochester Artist Collaborative an arts organization that provides local artists with the resources and opportunities needed to succeed. 

Instagram: @adameaton.art (Adam Eaton)
Instagram: @rochesterartistcollaborative (Rochester Artist Collaborative)

By day, Erich S. Lehman is Lead IT Systems Administrator / Manager for RIT's College of Art and Design and has taught courses for RIT at the graduate and undergraduate level in topics ranging from the artistic to the technical. He’s also given lectures around the country in technical and artistic topics.

More notably for our discussion, he’s had a parallel career in the local arts community. Erich is founder and gallerist of 1975 Gallery (est. 2008), championing local, national, and international artists. He's a co-curator and Lead Organizer of WALL\THERAPY (est. 2011), an arts organization that has brought dozens of muralists from around our region and around the world to Rochester's public spaces. He is an itinerant curator at arts spaces around Rochester, and has a long-running design and creative practice of his own. And, of course, he's also an inveterate art collector. So, he's got a lot going on!

​Instagram: @1975ish (1975ish)
Instagram: @walltherapyny (WALL\THERAPY)

Most people know Nick Koch​ as @RocStreetPhoto on Instagram. He's a prolific street photographer who often turns his lens on urban architecture; particularly when it's accented by graffiti. His love of graffiti, the artists who create the work and the community who support their efforts are central to his oeuvre. But, he also has an eye for cars & motorcycles. TBH, any hot vehicle that crosses his path is fair game for a digital capture. And, let's just say he's not unfamiliar with the concept of a "wheelie". Nick has exhibited his work around town for quite some time. 

More recently, Nick found himself curating an art exhibition at Frank's Chop Shop on East Avenue. The show, "Thanks To The Streets" Volume #2", just came down at the end of November. It was a group show highlighting the vibrant world of graffiti art featuring works by over 40 talented artists and photographers. In his mind, it wasn't just an art show—it was a celebration of creativity and community. You get the picture.

Instagram: @rocstreetphoto (Roc Street Photo)

Mike Molaire  was born under the sun, inches from the ocean: in the coastal Haitian city of St Marc. His involvement with photography started at age 14. By seventeen, he was already doing on-site portraiture as a business.​
​
Mike came to Brooklyn, NY in July 1971. He used my  his first paycheck from a summer job to buy a photographic darkroom set that he used at night in the bathroom while everybody was sleeping. (He was enrolled in a correspondence photographic course with Modern Photography.) By September, while attending New York Technical College to study chemistry, he had started a (successful) wedding and portrait business.​
​
Upon graduation Mike was recruited by Eastman Kodak Company and moved to Rochester, NY in 1974. Mike traveled extensively as a Kodak employee around the US and on a few international trips. On every trip he arranged a vacation day to photograph each city he visited. He has amassed a large library of landscape scenes. 

Mike describes himself as a photo-artist, not a photojournalist. He does not report, inform, nor teach unless a particular project draws him to that approach. He wants to evoke your senses, your emotions, your feelings. He wants to stimulate, project, induce, provoke, excite, perk up, animate, arouse.
​
Mike is author and publisher of:

•  African American Who's Who Past & Present, Greater Rochester Area 12/1/1998.
• Shadow of Dreams (poetry) 12/1/1995. 
• Plus Pres (Nearer) (poetry) 12/1/1968
• La Vie des Oiseaux Morts (The Life of the Dead Birds) (poetry) 12/1/1965.

Instagram: @mikemolairefineart (Michel (Mike) Frantz Molaire)

Matt is an artist, curator and New York State certified educator practicing in Rochester, New York. He also creates artworks; facilitates arts programming; writes about art; talks about art and curates art exhibitions in collaboration with a variety of local organizations that include The Yards Art Collective, Rochester Artist Collaborative  and Frank’s Chop Shop.

Matt owns Hungwell Art Services which specializes in installing art in homes and businesses; packing & shipping art for clients and developing unique frames for works of art using handmade and found materials.

Matt participated in the Pilot Season of Red Dot Challenge in 2023-2024.

Instagram: @matt_vanderlee (Matt Vanderlee)

Kelly’s unique career has taken her around the world, designing and leading massive, community-built sculptures. Through both art and community organizing, she has witnessed the power of collective action—how people are eager to contribute to the greater good when given support and opportunity, and the importance of creating spaces for collaboration and creativity.

Both light-hearted and lion-hearted, Kelly blends her expertise in design, logistics, and marketing to champion equity and the arts in Rochester. Unwavering in her commitment to the common good, she challenges the status quo when it fails the people and advocates passionately for thoughtful, informed decision-making.

A Guinness World Record holder and Silver Abby award winner, Kelly’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Make Magazine. She is an active writer and has published essays, op-eds, as well as two children’s books, Artist Eyes and And He Puffed.

Instagram: ​@kellycheatle (Kelly Cheatle)

Susan & Seth* are now fully retired and loving it. They enjoy art, traveling, reading, and walking.

Susan  taught art in public school for 30 years. She creates art and also is an art collector.

Seth formerly owned and operated a Rochester-based printing company for 30 years. His dog is named Cayenne Pepper and he drives an EV.
​
​Seth & Susan ​are playing as a team. They are considered ONE player in Season 1.

Seth & Susan ​are playing as a team. They are considered ONE player in Season 1.

Instagram: @sethoze (Seth Oser)

* Susan & Seth participated in the Pilot Season of Red Dot Challenge in 2023-2024.

Looking ahead to the 3rd and final episode of <<<outside the frame>>>
​

• 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.

​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.​​

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

The organizers of Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 have scheduled THREE exciting interactive podcasts on ZOOM to cover all aspects of the game and talk about the regional art scene. Organizers chose ZOOM because the format allows everyone involved to participate.*

Over the course of three podcast episodes we will talk about how the game works and answer your questions about the game. You'll get updates on gameplay as it progresses in real time and you'll find out about game related events and activities.

Then everyone on this highly interactive ZOOM podcast will be able to take part in a freewheeling conversation about the regional art scene with invited curators, art collectors, arts administrators, and Red Dot Challenge, Season 1 players.

This is your chance to talk directly with players about the game and others involved in the local art scene. So, don't be shy! Add your voice to the conversation.
​
It's Your Move!

• Episode #1:  Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00 pm EST (Click to register & get the link.)

We'll kick off the first episode with an introduction to the game and how you can participate alongside the players. Then everyone will have a chance to share their views of the regional art scene with invited guests.

• 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.​​​