NEWS. ARTS. LIFE. | AUGUST 2022 | FREE | SINCE 1971 PARKS
DINING
THEATER
PUTTING THE ‘NATURE’ IN MAPLEWOOD PARK
GRACE & DISGRACE IS QUIETLY COOL
BRYNN TYSZKA TAKES OVER AT BLACKFRIARS
up in the air
Does downtown need (or want) a business improvement district?
2 CITY
MARCH 2022
IN THIS ISSUE OPENING SHOT
View of the Lower Falls gorge from atop the falls. The western edge of the Genesee River is home to Maplewood Park. Story on page 20. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
NEWS
6
ON THE COVER
IS THIS ‘IMPROVEMENT’?
ARTS
LIFE
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48
The push for a downtown business improvement district has a fight on its hands from area artists. AND BRIAN SHARP
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Retracting a letter of recommendation goes wrong at one of Rochester’s elite private schools.
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PUTTING THE ‘NATURE’ IN MAPLEWOOD PARK
A nature center is part of a city plan to revamp the park famous for its roses.
PUBLIC LIVES
MAKING HER MARK
CITY VISITS
ROCHESTER PRIDE
We talked to some of the characters who make Pride the most colorful celebration in town. BY LAUREN PETRACCA AND GINO FANELLI
BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
50
Rochester theater veteran Brynn Tyszka takes the helm at BlackfriarsTheatre.
BY EVAN DAWSON
20
DRAWN TOGETHER
Norman Rockwell showed Americans who they were, and who they could be. Catching his work is worth a day-trip.
BY DAVID ANDREATTA
HAVING MERCY
REVEL IN THE DETAILS
PASSWORD NOT REQUIRED
Grace & Disgrace’s pop-up cocktail hours are Bar Mecca are quietly cool. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER
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BY GINO FANELLI
SCHOOL’S OUT
SUNY Brockport ends its master’s in fine arts program at the indie Visual Studies Workshop. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
MORE NEWS, ARTS, AND LIFE INSIDE
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WHAT ALES ME
AN EMPIRE STATE CELEBRATION
Nine Spot Brewing screams all things NY. BY GINO FANELLI roccitynews.com
CITY 3
INBOX WANNA SAY SOMETHING? CITY wants to hear you rant and rave. Your feedback must . . . . . . be no more than 250 words . . . respond to CITY content . . . be engaging CITY reserves the right to edit for accuracy, length, and readability.
Send your rants and raves to: feedback@rochester-citynews.com
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FICTION IS FACT Many thanks to Gino Fanelli for the article in the June edition of CITY that shined a light on crisis pregnancy centers (“Lawmakers Take Aim at Pregnancy Resource Centers”). These centers are notorious for their unethical practices. For instance, many of them offer free pregnancy tests, but then misinform the unsuspecting woman about how far along she is in the pregnancy. The idea is to delay her from getting legitimate counseling or medical care until it is too late to consider abortion as an option. You can see this unscrupulous behavior play out in the fictional film “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” that was shown recently at the Little Theatre and can currently be streamed on Amazon Prime. In the film, a 17-year-old goes to a crisis pregnancy center in Pennsylvania, where she lives, and is told she is 10 weeks pregnant, when in fact, she is 18 weeks along. Fleeing to New York City to avoid the parental notification law in Pennsylvania, the young woman is finally able to receive accurate information and get an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic. It is heartening that the governor recently signed a bill that directs the state commissioner of health to take a hard look at these crisis pregnancy centers with an eye to curtailing their shoddy practices. Linda Stephens, Greece
A COVE BY ANY OTHER NAME I read with interest the article on Devil’s Cove Park in the July edition of CITY (“Hellish Name, Heavenly Place”). It prompted me to search maps from 1935 through the early 1940s. There, it was called “Held’s Cove” and was the name I knew the place by as a child, as did my parents, who grew up on Irondequoit Bay over 100 years ago. Verbally it sounded like “Hell’s Cove,” so now it’s called “Devil’s Cove.” It is a special place, thankfully fairly inaccessible except by boat, as the article noted. I’ve watched so much dredging and development on the bay, this is welcome news. The article was well written. There is so much of interest to write about just on the bay, which was a major Native American hub of activity. Your writers, who are most likely more of a current generation than I, have a treasure trove of information in places such as the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society, old books, maps, and elders. I enjoy the magazine very much. Karen M. Schneider, Webster
ABBOTT’S OR BUST Great “Summer Edition” of CITY in July. Jacob Walsh’s article “Ice Cream Dream” led me to break my self-imposed diet. It made me want to get in my car and go for a custard. Custard is the key to my ice cream addiction! Sadly, Walsh’s article had Bruster’s as one of the three places he reviewed. Bruster’s is a 200-unit chain from Pennsylvania. As I try to stay local/regional, my first thought upon reading the article was, “Where is Abbott’s?” Abbott’s is awesome and local and uses regional base to make its product. It began in western New York and has stayed here. Maybe Walsh can focus on Abbott’s in a future edition. My subscription is secure. Chocolate Almond from Abbott’s 12 Corners rules! Jacob Bonar, Rochester
GO WILD Regarding the region just west of the Genesee with the Vacuum Oil building and nearby contamination (“For Sale: Toxic Riverfront Property,” June), I’ve got some ideas. I certainly think Exxon, who is responsible for the contamination there, should pay the bill for any cleanup needed. As for “development,” I think it should be developed as a wild area to serve Rochester and nearby regions. I bike through there daily on my way to the University of Rochester and I often see wild animals. Besides deer, there are wild turkey, fox, a weasel, and one coywolf. Close to the river are heron and egret and turtles, besides the fish there. Rather than large buildings, I would like to see a mini-wild area developed for all. Some of my ideas include making the area a mini-Autism Nature Trail, such as was recently developed in Letchworth; or a place for local families to camp; or using it for eco-therapy for veterans. William Forrest, Rochester
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NEWS. ARTS. LIFE. AUGUST, 2022 Vol 50 No 12 On the cover: Photograph by Max Schulte 280 State Street Rochester, New York 14614 feedback@rochester-citynews.com phone (585) 244-3329 roccitynews.org PUBLISHER Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, Norm Silverstein, chairman FOUNDERS Bill and Mary Anna Towler EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT themail@rochester-citynews.com Editor: David Andreatta News editor: Jeremy Moule Staff writer: Gino Fanelli Arts editor: Daniel J. Kushner Life editor: Rebecca Rafferty Contributing writers: Evan Dawson, Mona Seghatoleslami, Brian Sharp, Kate Stathis, David Streever CREATIVE DEPARTMENT artdept@rochester-citynews.com Director of strategy: Ryan Williamson Art Director: Jacob Walsh ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT ads@rochester-citynews.com Sales manager: Alison Zero Jones Advertising consultant/ Project manager: David White OPERATIONS/CIRCULATION Operations manager: Ryan Williamson Circulation manager: Katherine Stathis kstathis@rochester-citynews.com CITY is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased by calling 585-784-3503. CITY may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of CITY, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. CITY (ISSN 1551-3262) is published monthly 12 times per year by Rochester Area Media Partners, a subsidiary of WXXI Public Broadcasting. Periodical postage paid at Rochester, NY (USPS 022-138). Address changes: CITY, 280 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the New York Press Association. Copyright by Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, 2021 - all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner. WXXI MEMBERS may inquire about free home delivery of CITY including monthly TV listings by calling 585-258-0200.
@ROCCITYNEWS
Save Lives and Bring Hope to Those Affected by Suicide
Rochester Out of the Darkness Walk Saturday, October 1 st Veteran's Memorial Park Penfield, NY
The Out of the Darkness Community Walk is a journey of remembrance, hope, and support. It unites our communities and provides an opportunity to acknowledge the ways in which suicide and mental health conditions have affected our lives and the lives of those we love and care about. roccitynews.com
CITY 5
Is this ‘improvement’? BY DAVID ANDREATTA AND BRIAN SHARP
THE PUSH FOR A DOWNTOWN BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT HAS A FIGHT ON ITS HANDS.
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O
n a chilly Thursday afternoon in early March, leaders in the Rochester arts
community gathered in the Wilder Room on East Avenue. They had been invited there by the city’s foremost cheerleader of downtown, Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, the longtime president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., a nonprofit whose mission is to attract investment in the corridor.
HEIDI ZIMMER - MEYER She wanted to talk about a vision she and city officials shared for creating something called a “business improvement district” downtown, and ask for their ideas and support for a plan to help kick it off. That plan included a call for artists to paint storefront windows to “enhance the vibrancy” of the neighborhood. The news did not go over well with the room.
Artists wondered whether she was aware of their existing efforts to create a lively downtown. They scoffed at the idea of an economic development agency coordinating art calls. They questioned why, if there was money to spend on art, it wasn’t being turned over to arts organizations, whose lack of public funding is well documented. Within weeks, many of the artists there would dismiss the plan as literal window dressing intended to push through a concept that they argued could potentially drive artists out of the neighborhood they were being asked to “enhance.” Today, their distrust of what they see as overreach by economic development and business interests has morphed into an all-out campaign to undercut the entire effort to establish a business improvement district downtown. Artists have launched an offensive in the form of protests, social media campaigns, and a website called nobidroc.com — as in “no business improvement district” in Rochester. More than 600 people and counting have signed a related online petition. When supporters began marketing their efforts with the tagline “Downtown Definitely,” the artists turned the motto on its head with their own version: “Downtown Dubiously.” “They seem to want arts and culture to factor heavily into their plans, yet there was no transparent process or meaningful art community input,” said Bleu Cease, the executive director of the Rochester Contemporary Art Center on East Avenue and a leader in the movement to stop a business improvement district. The arts community’s protestations gathered enough steam in July to force Mayor Malik Evans and the City Council to postpone a vote on the matter. The vote was to formally begin a planning process to get the district up and running by 2024. Officials said they wanted time to clarify and answer CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Parcel 5 was the site of the Midday Bash, part of the “Downtown Definitely” campaign to draw people to the city’s center with food trucks, music, lawn games, and fitness instructors. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE
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WHAT IS A ‘BID’?
PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE
A business improvement district is an area with defined boundaries created by property owners who have agreed to tax themselves for services and quality-of-life improvements they want and that their government may be unable or unwilling to provide.
LIKE WHAT IMPROVEMENTS? Improvements can be things like special events, lighting, sanitation, marketing, beautification, public art, hospitality, and security services.
ARE THESE THINGS COMMON? Yes. There are more than 1,200 around the country. New York City alone has more than 70 of them. Syracuse has one. So does Schenectady. They’re everywhere. In fact, Rochester has one operating in the High Falls District.
WHO’S BEHIND THE DOWNTOWN ‘BID’? This gets a little complicated. So, try to follow along. The short answer is that mostly economic development interests and political forces are behind the push for a downtown BID. The long answer is that something called the Rochester Downtown Partnership is behind it.
WHAT IS THE ROCHESTER DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP? Rochester Downtown Partnership is a new nonprofit organization created by those aforementioned economic development interests and political forces. It was created by the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., the city, and Empire State Development, an arm of the state, for the sole purpose of planning for and eventually managing a downtown BID. There are 17 members on the board, the vast majority of whom are movers and shakers in local business and political circles. One member is the artist Shawn Dunwoody. Its day-to-day operations are currently handled by the Rochester Downtown Development Corp.
WHO’S FUNDING THIS EFFORT? Mostly taxpayers. About $5 million has been set aside for the effort. The bulk of it — about $3 million — is in the form of a grant from the $50 million “ROC the Riverway” initiative, a series of public works projects along the Genesee River downtown. The rest of the bankroll consists of $1 million in private donations, mostly from downtown business and property owners, and revenue from the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., which is primarily funded by corporations, institutions, and real estate companies.
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myriad concerns that critics have raised. They might try again for a vote in August. “People are thinking already, ‘Oh, this is a done deal,’” Evans said. “This is the beginning phases. This is not a fait accompli.” Supporters of the proposed business improvement district say opponents are fearmongering and have it wrong. The goal, they insist, is doublebarreled: activate street vitality and enhance promotional efforts to bring people downtown and to other spaces that the city, the state, and private investors have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into rehabbing. “We’ve been hearing complaints for years about how dead downtown streets are,” said Zimmer-Meyer, who retired in June. THE BONES OF A ‘BID’ Business improvements districts, known as BIDs, are public-private partnerships. Property owners in a defined area agree to pay additional taxes for services and quality-of-life improvements that the local government may be unable or unwilling to provide. These can be things like special events, lighting, sanitation, marketing, beautification, public art, hospitality, and security services.
These districts began popping up in the United States in the mid-1970s, and cities across the country began embracing them ever since they were credited with helping transform Times Square and Union Square in New York City from dens of seediness to thriving tourist destinations. Today there are more than 1,200 BIDs nationwide. Rochester created one in High Falls in 2005 without controversy. But a muddled attempt at organizing a downtown BID collapsed a decade ago. The catalyst for the latest push was the realization of a series of state- and city-funded public works projects along the Genesee River downtown and East Main Street. Some $5 million has been set aside to create an entity to manage and promote those efforts, most of that in taxpayer money in the form of a state grant. The rest consists of $1 million in private donations, mostly from downtown business and property owners, and revenue from the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., which is primarily funded by corporations, institutions, and real estate companies. “We need better organization, coordination on all of these redevelopment efforts and promotional efforts,” said Vinnie Esposito, who oversees New York state’s regional
Nicole Bruno protests Rochester Downtown Development Corp.’s push for a business improvement district outside a meeting of the agency at the Holiday Inn. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE
economic development efforts, specifically in the Finger Lakes, and supports the concept of a downtown BID. “It’s not good enough just to improve a park and a trail and a public space,” he said. “What we really need to do is then promote and activate, and make those spaces come alive.” Many in the arts community, however, argue that downtown is already alive and thriving organically through the work of artists and everyday people who make their homes and livings there. Their opposition hews closely to that of critics of BIDs elsewhere who say the districts serve the interests of real estate developers by providing them the means to impose an unnecessary tax that could be passed along to tenants in the form of higher rents. They call them “classist” and “undemocratic,” and argue they lead to gentrification. Opponents in Rochester have gone so far as to classify the proposed district as “21st century redlining.” Chief among their concerns is that
BIDs, which by state law are overseen by a board of directors made up primarily of property owners, could ultimately control access to public spaces and spend the taxes they assess without the typical public checks and balances. In essence, they say, BIDs operate as a shadow government. “Do we want to turn downtown Rochester into a privatized oasis of phony vitality?” asked Kelly Cheatle, a vocal opponent who is the artistic director at Airigami, a company on State Street near Lyell Avenue that creates intricate balloon arrangements for local and national clients. “Do we want to give wealthy developers the power to hire private security to secure their vision of a ‘vital’ downtown?” Cheatle asked. “Do we want a secretive board to be able to levy taxes without public scrutiny? No.”
“We’ve been hearing complaints for years about how dead downtown streets are.” HEIDI ZIMMER-MEYER
“Do we want to turn downtown Rochester into a privatized oasis of phony vitality?” KELLY CHEATLE
SHADOW GOVERNMENT OR ECONOMIC ENGINE? Business improvement districts vary in size and scope, and must be authorized CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
roccitynews.com
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through a multistep process that officials here say will take two years or more and requires buy-in from a majority of property owners in the designated area. That process includes, among other things, devising a map of the district, proposing an annual budget, outlining how much property owners will pay, and public hearings on the matter. None of those things has happened yet. That has not stopped opponents, though, from pushing the narrative that BIDs are secret societies, accountable to no one. “If it’s not stopped,” reads the introduction at nobidroc.com, “a BID would work behind closed doors to make rules, control access to public spaces, and spend public money without transparency and no public accountability.” But the state Committee on Open Government has determined that BIDs are “public bodies” subject to the state’s Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law. That ruling, made in 2016, was a reversal of previous legal opinions that held that open meetings and records laws were not applicable to business improvement districts. The Evans administration backed that interpretation in correspondence with the City Council recently. The administration also noted that the city can impose a lifespan on the existence of a BID and force one to shut down. State law also requires BIDs in cities like Rochester to include three members on their boards who are appointed respectively by the mayor, the chief financial officer, and the City Council. Opponents here have dismissed those posts as “token” representation. To some degree, these districts function as an extension of government, providing a way for local property owners to prioritize and pay for improvements in their communities. Research has shown that the greater the valuation of the properties in a BID, the more resources the district has, and the more effective it can be. But critics nationwide take a broad view that BIDs, by their nature, exacerbate inequality by creating communities that have more access to better services than others in the same city. “One big issue that we’ve also discussed, is their ability to disincentivize public investment in services,” said Jess Wunsch with New York University’s 10 CITY AUGUST 2022
Artist Shawn Dunwoody works on a mural on Scio Street while chatting with Bleu Cease, executive director of Rochester Contemporary Art Center. Dunwoody is the lone artist advising the effort to create a downtown BID. Cease is a leading critic of the plan. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE
Furman Center. “So it’s almost a way of cities, you know, deferring responsibility … and not delivering on services that they might otherwise.” The center has done some of the most in-depth work on BIDs, finding clear benefits but also pitfalls, and remains neutral on their implementation. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY While BIDs can vote to raise taxes on their property owners for initiatives like landscaping and decorative lighting and uniformed safety forces, they do so in an advisory capacity. State law leaves implementing the tax assessments or bond issuances necessary to finance the projects desired by the BID up to the municipality’s legislative body — in Rochester’s case, that means the City Council. Still, the notion that BIDs operate outside the auspices of government is true in practice. Their operations tend to fly under the radar in most cities. They are hyperlocal and their meetings are poorly publicized. Most media outlets lack the resources or interest to cover them in any depth. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
WHAT’S NEXT?
If the City Council votes to proceed . . . The year ahead will be spent creating the district plan, including mapping the boundaries, devising an annual budget, and detailing how much property owners would pay.
MID- TO LATE SUMMER 2023: Petitioning, during which time organizers need to gather support from the owners of at least 51% of the assessed valuation of all property within the boundaries.
FALL/WINTER 2023: A series of procedural steps sends the matter back to City Council for a public hearing and vote. Then, to the state Comptroller for sign off. Then, back to City Council for final approval.
SPRING 2024:
City Council votes on the boundaries and then management plan.
JULY 2024: The BID has to be in place by July in order for the add-on fee or “tax” that will fund it to be included in tax bills. Miss that and the timetable shifts to 2025. roccitynews.com CITY 11
The High Falls Business Improvement District is a prime example of a BID that has gotten little scrutiny. Its most visible contribution to the neighborhood was financing the repainting of faded advertisements for businesses of yesteryear on building facades. The dearth of scrutiny of BIDs elsewhere has occasionally resulted in waste and abuse. For instance, New York City auditors found that a BID overseeing the so-called “Diamond District” in Manhattan engaged in “gross financial mismanagement” by authorizing security services for a building outside the district and paying the district’s executive director an outsized salary. Last year, controversy swirled around a vote to renew a BID in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., when dozens of businesses there cried that the board of directors was poorly managed and mostly for the benefit of a few. But there are also examples of good stemming from BIDs in those same cities. One district in Manhattan created a mobile application to connect residents with businesses. Another in Washington provides outreach to the homeless. ‘ARTWASHING’ OR HOGWASH? It may seem odd to anyone unfamiliar with civic battles over BIDs that artists are the frontline of opposition. But artists occupy a unique role in the BID landscape. Business improvement districts often enlist artists to help make the neighborhoods they manage more attractive to investors. Indeed, Rochester’s most prominent artist, Shawn Dunwoody, is on an advisory board advocating for a downtown BID. Such teamwork has proven effective elsewhere. Last year, the Meatpacking Business 12 CITY AUGUST 2022
Improvement District in New York City touted its success working with a minority-owned arts organization to celebrate Black culture through street art and performances. That kind of collaboration was the idea behind the Rochester Downtown Development Corp.’s call for artists to paint storefront windows downtown. But artists objected to the plea on several grounds. They felt snubbed by not being consulted before the call was publicized. They were offended at what they perceived as the portrayal of downtown as being void of arts programming. And they were insulted by the initial offer to pay artists $500 for their work. The Rochester Downtown
Development Corp. later scaled up the pay to between $3,000 and $3,500, but by that time, the damage had been done. Artists accused the agency of “artwashing,” a term used to describe the use of artists and artwork to whitewash clandestine efforts to gentrify a neighborhood. Some went further to propose that the Rochester Downtown Development Corp. turn over its budget for public art — about $175,000 — to at least 10 city arts organizations for them to create arts programming. The agency flatly rejected the proposal, reasoning that the money was slated for physical improvements and public art downtown, not art programming. Eventually, the agency
shelved its proposal to pay artists to paint windows. Esposito, with Empire State Development, said he was not surprised at the criticism and anticipated there would be more to come, from artists, and other segments of the community. “And that’s not bad, right?” Esposito said. “There’s all kinds of different types of art and levels of it. But I think it’s important that the arts community, such that it is, has a voice and a big one. “In all of these conversations, we’re trying to find how to how to achieve that in a constructive collaborative way. And it’s not easy,” he said. “And it certainly has had some challenges in the recent past. But I’m confident we’ll get there.”
PHOTOS BY MAX SCHULTE
roccitynews.com CITY 13
NEWS
LIFE-CHANGING LETTER
HAVING MERCY Retracting a recommendation goes wrong at a local elite high school. BY EVAN DAWSON
@EVANDAWSON
EDAWSON@WXXI.ORG
L
ola DeAscentiis was a senior and star student at Our Lady of Mercy in December as she awaited word from her college of choice, the University of Pennsylvania. She had applied to the Ivy League school early decision and had every reason to believe she had a shot at being accepted. Her resume boasted sterling grades and a slew of impressive extracurricular activities, including several years as a Rochester Youth Climate leader. To bolster her chances, she had a glowing recommendation from her English teacher and literary magazine advisor that oozed praise and admiration. “She excels at applying classroom knowledge to real world experiences, which greatly distinguishes her from her peers,” wrote her teacher, Caroline Kurzweil, who called DeAscentiis a young woman of “piety, compassion, and integrity.” What DeAscentiis did not know as she waited was that there was a tempest brewing at the highest levels of the administration at Mercy over the efforts by Kurzweil to kneecap DeAscentiis’s application. The teacher had taken the extraordinary step of retracting her recommendation in a follow-up letter to the university that maligned DeAscentiis as a student who “breached ethical conduct, broke confidentiality, and betrayed trust.” Had DeAscentiis cheated on exams? Plagiarized in the school magazine? Kurzweil did not specify, but claimed that Mercy’s administration had investigated and deemed her new portrayal of her student to be credible. She concluded with the devastating line, “Lola is not the student I knew in May.” In the coming days, DeAscentiis got word that Penn had rejected her. How the school handled the situation has reverberated throughout the community at Mercy, a tightly-
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Our Lady of Mercy, a private Catholic school in Brighton since 1928, promises a life-changing experience for its students. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
Caroline Kurzweil, teacher
knit, private Catholic school in Brighton for girls that promises a lifechanging experience for its students and demands high school tuition of around $14,000 annually. Experts in best practices in the field of college admissions
acknowledge that teachers have the right to rescind letters of recommendation. But they also contend that retractions are rare and typically only take place under the most egregious changes in circumstances. When they do occur, some experts say, teachers and schools should be forthcoming about the situation to the student and their families. Mercy insists the matter has not had implications beyond the student involved. But at least two educators there say it was a factor in them leaving the school, and the school president has asked staff to not speak of the matter publicly. A SCRAMBLE AND A REJECTION When Mercy administrators learned what Kurzweil had done to their
star student, they quietly took pains behind the scenes to attempt to reverse the harm they feared the teacher may have caused. Without informing DeAscentiis or her family of what had transpired, Principal Martin Kilbridge wrote an email to Penn that made clear he believed Kurzweil was lying about the administration’s supposed investigation. “Ms. Kurzweil misrepresents my understanding of the events that transpired, implying that I support her determination to retract her recommendation,” Kilbridge wrote. “Her account is a gross distortion of reality and a travesty.” He concluded, “Lola is a shining star and does not deserve to have her character tarnished by what I can only conclude is CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Lola DeAscentiis, pictured in her bedroom at home, was a star student at Our Lady of Mercy. PHOTO BY LAUREN PETRACCA roccitynews.com CITY 15
Cady then decided to quit in protest. In a resignation letter Cady wrote of her shock that a teacher had “sabotaged” DeAscentiis’s chances at
Martin Kilbridge, principal
personal animus.” His email included a perspective from the school’s president, Pam Baker, whom Kilbridge made known had a husband and two daughters who were Penn alumni. He quoted Baker as saying that Kurzweil’s retraction was “wrong” and a “punishment” that “speaks more to the lack of judgment of this teacher than Lola.” She characterized DeAscentiis as a leader
Pam Baker, school president
with a “desire to change the world.” Their pleas were written at the behest of a guidance counselor, Emily Cady, to whom Kurzweil had confessed that she had retracted her recommendation. “Lola was one of the most impressive students I’ve ever met, and I knew time was running out for earlyadmission decisions,” Cady said. In an interview, Cady recalled informing the administrators that they had an ethical duty to inform DeAscentiis and her family about what Kurzweil had done. As Cady recalled, the administrators initially pledged to do so before Christmas. They did not follow through. Then, during the holiday break, Cady said, they told her they would not be informing the family. 16 CITY AUGUST 2022
Emily Cady, guidance counselor
not only Penn, but also her second choice, Wellesley College. “I have repeatedly recommended a course of action that placed the wellbeing of the student first and honored the integrity of this institution, including full disclosure to the student and her parents of the acts of this teacher,” Cady wrote. “Unfortunately, those recommendations of honesty, transparency, and accountability have been ignored or dismissed.” It would only be a matter of time before word of what was going down would get back to DeAscentiis and her family. Someone printed Cady’s letter and placed it in the mailboxes of Mercy staff. In response, the administration sent an email to the staff asking that each take their copy of Cady’s letter to the school’s human resources director and “slip it under her door.” The email did not address Cady’s allegations and blamed whoever printed the letter for fostering discord and division. Kilbridge has since relocated to another school and efforts to reach him were unsuccessful. A Mercy spokesperson declined to make Baker or Kurzweil available for interviews. Responding to inquiries related to this story, Baker sent a note to staff instructing them to stay quiet, saying the key issue at play is “confidentiality.” AN EMAIL FLUB DeAscentiis and her family believe the root of this entire affair lies in an email flub. “I’m not good with technology,” DeAscentiis said during an interview. In October, as DeAscentiis recalled,
Columbia Care Lola DeAcentiis with her father, Bil DeAcentiis. PHOTO BY LAUREN PETRACCA
Kurzweil had instructed her to attend an afternoon meeting for the literary magazine. DeAscentiis had made plans to mentor a younger student that day, and informed Kurzweil that they needed to choose a different time. DeAscentiis said that Kurzweil, whom she cast as a tough-but-effective teacher who taught her a lot, then canceled her mentoring session and demanded she show up to the magazine meeting. DeAscentiis attended, but recalled the meeting being frosty. The next day, Kurzweil sent DeAscentiis an email that DeAscentiis considered condescending. The email began, “Sometimes an editor needs to be more than a little flexible with schedules . . . as you experienced yesterday.” Exasperated, DeAscentiis forwarded the email to a trusted confidant, and added the line, “Just thought I’d share, lolz! I just love the way this email begins.” It was a moment of frustration — a student complaining about a teacher in the way that an employee might complain about a boss. The trouble for DeAscentiis began later when she replied to Kurzweil, but did so in a way that allowed Kurzweil to see her forwarded email with the snarky “lolz” comment. That is what DeAscentiis and her family believe was the spark that prompted her teacher to send letters to her top two choices of schools claiming that she had “breached ethical conduct, broke confidentiality, and betrayed my trust.” Asked directly whether the email snafu was the impetus for or
a contributing factor to Kurzweil’s retraction, Mercy spokesperson Dave Carro declined to answer, calling it a personnel matter that the school could not discuss. He issued a statement, however, that contrasted with the administrators’ defense of DeAscentiis in December, saying that “actions by the student breached ethical conduct, broke confidentiality, and betrayed the teacher’s trust; thus, the teacher rescinded their letter of support.” MEETING THE PARENTS After Cady resigned, Mercy arranged for Kilbridge and Baker to meet with DeAscentiis’s parents in early January. Her father, Bil DeAscentiis, said he was shocked to learn about the about the retraction, but hopeful that Mercy had his daughter’s back. “I asked if the teacher simply withdrew her letter, or did she say something disparaging about Lola?” Bil said. “They told me it was disparaging. I remember getting very upset and saying that it was morally reprehensible what the teacher did, and I was surprised there were no consequences for her.” Bil wanted to see the letter, but he said the administrators claimed it belonged to the teacher and they didn’t think they could give it up. He recalled that Kilbridge and Baker wondered whether his daughter would still be willing to work with Kurzweil on the literary magazine, and that
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roccitynews.com CITY 17
they cautioned her about severing her relationship with her teacher. “They told Lola not to talk about this with other people, because it could start drama and would lead to questions,” Bil said. “They warned Lola that she could be blamed for this.” Eventually, Bil hired a lawyer to obtain the letter and Mercy gave it up. When Bil saw its contents and that it had been written on Mercy stationery, he smelled a cover-up. “I felt duped,” he said. He offered to show the letter to his daughter, but she felt it would hurt too much. She had invested years at Mercy. “My dad read it aloud to me, but it was too emotional for me to look at myself,” she said. DeAscentiis started the new semester taking classes online, in part because she suffered a bout of vomiting, which a doctor chalked up to anxiety. She would eventually drop out and graduate from another private school. According to the DeAscentiis family lawyer, Mercy offered to reimburse DeAscentiis’s tuition if the family agreed not to speak publicly about this affair. The family rejected the offer. “We weren’t after money,” Bil said. “I think speaking about this — letting people know what happened to us — is paramount here.” HARVARD COMES CALLING In April, Lola learned that she had been accepted to Harvard. It was a happy turn of events, but she said she found herself missing her friends and teachers during the year-end festivities. She had applied to the university and others with the help of Cady. “She made a huge sacrifice,” DeAscentiis said of the former guidance counselor. “While so many people at Mercy showed me that I can’t trust adults, she really restored some of that trust for me. They made me feel like I was disposable, but she showed me the opposite.” Another Mercy teacher, John Baynes, also wrote a letter of recommendation for DeAscentiis’s Harvard application. He called her “a critical part of our community.” “I missed Lola every single time we had a celebration,” Baynes said. Baynes, who retired after the academic year, said that teachers at Mercy were shaken by the events. “It was a factor in my decision to 18 CITY AUGUST 2022
Lola DeAscentiis with her rejection letter from the University of Pennsylvania. PHOTO BY LAUREN PETRACCA
because of this matter.” Carro also contended that Kurzweil’s letter had no impact on DeAscentiis’s application at Penn. He said administrators have an email from Penn confirming that DeAscentiis would not have been accepted anyway, but declined to provide it when asked.
John Baynes, teacher
retire,” he said. “It has impacted the morale of the staff, and it impacted me personally.” Baynes, who is also a Democratic Monroe County legislator, blasted Mercy’s response to the matter. “Mercy betrayed its values,” he said. “They are choosing to protect themselves and blame the student. She’s the victim here, not them. They need to make this right and heal their school community.” Carro, the Mercy spokesperson, dismissed the notion that the episode has rocked the faculty “This isolated matter has not hindered Mercy’s staffing...,” he wrote. “There is only one person, the student’s counselor, who publicly acknowledged they left their position at Mercy
A NEW POLICY DeAscentiis said she worries other students have had their college candidacies undermined by trusted teachers. “I’m going to be fine,” she said. “I’m out of there. I see this as an injustice to the people who are still there. If this could happen to me, how do we know other students aren’t also at risk?” A statement from Mercy included a promise to create a new school policy “stating that should a teacher choose to withdraw a letter of recommendation for a college-bound student, both the student and the student’s counselor must be notified.” That policy should have already been in place, said David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer for the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “It is exceedingly rare for a letter of recommendation to be retracted,” Hawkins said. “It’s so rare that we don’t even measure it as part of our research.
But the key problem here is the absence of any policy on this in the first place.” Hawkins explained that retractions typically happen when something truly egregious has occurred, such as an act of violence. In 2017, for example, a case in Massachusetts made headlines when a teacher rescinded a letter of recommendation for a student who posted a swastika on school property. Mercy’s statement included a contention that teachers have the legal right to rescind a retraction. Hawkins agreed, but added that, from the ethical perspective, transparency is vital. “Some of our core values include collegiality, collaboration, trust, and professionalism,” Hawkins said. “From what I’ve seen and heard of this situation (at Mercy), these core values didn’t seem to be at work.” Mercy has acknowledged that Kurzweil needed to be disciplined and undergo “corrective action,” but declined to divulge the punishment. DeAscentiis has not heard from Kurzweil. She doesn’t expect to. Meanwhile, the latest Mercy yearbooks have traces of DeAscentiis. But missing are her official student portrait and the quote DeAscentiis had chosen to accompany it. The quote contained only three words: “Change takes courage.”
roccitynews.com CITY 19
NEWS
PARK PERK
Putting the nature back in Maplewood Park
Maplewood Park is held together by two miles of meandering trails and greenspace along the western banks of the Genesee River. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
A nature center is part of a plan to revamp the park famous for its roses. BY GINO FANELLI
A
@GINOFANELLI
modest, rectangular building sits at the northern end of Maplewood Park, a twomile stretch of meandering trails and greenspace along the western banks of the Genesee River. At present, it is marked with a sign that reads “Maplewood Training Center,” although it has had past lives as a recreation center and a police station. In fact, the building still houses police motorcycles. But the city has set in motion a $5.5 million plan to breathe new life into Maplewood Park — and that building. As part of that project, the easy-to-miss structure will become the Maplewood Nature Center, which the city intends to be an entry point to the park and a community gathering space. “The vision for it is to have it
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GFANELLI@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM
definitely be a space geared towards our nature programming but also have it be a space,” said Sara Scott, the city of Rochester’s coordinator of horticultural and environmental programming. “So we’re envisioning the inside as open to the public with a classroom space, a kitchen space, with the ability for groups to rent it out.” If the project remains on its current schedule, the city expects design work on the Nature Center to conclude in 2024, and the renovations to wrap up in 2026. YEARS IN THE MAKING The Maplewood Nature Center project is currently in its design stage, as the city solicits firms to flesh out a vision for improving the building, its parking lot, and a nearby playground. But the
concept is years in the making. In 2019, the city released a document outlining potential amenities for Maplewood Park. Among the possibilities were canopies of solar panels installed over parking spots, a preschool classroom, a kitchen for public use, and a renovated playground inspired by woods and nature. A fresh injection of federal COVID-19 relief funds made the vision a reality. Rochester received $202.1 million through the American Rescue Plan Act and that funding will cover almost the entirety of the nature center’s price tag, or $5.3 million of the $5.5 million project. The project fell under the act’s criteria of “investments in communities to promote improved health outcomes and public safety.” At a July meeting of the Maplewood
Neighborhood Association, members said the renovation of the park was long overdue and that it should be done in a way that makes the park easily accessible to residents of the community. “For it to be connected to the neighborhood, the city is going to need to deliberately connect it,” said Bill Collins, who serves on the association’s board. “Not only to the neighborhood, but for people that want to go there that don’t have cars. Right now, it’s difficult to go there if you don’t have a car, it’s difficult to walk to.” In April 2021, the Rochester City Council unanimously adopted a Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, a document developed by the National League of Cities that underscores the notion that urban youngsters should have easy access to nature.
The “Maplewood Training Center” will be refashioned into a nature center and classroom under a new city plan. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
“The mayor and City Council are committed to ensuring all children in Rochester have access to nature and experience the benefits of spending time outside,” the bill of rights reads. The Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights articulates one of the driving principles behind the Maplewood Nature Center project, Scott said. “I certainly feel that the work is guided by the ideas of equity and inclusion, especially of our youth and our families,” Scott said. “And specifically serving the youth in the city that may not have the ability to get outside of the city and frequent a park or get out on the water.” The city also wants to make sure Maplewood Park connects with some of the other revitalization projects happening through the ROC the Riverway initiative, such as the planned High Falls state park directly to the south. AN OLMSTED VISION JoAnn Beck has lived in the Maplewood Neighborhood for decades, and was once the city’s senior landscape architect. She had a hand in sculpting projects like Martin Luther King Memorial Park at Manhattan Square and Lower Falls Park, which sits directly at the southern end of Maplewood. She sees the development of the nature center as long overdue. “(The building) has been a police station, it’s been a training center, it’s about time it’s been put back into park use,” Beck said. “I am thrilled that there’s going to be investment into this gorgeous, beautiful, neglected landscape.” Beck also chairs the Landmark Society of Western New York’s sub-committee on Olmsted Parks. The visionary landscape
architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed Maplewood Park, as well as the city’s Seneca Park, Genesee Valley Park, and Highland Park. Seneca Park connects to Maplewood via a footbridge spanning the river. Olmsted’s vision for the parks was clear — to create public spaces that embrace existing natural features and where people are able to convene with, rather than impede on, nature. “It is very desirable that the woods on the banks of the river below the park be preserved as they stand at present,” an 1891 Democrat and Chronicle article quoted him as saying about Seneca Park. “…The land is certainly of no use for industrial purposes, nor for any purposes that I can think of. The board would do well to provide for the preservation of the trees.” Angelo Calieri, a member of the Maplewood Neighborhood Association, said the project, if done right, would be in the spirit of Olmsted’s original intentions for the park. “Olmsted’s philosophy on parks is bring the parks to the people,” Calieri said. “You don’t put parks where people have to go find them.” Olmsted was an early conservationist who believed parks should be natural oases where city dwellers can find serenity. Scott believes the work being done at Maplewood is a testament to those ideals. “Honestly, it’s an Olmsted space, and I feel in some ways it’s returning it to the vision of what Olmsted and others in our city felt the park should be — a public asset that is about having an oasis, having access to nature in the midst of the city,” Scott said.
roccitynews.com CITY 21
31 DAYS OF MUSIC, ARTS AND LIFE EVENTS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH
DAILY Full calendar of events online at roccitynews.com MONDAY, AUG. 1 DRINKS
Beer Bingo
Local Palate, localpalate.square.site Is Phelps a bit of a haul to play a game of bingo where the payout comes in the form of beer? Nah. Local Palate is a market and cafe that features, as the name implies, food and drinks grown, raised, or produced in New York. Bingo buy-in is $1 a board and the Facebook event page describes the workings this way: “Round for round, win a round, get a round!” If you miss it today, you can go the next Monday or the one after that and so on, for as long as Local Palate decides to keep doing beer bingo. The Empire State is home to some fantastic brews worth gambling on. JEREMY MOULE
todo
Barrymore gives an arch look across a table at co-star William B. Davidson. Her commanding screen presence (and distant resemblance to great-great grandniece Drew) shines the distance of more than a century. Ethel stars here as a woman who seeks to have it all — and gets it, from the stages of New York City to the wilds of Alaska. Follow up later in the month to see more of her famed relatives on screen, from John Barrymore in the 1930s screwball comedy “The Twentieth Century” to her great-great grandniece in 1982’s “E.T.” The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $5 to $11. MONA SEGHATOLESLAMI WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3
MUSEUMS
“Space Fest”
Rochester Museum & Science Center, rmsc.org With the release of the Webb telescope’s sharper, deeper looks into the universe, the frontier of space is back at the forefront of our collective minds — as if it ever really left. Seizing on the excitement, Rochester Museum & Science Center is celebrating discovery and extraterrestrial exploration today through Aug. 5. The week-long event includes family-friendly, hands-on activities such as launching stomp rockets, making nebula art, searching for life on other planets, and going super “off-roading” in a Mars Rover. All activities, which take place daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., are included in museum admission. REBECCA RAFFERTY TUESDAY, AUG. 2 FILM
“The White Raven” Dryden Theatre, eastman.org In a faded still from the 1917 silent film “The White Raven,” Ethel 22 CITY AUGUST 2022
MUSIC
Acid Dad
Bug Jar, bugjar.com None of the Brooklyn-based trio that make up Acid Dad was born in the 1970s, but they have been known to tell their audiences that they’re stuck in the decade that gave us disco and the pet rock. While the band offers bass-led grooves, disco-infused guitars, and classic rock flourishes, it takes its influences from all ages of rock. Stopping in Rochester on their way through the Midwest, they headline an evening that includes a gig with what CITY has labeled “Rochester’s noisiest garage rock quartet” in Fuzzrod. The Dirty Pennies round out the night. Show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $13 in advance, $16 at the
For up-to-date information on protocols, vaccination and mask requirements, and performance cancellations, consult the websites of individual venues.
door. DAVID ANDREATTA MUSIC
Completely Unchained / The Remakes
Barnard Park, barnardfire.org Van Halen tribute band Completely Unchained opens this al fresco show in a public park with iconic songs like “Runnin’ With The Devil” and, according to its website, the same energy and production of a classic Van Halen show. That means unitards, big hair, and that signature scream. Also on tap are The Remakes, a Rochester band that plays hits from the ’60s and ’70s with a hard rock spin. DAVID STREEVER
THURSDAY, AUG. 4 FESTIVAL
Puerto Rican Festival
Frontier Field, prfestival.com For more than 50 years, the annual Puerto Rican Festival has been a highly-anticipated summer event. The festival, which starts today and ends Aug. 6, is a family-friendly cultural showcase of food, music, and dance performances. It takes place at Frontier Field, though on the final night after the event is over it’s become tradition — embraced by some, sneered at by others — for raucous, informal processions and parties to erupt along North Clinton Avenue. Organizers have tried to keep the focus on the original event, which has plenty to offer, while trying to gently tamp down the unsanctioned street party. JM FRIDAY, AUG. 5 THEATER
Dubbed “a tragedy without villains” by biographer Michael Holroyd, the play takes the stance that everyone was doing what they thought was right. It does, however, explore the power struggles between kings, lords, and the church that determined the fates of everyone else. The production continues through Aug. 14 on select days. $18-$20. RR MUSIC
Kids in the Basement
Bug Jar, bugjar.com This foursome from Rochester call themselves “a party band for party people.” CITY once described them as a jam band that’s “a little funky without throwing a wrench into the whole rockin’ apparatus or putting a kink in the four-on-the-floor drive” and best experienced live. Also on the agenda are Rochester alternative rock band Blue Envy and super-versatile Shane Archer Reed, out of Oneida County. DA FILM
“Breaking the Waves”
Dryden Theatre, eastman.org/new-classics “Breaking the Waves” is widely regarded as one of Danish director Lars von Trier’s best films. In her feature film debut, Emily Watson (not Emma Watson of Hermione Granger fame) plays the wife of an oil worker paralyzed after an accident on a rig. Her performance was so intense and emotionally devastating that it earned her a 1997 Academy Award nomination for best actress in a leading role. “Breaking the Waves” explores the universal themes of life, love, tragedy, sex, personal struggle, and death — it’s not easy to watch but it is compelling and thoughtprovoking. JM
“St. Joan”
MuCCC, muccc.org Roger Gans directs Classics Theater of Rochester’s take on George Bernard Shaw’s 1923 “Saint Joan,” about the 15th century French military maiden Joan of Arc. Driven by divine inspiration, she participated in several battles and led successful campaigns against the English before being burned at the stake as a heretic.
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roccitynews.com CITY 23
31 DAYS OF MUSIC, ARTS, AND LIFE EVENTS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH
SATURDAY, AUG. 6
MUSIC
GloRilla
Water Street Music Hall, thewaterstreetmusichall.com This is your chance to see one of the fastest-rising rappers in the world. Her breakout hit single “FNF (Let’s Go)” dropped in April and quickly became the twerk anthem of the summer, drawing more than 26 million views and counting on YouTube and garnering props from the likes of Cardi B, Saweetie, and Kodak Black. Sexy, foul-mouthed, and electric, this Memphis spitfire will have you shouting “Let’s Gooooooo!” Music at 8 p.m. Tickets between $35 and $65. DA FESTIVAL
Pan Afrikan Festival
Highland Bowl, panaffestival.org Formerly called the Afrikan American Festival, this one-day event presented by Rochester A.B.O.V.E. celebrates the various cultures of the African diaspora through entertainment and education. This year’s headliner is Freelance Band, and other live entertainment includes Womba African Drumming & Dancing, Jimmie Highsmith Band, Freddy C and the Latin Jazz Quartet, and others. In addition to live music acts there will be a literature tent, a space for health screenings, vendors, food, and a children’s play area. From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., free admission. RR SUNDAY, AUG. 7 PARKS
Olmsted 200th birthday celebration
Highland Park Bowl, highlandparkconservancy.org/events Rochester is incredibly fortunate to have several parks designed by visionary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. One of them is 24 CITY AUGUST 2022
Highland Park, which not only has the honor of being the city’s first park, but it is also the most intact Olmsted park in Monroe County. The Highland Park Conservancy is throwing this bash to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Olmsted’s birth. The conservancy promises food, activities for kids, and a performance from American Wild Ensemble, which will play new contemporary classical music inspired by Olmsted’s parks and the egalitarian philosophies he applied to them. Olmsted’s actual birthday was April 26 but who cares — take the event as an excuse to celebrate something good. JM MUSIC
Finger Lakes Opera’s 10th Anniversary Concert Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, fingerlakesopera.org Led by its founding Artistic Director Gerard Floriano, Finger Lakes Opera has been the go-to company for summer opera productions and concerts in Rochester and the surrounding region for a decade. For the 3 p.m. concert celebrating 10 years of high-flying arias and compelling music dramas, Floriano and the Finger Lakes Opera Orchestra accompany O’Connor, mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, tenor Yi Li, and baritone Michael Preacely, as well as the company’s 2022 Tomita Young Artists. DANIEL J. KUSHNER MONDAY, AUG. 8
WRECKAGE
Demolition Derby
Wayne County Fair, waynecountyfair.org The Don White Memorial Demolition Derby bills itself as the largest in the country. For $12 you can smash a car or minivan, which you provide, into other cars or minivans, driven by other people who want to participate in this bastard cousin to bumper cars. There are rules about vehicles and conduct, many of them dealing with safety, in case that concerns you. I’ve been dying to take part in one of these things for some years, but outfitting a crappy car for a violent end takes cash and space I don’t have. The car-nage starts at 8 p.m. JM TUESDAY, AUG. 9 LITERATURE
Author Talk with Liz Moore
Rochester Public Library, libraryc.org/roccitylibrary Drawing from deeply personal volunteer work, Liz Moore spun a tale in “Long Bright River” that put the novel on the New York Times Bestseller list and was named a “Best Book of 2020” by National Public Radio. She discusses her book in this online chat sponsored by the Library Speakers Consortium and the Rochester Public Library. Discussion begins at 9 p.m. Register in advance at libraryc.org/roccitylibrary. DA WEDNESDAY, AUG. 10
FILM
“Spirited Away”
The Little, thelittle.org While the settings in Hayao Miyazaki’s beautifully animated movies are mostly magical and otherworldly, they tell compelling stories rooted in human experiences, often connected to childhood. In 2001’s “Spirited Away,” a 10-year-old girl who moves into the countryside is swept up in a threatening magical world where she needs to save both herself and her parents. The richly illustrated world of this Oscarwinning movie (from the director of “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke”) is populated with amazing creatures, from adorable dust sprites to threatening, soul-absorbing monsters, while a score by Joe Hisaishi completes the magic. MS
MUSIC
iGNiTE! Reggae Band
Ontario Beach Park, ontariobeachentertainment.org Island vibes come to the shore of Lake Ontario with a performance by Rochester’s staple roots reggae
ensemble, part of “Concerts by the Shore” series. Ronnie “Skill” Gordon’s vocals, accompanied by a familiar-yetinnovative sonic backing that blends roots, dance hall, and small doses of funk, make for a sound as soothing as a light breeze in the sweltering August heat. Do your stretches before hitting the sand. There’s a limbo competition. GINO FANELLI
THURSDAY, AUG. 11 THEATER
“Pirates of Penzance”
JCC Dawn Lipson Canalside Stage, jccrochester.org It’s hard to imagine more ideal summer theater entertainment than this time-tested musical comedy of mistaken identity, romance, and pirates swashbuckling merrily across the stage. Directed by Brynn Tyszka, the new artistic director at Blackfriars Theatre, the show embraces the zaniness Gilbert and Sullivan imagined at its premiere in 1879 and the anything-goes spirit of its Tony Award-winning 1981 revival. Walking this plank will set you back between $20 and $35. The show runs through Aug. 14. DA FRIDAY, AUG. 12 ART
“manifestation: Recent Works by Paul Dodd”
Colleen Buzzard Studio, popwars. com/2022/07/manifestation Pairing is an art that, when done well, both brings out the uniqueness of the individual and brings together a combined form of something more powerful. Rochester artist Paul Dodd has an especially keen sense of pairing. His massive 21-volume artist book series, cheekily titled “Brief History of the World,” is a succession of juxtaposed images that are at once playful, poignant, and deadly serious. Five hundred of these pairs will be screened as a slide show this evening, paired with a live improvised set by Margaret Explosion, itself pairing Dodd on drums with partner Peggi Fournier on sax. The exhibit runs through Aug. 28. KATE STATHIS CONTINUED ON PAGE 31
INSIDE WXXI PUBLIC MEDIA | WXXI-TV PBS AM 1370/FM 107.5 NPR l WXXI CLASSICAL WRUR-FM 88.5 l THE LITTLE THEATRE
On Broadway Monday, August 15 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV Join an all-star cast of Broadway legends, including Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, August Wilson, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Viola Davis and Ian McKellen, as they recount how Broadway came back from the brink. Repeats Sunday, August 21 at 2 p.m. Photo: Ian McKellen, Courtesy of Kino Lorber, Inc.
roccitynews.com CITY 25
WXXI TV • THIS MONTH
SEASON 3 PREMIERES Not to Be Missed This August!
2. SEASIDE HOTEL, SEASON 3
1. BROADCHURCH, SEASON 2 Saturdays at 10 p.m., starting August 13 on WXXI-TV Broadchurch is in turmoil as the accused killer of Daniel Latimer goes to trial, which proves more complicated than detectives Hardy and Miller expected. Meanwhile, a cold case brutally resurfaces. Photo: Detectives Ellie Miller and Alec Hardy, Courtesy of Kudos Film and Television Limited
3. GUILT ON MASTERPIECE, SEASON 2
Saturdays at 11 p.m., starting August 20 on WXXI-TV Follow the intertwined fates of the guests and employees of Andersen’s Seaside Hotel by the North Sea dunes. Set in the 1930s, Season 3 finds that the financial crisis of the Wall Street crash did not affect the hotel guests, who refuse to sacrifice their sweet vacation life. But behind closed doors, the seemingly perfect facades begin to shatter. Photo Courtesy of TV2/Danmark
Sundays at 9 p.m., starting August 28 on WXXI-TV The contemporary dramedy continues with riveting plot twists and a strong vein of dark humor. When disgraced lawyer Max McCall is released from prison, he finds himself entwined in a gripping new story with characters old and new, as they battle the consequences of their actions amidst shocking new developments. Photo: Sandy (Ian Pirie), Max (Mark Bonnar), Kenny (Emun Elliott), Courtesy of (C) Expectation/Happy Tramp North 2021
Did you miss the seasons before these? You can catch up on these series and so many other great shows with WXXI Passport, a special streaming service that gives you access to current and archival programs from both PBS and WXXI. At the special introductory rate of a $60 pledge, you’ll have access to several hundred hours of PBS and WXXI content including Season 1 of Broadchurch and Guilt, as well as Season 2 of Seaside Hotel, plus Antiques Roadshow, American Masters, NOVA, and more. To learn more and sign up, visit WXXI.org/passport.
Meet Joanne Gordon, WXXI’s Senior Video Editor Joanne has worked for WXXI for more than 37 years. She has edited several of WXXI’s award winning programs and also produced, directed and edited a documentary, AKOMA: 25 Years of Gospel Sisterhood. Currently, she is co-producer of an upcoming documentary, Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa. Joanne is a 1980 graduate of RIT and a 2010 graduate of the African American Leadership Development Program through the United Way.
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What led you to this career? While in high school in the early 70s, all the Black girls were discouraged from following their career choices. Instead, we were encouraged to pursue secretarial and nursing careers. I followed my dreams of getting into television production. I worked 1 1/2 years at WNED, Buffalo’s PBS station, and I have been employed here in Rochester at WXXI for 37 1/2 years.
Wendell Castle: A Portrait Sunday, August 14 at 7 p.m. on WXXI-TV This WXXI documentary captures the life of the late Wendell Castle, master furniture artist, designer, sculptor, and educator. It follows Castle through the creation of his “Dizzy” chair – from his original drawings to the finished work of art. It was one of the last chairs he created before passing away in January 2018 at the age of 85. Photo: Wendell Castle, Courtesy Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement Tuesday, August 16 at 9:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV Filled with many of the greatest artists and musicians from the soul era and beyond, this film explores how music helped sustain the most important movement in the 20th century and was in turn inspired by the struggle for equality and human rights. Photo: Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, Washington, 1963, Courtesy of Library of Congress
The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family Sunday, August 28 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV Discover the scandalous rise and fall of the Boleyns, one of the most respected and prominent families in English aristocracy. This three-part series immerses you in a story of love, betrayal, and obsession told from the unique perspective of the Boleyn family. Photo: Anne Boleyn (Rafaëlle Cohen), Courtesy of Mackenzie Quicke/BBC Studios
What do you consider your biggest professional achievement to date? Producing the documentary AKOMA: 25 Years of Gospel Sisterhood. I’ve worked on several documentaries but this one was very special to me and I produced it on my own. What’s always on your desk? Little prayers to start my day off right. What is your favorite restaurant in Rochester and why? I don’t eat out a lot so I don’t have a favorite. However, I do enjoy El Pilon Restaurant. I enjoy Spanish, Caribbean, and Soul Food, but prefer homemade meals!
Rumours of Fleetwood Mac Friday, August 19 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV The country’s premier Fleetwood Mac tribute band, Rumours captures the energy of Fleetwood Mac at the height of their career by blending perfect harmonies, precise instrumentation, and a visually engaging stage show. Photo: Rumours, Courtesy of rumoursatl.com roccitynews.com CITY 27
TURN TO WXXI CLASSICAL FOR MUSIC PERFECTLY TUNED TO YOUR DAY
Hochstein at High Fall Concert Series
The California Symphony Tuesdays at 8 p.m., beginning August 16 on WXXI Classical Under the leadership of Music Director Donato Cabrera, the California Symphony combines classics alongside American repertoire and works by living composers in new and unconventional settings including Walnut Creek, Napa Valley, Concord, Oakland, and Berkeley. Hosted by LaRob K. Rafael. Photo: Donato Cabrera and the California Symphony, Credit: Kristen Loken
Thursdays, August 4-18 at 12:10 p.m. at Granite Mills Parks in High Falls Join WXXI Classical host Mona Seghatoleslami at Granite Mills Park in High Falls for the final three performances of Hochstein at High Falls, a free lunchtime concert series hosted by WXXI, The Hochstein School, and the High Falls Business Association. In August enjoy: • The Mambo Kings on 8/4 • Hanna PK with Johnny Burgin on 8/11 • Zahyia on 8/18 (pictured) To learn more, visit WXXI.org/hhf
The Bat Sisters: Katie Morey & Cammy Enaharo Friday, August 26 Doors: 7pm / Show: 7:30pm Little Theatre 1 (240 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14604) Tickets: $20 advance / $25 day-of-show Local singer-songwriters Katie Morey and Cammy Enaharo join forces to weave a musical spell, mixing musical styles and supported by their talented bandmates, for what promises to be an unforgettable night of live music on stage at The Little.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Wednesdays at 8 p.m., beginning August 17 on WXXI Classical The 2022 season presents an inspiring array of programs committed to foundational works and adventurous explorations, all under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. Photo: Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil, Courtesy of the LA Phil 28 CITY AUGUST 2022
Photos by Candace Grimes
AM 1370, YOUR NPR NEWS STATION + WRUR-FM 88.5, DIFFERENT RADIO
Intelligence Squared U.S.: Should Society Legalize Psychedelics? Sunday, August 21 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM 107.5 Psychedelics, in medical terms, is an inexact category of drugs that affect perceptions and cognition. Their proponents say psychedelics should be made more widely available to treat a range of mental and emotional issues. Not so fast, say opponents. Society does not know enough about the broader consequences of greatly increasing access. Rick Doblin, Bia Labate, Jefferey Lieberman, and Kevin Sabet debate over the issue. Illustration courtesy of https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/
Searching for Providers of Color Sunday, August 28 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM 107.5 The mental health treatment field is disproportionately white. How important is it to find a care provider that can identify with a person’s culture and experiences? And how can systems be strengthened to provide acceptable mental health support to people of color? This special explores how race, culture, and language affect how people perceive and experience mental health conditions – and shares the experiences of BIPOC people looking for effective care.
All Songs Considered Sundays at 9 p.m. on WRUR-FM 88.5 This is NPR’s guide to discovering new music below the radar. Hosts/ nerds Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are your friendly music buddies with the week’s best new music discoveries, including conversations with emerging artists, icons, and more. Boilen and Hilton, Credit: 2010 NPR, by Doby Photography roccitynews.com CITY 29
240 East Ave thelittle.org
Saturday, Aug. 13 @ 7:30 p.m. Talk to Me Outspoken ex-convict Ralph “Petey” Greene (Don Cheadle) talks his way onto the air at a white-owned radio station in 1960s Washington, D.C. Fueled by the new music and social upheaval of the times, he courts controversy while becoming the voice of the black movement.
Windows open. Short sleeves. Late sunsets. And the sound of a radio wafting through the air, setting the stage for the conversations and music of a Summer to remember. From iconic music to influential speeches — whether regulated, from a “pirate” setup, or beyond our solar system — radio shapes our auditory experiences at any age. Join The Little for “Summer Airwaves: Radio on Film” and experience iconic portrayals of radio on the big screen.
With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Taraji P. Henson, Mike Epps, Cedric the Entertainer, and Martin Sheen.
Saturday, Aug. 27 @ 7:30 p.m. Pirate Radio A band of rogue DJs broadcast from boats outside British waters, playing music that defined a generation while standing up to a government that wanted to limit the airwaves, and prevent the spread of pop music in the 1960s. Starring an incredible ensemble of actors and comedians, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Rhys Darby, Rhys Ifans, and more!
7:15 p.m. monday, aug. 8 • TickeTs aT TheliTTle.org Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki’s wondrous fantasy adventure is a dazzling masterpiece from one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animation. Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Subtitled (In Japanese with English subtitles) • For fans of: Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, The Secret World of Arrietty, Summer Wars 30 CITY AUGUST 2022
Joe says: With its amazing awe-inspiring animation and great storytelling, this movie will always be a timeless classic. It’s a great watch for anyone and their family.
picked by: Joe, shifT supervisor The Little’s Staff Pick series is a grab bag of the mysterious, the fun, and the purely awesome. Each staff member has selected a movie to recommend — no genre or era is off limits. This series is the modern equivalent of stepping into your favorite video rental store, and seeking a film you’ll swoon over. These are favorites from our Little staff, but hopefully they’ll become your new favorites as well.
31 DAYS OF MUSIC, ARTS, AND LIFE EVENTS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH
SATURDAY, AUG. 13 FESTIVAL
Brockport Arts Festival
brockportartsfestival.com Browsing arts festivals is one of my favorite ways of placing checks next to names on my holiday gift list — I get my shopping done early, but I have a hard time waiting until the actual holiday season to give the gifts to the recipients. But that’s my problem. This weekend, Main Street in Brockport will be filled with artist vendors selling their wares (from ceramics to clothing, paintings, fiber and leather arts, glass, jewelry, photography, and woodworking), live music, a duck race on the canal, food — including a wine garden and farmers’ market — and a vintage car cruise-in. Continues on Aug. 14. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and admission is free. RR FESTIVAL
Lincoln Hill Farms Brewfest
lincolnhillfarms.com/brewfest There’s no shortage of opportunities for summer sippin’ when it comes to the regional craft beer scene, but Lincoln Hill Farms in Canandaigua offers an especially beautiful pastoral setting. This year’s celebration features more than 60 different breweries, including Rochester-area gems such as Strangebird, Other Half, Iron Tug, and Frequentem. There are plenty of food options, plus attendees feeling especially bold from the festival buzz can ride the mechanical bull. The event’s music headliner is guitarist Tim Reynolds, who is perhaps best known for playing lead with Dave Matthews Band. Whatever you might think of the polarizing music of Mr. Matthews, there’s no denying Reynolds’s own harmonically engaging acoustic compositions nor his virtuosic facility with the fingerpicking style. Tickets range from $35 to $90. DK
or The Offspring’s “Americana” as quintessential pop-punk albums. But for me, Off With Their Heads’ 2009 release “Hospitals” is and always shall be the peak of the genre. Equal parts dark, aggressive, and anthemic, the Minneapolis band offers a dizzying foray into tales of addiction and a crushing mundanity and apathy toward life itself. It also has a track whose only lyrics are “You’re a fucking idiot.” It’s called “Idiot” and it rules. Off With Their Heads will play with Rochester’s Small Signals. Tickets are $10, doors at 8 p.m. GF FESTIVAL
Park Ave Music Festival
263 Park Avenue In the midst of the return of so many favorite festivals, Park Ave’s Summer Art Fest is a notable absence. But part of the spirit lives on this year with a two-day music festival held outside of The Classic (263 Park Ave.) on Aug. 14 (noon-10 p.m.) and Aug. 15 (noon-7 p.m.). Highlights over the weekend include dance rock band RootsCollider, Pickle Mafia (whose new album is reviewed in this issue of CITY), and reggae and rock group MoChester. DJ KEETS and DJ PERCUSSION will be spinning sets between bands every hour, and Saturday night the after-party moves to ROAM cafe with music by Elowvate, a hip-hop collaboration between pianist Charlie Lindner and rapper Ajani Jeffries. MS
Off with Their Heads and Small Signals
The Bug Jar, bugjar.com Most millennial punks will point to Blink-182’s “Enema of the State”
TUESDAY, AUG. 16 THEATER
“The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson”
Glimmerglass Opera, glimmerglass.org Getting out to the Cooperstown area for Glimmerglass Opera is definitely more than a day trip, but it’s especially worth it for the worldclass music theater that happens there every summer. That’s especially true with this production, which features Denyce Graves reprising the title role of this play by Sarah Seaton with music by Carlos Simon which tells the historic, groundbreaking story of the National Negro Opera Company. The schedule makes it easy to pack in a few extra operas a day or you can combine your visit with Ommegang Brewery, the Baseball Hall of Fame, or just some time on the peaceful Otsego Lake (dubbed Glimmerglass by James Fenimore Cooper in his novels). MS
MONDAY, AUG. 15 WEDNESDAY, AUG. 17 MUSIC
Sam Swanson
SUNDAY, AUG. 14 MUSIC
resulting in a big old stew of some of the most high-energy music you’ll find anywhere. Call the genre some place between world music and hardcore punk, but even that doesn’t sit right. Speaking of high energy, Rochester’s own Kind of Kind will join Zeta at the Bug Jar. Their brand of mathy, fast-paced indie rock is among the most fun you’ll find in the city. Look out for drummer Nigel Blair in the mosh pit, he’s scary. Tickets are $13. Doors open at 8 p.m. GF
MUSIC
Zeta, La Armada, Kind of Kind, Hellebore
The Bug Jar, bugjar.com Originally hailing from Venezuela, Zeta is a mash-up of audio influences
Heroes Brewing Company, samswansonmusic.com Sam Swanson wields an acoustic guitar and a looping pedal to create backdrops for his covers of pop classics. At Heroes, he’ll be performing hits from the past six decades, from Queen to Gnarls Barkley and everything in between. Accompanying Swanson is Heroes’ line-up of classic, clean beers, worthy of a Tuesday happy hour indulgence. Show starts at 5:30 p.m. GF
THURSDAY, AUG. 18
FESTIVAL
Rochester Ukrainian Festival
St. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, rochesterukrainianfestival.com A parish festival that draws thousands of visitors from across the U.S. and Canada, the Rochester Ukrainian Festival is a celebration of traditional Ukrainian arts, food, and culture featuring Ukrainian folk dancers and musicians, a church tour, and all the pierogies, sausage, and cabbage rolls you can eat. The festivities take on special meaning this year due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, and because organizers are celebrating 50 years of the festival. This year’s event is scheduled for today through Aug. 21, just before Ukrainian Independence Day on Aug. 24. Admission is free. RR FRIDAY, AUG. 19 MUSIC
Anthrax
Main Street Armory, mainstreetarmory.com “Persistence of Time” was one of the first metal CDs I bought and it’s still in my rotation 30 years later. Anthrax was once one of the Big Five metal bands — thrash and speed metal ensembles that could pack stadiums across the world. They were the fun band of the bunch, which also included the likes of Metallica and Slayer. Some decades and lineup changes later, Anthrax is still metal thrashing mad. When the band brings the noise to Rochester, try not to get caught in a mosh. JM
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31 DAYS OF MUSIC, ARTS, AND LIFE EVENTS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH
BEER
Flower City Brewers Fest
Rochester Public Market, flourcitybrewersfest.com The summer months in the Finger Lakes bring wave after wave of beer festivals. There’s scarcely a weekend where you can’t go to at least one outdoor event featuring pours from dozens of breweries. But if you make it to just one, Flour City Brewers Fest is the place to be. Flour City is a celebration of not just the great beer coming out of Rochester, but the wealth of unique, cool people putting the city on the map in the world of hops and barley. General admission tickets are $45, and include a bottomless tasting glass. GF SATURDAY, AUG. 20
skating. That’s why Booze N’ Ballet, which is exactly what it sounds like, grabbed my attention. Roc Dance Collective, a group made up of Rochester City Ballet dancers, will spend the evening performing some of their own works while attendees sip on locally made wine, beer, kombucha, and more. Organizers say there will also be local art. Tickets run from $35 to $100. JM MUSIC
“Laura Dubin Trio Plays the Music of Claude Bolling”
Rochester Academy of Medicine, raom.org French jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling was famous for his tuneful, stylish music, especially in his crossover collaborations with artists including flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Who better in Rochester to tap into that legacy than our own jazz pianist with a flair for incorporating classical music: Laura Dubin. This chamber jazz experience starts at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $25. MS SUNDAY, AUG. 21 THEATER
MUSIC
The Hi-Jivers
Abilene Bar & Lounge, abilenebarandlounge.com Deep-throated don’t-screw-with-me vocals are a signature of this Nashvillevia-New York band that proudly flaunts its rockin’ blues influences from the ’50s and ’60s. You’ll hear notes of Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and Etta James in a show that’s said to “throb with excitement.” The Hi-Jivers on an upstate swing with one-night stop in Rochester for $15 at the door. Music starts at 8 p.m. DA
“The Unexpected Old”
MuCCC, muccc.org When actors reach “a certain age,” they still have performance and stories to share, but suitable parts are harder to come by. Enter “The Geriactors,” an evolving group of older Rochester actors founded in 2000 that are fixtures of the Fringe Festival. Here they present a collection of short plays, directed by Jean Gordon Ryan including a work from the late local playwright Mark Jabaut, depicting different aspects of getting old. This performance is at 2 p.m. Shows the preceding Friday and Saturday start at 7: 30 p.m. MS
DANCE
Booze N’ Ballet
Kin Event Space, gofundme.com/f/ booze-n-ballet-event I’ve written a few blurbs about this thrash band and that hardcore band, so it might come as a bit of a shock to find out I enjoy causually watching ballet. I don’t know much about the art form, but I’m particularly impressed by dancers’ strength and grace — the same holds for figure 32 CITY AUGUST 2022
MONDAY, AUG. 22 FAMILY
Fairy Magic
The Strong National Museum of Play, museumofplay.org Spending time in the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden at the Museum of Play already feels like visiting an enchanted world. But through Oct. 31,
visitors can also spy evidence of other diminutive garden-dwellers. Spritely music will be piped through the space while little ones search for fairy doors and tiny stone paths amid the trees. Timed butterfly garden tickets must be purchased in addition to general museum admission, which together cost $24 for ages 2 and up, $4 for members, and is free to children under age 2. RR TUESDAY, AUG. 23 MUSIC
Ogbert the Nerd
Photo City Music Hall, photocitymusichall.com Scrappy with a self-deprecating sense of humor, hard-charging tempos, and throat-shredding sing-alongs, this foursome bills itself as “the only emo band in New Jersey.” The headliner shares the stage with self-proclaimed “prog post-punk psychmath indie-alt rock wizards” KINDOFKIND from Rochester, and psyouredead out of Buffalo. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. DA WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24 MUSIC
Space Junk is Forever
Abilene Bar & Lounge, abilenebarandlounge.com Music theory nerds and synthesizer geeks — this show is for you. This band from Boston uses vintage keyboards to weave simple melodies and harmonics into instrumental symphonic prog rock that is worth catching live. Tickets are $8. Music starts at 8 p.m. DA STAR SHOW
“Planet Nine, or Not?”
Strasenburgh Planetarium, rmsc.org/ strasenburghplanetarium This, like the other current star shows offered by the Strasenburgh Planetarium at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, is a recurring show. But Aug. 24 is special. It just happens to be the day that, back in 2006, Pluto lost its status as the ninth planet in our solar system and was officially downgraded to a “dwarf planet,” sparking heated amateur debates and thousands of forlorn-Pluto memes. If you’re still hazy on exactly why Pluto
was demoted, check out this show, where you’ll learn how classifications are made by “visiting” Pluto and other dwarf planets in our solar system. That’s right, there are more! The 45-minute show is geared toward older kids and adults, and tickets cost $4-$10. The show runs at 2 p.m. on select days through Sept. 3. RR THURSDAY, AUG. 25 MUSIC
Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons
Abilene Bar & Lounge, abilenebarandlounge.com Like a lot of popular music genres, Americana is not easy to explain. It’s some stew-pot of early rock and country, bluegrass, and things that sound twangy. Sometimes it sounds like early career Springsteen or Mellencamp, other times it sounds like classic Dolly Parton, except sadder. Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons fit a different Americana mold: stomping bass drum, melodic but sharp guitar picking, and Perley’s angelic but life-hardened voice. Perley’s solo material sounds a little fuller with less stomp, but it’s as melodic and catchy as can be. Fans of the genre will likely find lots to like here. Tickets are $10 advance, $15 day of. Doors at 4 p.m., music at 7:30 p.m. JM
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FRIDAY, AUG. 26 MUSIC
“L’Orfeo” (Orpheus)
Pegasus Early Music, pegasusearlymusic.org One of the first operas, written at the beginning of the 17th century, “L’Orfeo” retells the mythical tale of the love-lorn musician Orpheus and his (spoiler alert) failed attempt to bring his beloved Eurydice back from Hades. It makes for great musical drama, especially since the title musician at first manages to win her back with a song. There are three performances this weekend: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., all at the JCC’s Hart Theatre. Tickets are $40 ($20 for students). MS
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31 DAYS OF MUSIC, ARTS, AND LIFE EVENTS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH
SATURDAY, AUG. 27 MUSIC
Sager Music Fest
Sager Beer Works, sagerbeerworks.com/events For the second year, Sager Beer Works is holding a day-long festival of music and food. And probably beer. Sounds like something for everyone, especially if Sager is dishing up its gigantic and tasty pretzels. Mmmmm pretzels. The lineup hadn’t been announced as of press time, but c’mon, it’s food, music, and beer. That’s like some sort of holy trinity, right? JM
impossibly slick Yupo paper, playing with the medium to create one-ofa-kind floral images. The workshop costs $40 and includes materials. RR TUESDAY, AUG. 30
SUNDAY, AUG. 28 MUSIC
Jimso Slim, Overhand Sam & Bad Weapon, Nod
Lux Lounge, lux666.com Have you truly experienced a Rochester summer night before you’ve spent at least one evening out at the backyard at Lux, by the fire with dogs wandering by your feet? Each month over the summer, this South Wedge favorite is hosting what they are calling a “three-ring circus” of music: two sets each from a trio of local favorites (this month with a psychedelic bent), with the early start time of 6 p.m., and the low, low cover price of $5 for the whole evening. MS MONDAY, AUG. 29 ART
Alcohol Ink Fluid Florals
Rochester Brainery, rochesterbrainery.com You’ve heard of the drink & draw workshops, but this isn’t that. Instead of guzzling wine to get the creativity flowing, you’ll paint with alcohol inks to loosen up and go with the flow. Forget everything you learned about creating perfectly-defined shapes and coloring inside of the lines, and head to the Rochester Brainery for “Alcohol Ink Fluid Florals” with artist Laura Cott. Similar to watercolors, alcohol inks are often used to create colorful abstract works or Impressionist-like paintings of softly-defined scenes. In the workshop, which takes place from 6 to 8 p.m., you’ll learn to push, drip, and drop the vivid inks onto 34 CITY AUGUST 2022
COMEDY
Doug Stanhope
Comedy @ The Carlson, carlsoncomedy.com With an act that is invariably an acidic stew of self-loathing, prickly hostility, and righteous anger at anyone and everything, Stanhope is a comedian’s comedian who has carved out an impressive cult following with a busy touring schedule and a conveyor belt of new material. Yeah, he hosted that cringeworthy celebration of chauvinism “The Man Show” a generation ago, which he has referred to it as a steaming pile of excrement “that I accidentally stepped in,” but he has made up for it with eloquent rants in the tradition of Lenny Bruce. He’s in town for one night only and he’ll tell you that he doesn’t care if you show up. Tickets are $45 to $55. The show starts at 8 p.m. DA WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31 MUSIC
Chris Murray and Vic Ruggiero Water Street Music Hall, thewaterstreetmusichall.com Stunningly charming and laid back, these guys are a couple of studs on the ska scene worth checking out. Murray, a Toronto native who makes his home in Los Angeles, was a member of the now-defunct ska band King Apparatus in the ’80s and ’90s. Ruggiero, who hails from The Bronx, is best known as the frontman for The Slackers and for his songs and lyrics inspired by Beat generation poets and songwriters. Music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.50. DA
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ARTS
REVEL IN THE DETAILS
“New Kids in the Neighborhood” 1967. COURTESY NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM COLLECTION
DRAWN TOGETHER Norman Rockwell showed Americans who they were, and who they could be. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
O
@RSRAFFERTY
f all the artists whose work reflects the social climates of their time, precious few become household names. The mere mention of da Vinci, van Gogh, O’Keefe, or Warhol recalls their respective styles and even specific works. But belonging to an even more exclusive group are artists whose work is not only universally familiar, but universally loved. Easily falling into this category is American illustrator Norman Rockwell, whose ubiquitous art — from his memorable magazine covers to his iconic posters peddling war bonds — has become nostalgic, if idealized, representations of American life that still feel relevant today.
36 CITY AUGUST 2022
BECCA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM
So relevant, in fact, that it is worth the two-hour trip to the MunsonWilliams-Proctor Art Institute in Utica to take in an exhibit of his work. The installment, simply named “Norman Rockwell,” runs through Sept. 18 and details the breadth of Rockwell’s talent through examples of his commissioned works as well as art he created on his own time. Those pieces, along with accompanying reference photos, sketches, curatorial text, and even samples of work that his benefactors rejected, provide insight into the inspiration and creative process behind one of America’s most enduring artists. “Norman Rockwell is really one
of America’s most beloved illustrators, and yet his artwork really transcends illustration,” said Stephen Harrison, the deputy director and chief curator at the Museum of Art at Munson-WilliamsProctor Art Institute. “He wasn’t just illustrating a particular story or subject. Rather, he was trying to capture the American spirit. He lived during much of the 20th century, so that really enabled him to cover everything from prosperity to problems.” Among Rockwell’s best-known works are his illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, a relationship that spanned 47 years, from 1916 to 1963. They depicted small moments in everyday life while the nation slogged
through two world wars, the Great Depression, post-war prosperity, and entered the civil rights movement. With some exceptions, his work largely ignored the global and domestic turmoil of his times to instead highlight acts of heroism, lighthearted humor, and a sometimes mythical version of American values. His covers — all 323 of which are displayed in the exhibit, many with faded mailing labels attached — was likewise detached from any of the storytelling inside the Post. While the magazine contained non-fiction, fiction, and features, his illustrations captured relatable moments of nothing and everything. The freedom of a child on
“A Scout is Always Helpful” 1939. COURTESY NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM COLLECTION
an outdoor romp with a dog, a young serviceman jilted by his sweetheart, grownups paying bills. “He wasn’t painting bread lines during the Depression,” Harrison said, singling out a large original painting that was part of a 1941 calendar for the Boy Scouts of America in which a teen scout rescues a golden-haired girl from drowning. Swaddled in a patchwork quilt, she clings to him as he wades through knee-high water to a boat. A kitten is perched on his shoulder, apparently also saved from the tilted wreckage of a house in the background. “That was inspired by the hurricane of 1938 that ravaged New England,” he said. “And so he was trying to portray that spirit of helpfulness that the scouts try to instill in young boys.” Overall, these works showed us we have much more in common than not. But though Rockwell had a lot of artistic freedom, he was nevertheless at the mercy of art directors. “For example, the Post would never allow African Americans to be portrayed in any way other than a servile position,” Harrison said. “So he could paint them as a porter on a train or as a maid in a household, but never the central character of the picture. And by the ’60s when the civil rights movement was really well underway, he just couldn’t stomach it any longer.” Rockwell famously broke with The Saturday Evening Post in 1963 and began working for Look magazine, which gave him more freedom in terms of his subject matter. That year, his work, “The Problem We
All Live With,” depicted 6-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by U.S. Marshals on her first day at an all-white New Orleans school. The scene is cropped to take the viewer down to her level as she marches with innocent determination past a racial slur scrawled on the wall and navigates thrown rotten produce. In a 1967 work for Look, “New Kids in the Neighborhood,” Rockwell envisions two groups of children — two Black siblings, the others white — in a moment of curiosity and hopefulness. They stare at one another in front of a house where a man unloads items from a moving truck. “Both sets of kids are holding baseball gloves, and you have a sense that they’re about to be playing not too long from now,” Harrison said. “But he’s placed someone looking out of a window in the corner up there, a white neighbor looking out in trepidation and fear. And so he’s layered over this the very adult problem of discrimination, but is showing that through kids, these problems might well work themselves out.” The exhibit also includes portraits Rockwell painted of the presidential candidates from 1968, as well as reverent sketches and photographs he and his wife Molly made of Indian citizens, refugees, art students, and worshippers at a mosque when they traveled in their elder years. Rockwell’s work has a sweetness to it, but it’s not saccharine. While he didn’t address the darker themes of American history by showing the tragedies outright, one can detect his feelings on the matters in several of the works represented in this exhibit, particularly those he created after his break with the Post. Aside from the beloved-householdname category of artists, he fits into another group of optimistic, leadby-example artists that includes Mr. Rogers and the creators of Sesame Street. There’s levity in the lessons. Rockwell’s work acknowledges that tough times are part of life, but like Fred Rogers, shirks despair and seems to say, “Look for the helpers.”
Top: “Rosie the Riveter” 1943. Bottom: “Freedom from Want” 1943. COURTESY NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM COLLECTION
roccitynews.com CITY 37
LIFE
Brynn Tyszka, the new artistic director of Blackfriars Theatre, has worked extensively in Rochester as a performer, teaching artist, and administrator. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
38 CITY AUGUST 2022
PUBLIC LIVES BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER
@DANIELJKUSHNER
DKUSHNER@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM
MAKING HER MARK Brynn Tyszka, an ‘inventive force,’ takes the helm at Blackfriars Theatre.
B
rynn Tyszka, a theater teacher and a veteran of the Rochester stage, became the artistic director of Blackfriars Theatre in August and the first woman to lead the company in its 73-yearhistory. She succeeded Danny Hoskins, who had been the artistic director since 2015. Hoskins, who resigned to take a teaching position at SUNY Brockport, called Tyszka “a very strong, passionate, creative, and inventive force” who commands attention. “Her work is electric,” Hoskins said. “And that joy and that commitment from her personal artistry is going to bleed over perfectly to her sense of leadership and her sense of direction as she takes the reins of the company.” The selection of Tyszka means that two of the three major theaters in Rochester — Blackfriars and Geva Theatre Center — now have women at the helm. Elizabeth Williamson was named artistic director at Geva earlier this year and assumed the post in June. The third theater, JCC CenterStage, continues to be overseen by its longtime director Ralph Meranto. Tyszka acknowledged an excitement about the elevation of women to critical roles in the theater community, but dismissed the distinction of gender as ultimately unimportant. “I never really loved the word feminism because it implies that we should be looking at ourselves as different,” Tyszka said. “And I don’t. I’ve always said, ‘Well, what do I need to do? What do I need to do to get the job? I’m going to work hard, I’m going to kick butt, I’m going to show ‘em what I got.” Tyszka, who became Blackfriars’ artistic director on Aug. 1, has deep roots in Rochester’s theater scene. She has served most recently as
Tyszka hopes to expand on her predecessor Danny Hoskins's reputation for making Blackfriars an inclusive and collaborative environment for actors. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
Social Media Manager for OFC Creations Theatre Center, in addition to directing, performing, and teaching at the Brighton-based company. An alumnus of Nazareth College’s Theatre Arts program, Tyszka also created, developed, and taught several classes during her tenure as acting department chair at the Rochester Association for the Performing Arts (RAPA) and later had a stint as the director of education at Actors Theatre of Indiana before returning to the Rochester area. An experienced stage director who has led productions such as the smash musical “Chicago” and the irreverent review “Forbidden Broadway,” Tyszka considers teaching
theater to be an important starting point for directing. “The part of directing that I love is kind of doing that really nerdy script analysis on my own, and then bringing it back to the cast and saying, ‘Oh, but have we thought about this? Have we thought about this?’” she said. “And so that’s kind of what I’m really excited about in taking this over, is that I’ll get to do that guaranteed at least twice a year.” Tyszka will be familiar to Blackfriar audiences. She performed in the musicals “Tick, Tick…Boom!” and “Heathers,” as well as the play “Boeing Boeing” in recent years. She also choreographed Blackfriars’ 2015 rendition of “Beehive, The ’60s Musical,” which was coincidentally
Hoskins’s first production as artistic director. Under Hoskins, Blackfriars shed its image of a theater that played to older patrons with tried-and-true productions with proven commercial success and emerged as an incubator for up-and-coming artists and new shows. The result was, in part, new audiences. For instance, while he didn’t shy from recognizable hits, he focused on staging new works and more obscure Broadway and off-Broadway show that were intimate in scope but didn’t have the same marquee recognition as the likes of “Rent,” The Grapes of Wrath,” and “It’s a Wonderful CONTINUED ON PAGE 40
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“Her work is electric,” Hoskins said of Tyszka. “And that joy and that commitment from her personal artistry is going to bleed over perfectly to her sense of leadership and her sense of direction as she takes the reins of the company.” PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
Life,” which had been staples of the company. He also had a soft spot for character-driven stories, from the lighthearted musical “Hands on a Hardbody” to dramatic plays such as “Annapurna,” “Detroit ’67,” and “Surely Goodness and Mercy.” Perhaps his most enduring contribution was the creation of the Blackfriars Theatre Summer Intensive (affectionately referred to as Bitsy), a theater program for students ranging from high school juniors to college seniors interested in pursuing a professional acting career. “It was really important to me that we have an education component at Blackfriars,” Hoskins said. “There hadn’t been one 40 CITY AUGUST 2022
before. And not only an education program, but an education program that trained the next generation of artists, that put them in this environment and asked them to raise the expectations of what they do to the same level that we expect of our professional artists.” Tyszka said she would look to expand on Blackfriars’ reputation for openness and inclusivity. “We want a collaborative effort here, as Danny has probably already mentioned, and one where people feel like their voices are heard and where they feel like they’re in a safe space,” Tyszka said. Providing opportunities to a diverse group of actors is important to Tyszka, who said that body-
shaming, an ableist mentality or other discriminatory attitudes are not a consideration to her when casting. Instead, the priority is given to what the script actually demands of the character. “Does this person have to be a fantastic dancer because the script says so?” Tyszka said. “No. So can this person have rheumatoid arthritis? Can this person be in a wheelchair? Okay, fine, yeah. Does the script demand that they can’t be? Then let’s not worry about that. Or does this person have to be a size two? No, the script doesn’t demand that. All the script demands is that the person is sexy or desirable. That can look like a lot of different things.”
Tyszka said that in her first couple years at Blackfriars, at least three to four productions per season will be recognizable to audiences, such as musical adaptations of popular movies or plays people read as students. “The world is tense right now, and our country is tense right now,” she said. “And I think that one thing we can do to help relieve that is to give people a place where they can shut their minds off for a little bit, where they can let themselves relax enough to laugh, and where they feel catharsis at the end. This is not a time when I would be doing a script that leaves things open-ended, and makes you leave feeling tense. This would be a time I think to focus on things that feel cathartic, and either reviving or relieving.” The switch in roles for Tyszka and Hoskins has both theater professionals taking the next logical step in their respective careers, and at ideal landing spots. Hoskins leaves Blackfriars in August to work full-time at SUNY Brockport as an assistant theater professor. He said the career change will allow him to spend more time at home with his two daughters, and cultivate a seed sown long ago. “It’s always been in the back of my mind that moving into higher education would be where I would love to end up,” Hoskins said. “My mentors have all been teachers, and it was something that in my undergrad, also in grad school, I felt really strongly about and was instilled with me with my professors. That they had all worked professionally in the field, and they had come back to higher education to give back to the students to train that next generation passionately, and with joy and with love, and with a strong sense of integrity in the work.” Tyszka said she wasn’t expecting the position of artistic director to come available, but that it’s not a stretch to call it her dream job. “This would have absolutely been end-game for me, 100 percent. I will retire, and they’re going to have to kick me out,” Tyszka said with a laugh. “In a wheelchair, they’re going to have to kick me out.”
roccitynews.com CITY 41
ARTS
SCHOOL’S OUT
Visual Studies Workshop, located on the corner of Prince Street at University Avenue, has offered an MFA in visual culture studies since 1969, first through SUNY Buffalo, and most currently through the College at Brockport. That partnership is ending.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY VSW
PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
VSW’S LAST MASTERCLASS SUNY Brockport ends MFA program at the indie Visual Studies Workshop. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
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@RSRAFFERTY
he current crop of master’s degree students at Visual Studies Workshop, who stand to graduate in 2024, will be its last. The program, which has been available through a deal with The College at Brockport since 1985, is ending, the workshop announced in a recent newsletter to its alumni and supporters. Brockport made the call to discontinue the program, citing low enrollment. A statement provided by the 42 CITY AUGUST 2022
BECCA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM
university said its relationship with VSW has been a strong and positive one, but that it decided to redirect its resources to other opportunities for its students. While the closure of the program is disappointing, the decision felt fair and mutual, said VSW’s longtime executive director, Tate Shaw, who acknowledged that the workshop’s program through Brockport has had trouble staying competitive with other MFA programs.
“It became clear that without additional resources and tuition assistance for students, the MFA program could not be sustained,” Shaw explained. Visual Studies Workshop offered students the ability to earn an MFA in visual culture studies without being enrolled at one of the area’s universities. The ivy-covered stone building at the corner of Prince Street and University Avenue looks the part of
a stately academic institution, and for decades has offered rigorous, graduate-level coursework that incorporated history, theory, criticism, and practice for students of photography, book arts, film, video, and digital media. When the 2024 class of MFA candidates graduates, they will join a roster of more than 500 alumni. No new students are being accepted. Since its founding in 1969 by
Tate Shaw (above) stepped down as executive director of Visual Studies Workshop in June. He first came to VSW as a graduate student in 2003, and has served as its director since 2008. The incoming director, Jessica Johnston (below), was previously VSW’s curator of collections, and says the workshop will continue its crucial role of supporting contemporary visual artists. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
the late photographer, educator, writer, and curator Nathan Lyons, Visual Studies Workshop has evolved from an indie school located on Elton Street that offered an MFA — initially through SUNY Buffalo — into a respected academic institution with a DIYethos. Partially designed as a graduate program for the George Eastman Museum, the workshop became a “small but effective” institution that offered “an intensity of resources” to its students, Lyons told CITY in 2009, when VSW celebrated its 40th anniversary. Those resources include an in-
house research collection and art library with over 1 million still and moving images and 40,000 books for artists, critics, and the general public to explore, research, and reuse. Over the decades, VSW became an established and respected institution while still maintaining the vibe of a space run by avantgarde cool kids. Today, the workshop is a local creativity powerhouse that publishes artists’ books through its VSW Press, offers rich arts programming and a competitive artist residency that attracts people from around the world, and
provides a space for experimental arts and music as well as community discussions about social justice issues. While the academic leg of VSW’s journey may be ending, the workshop has a busy future, according to Shaw. He said the workshop will focus on supporting artists and the Rochester community. “The workshop’s artist programs are stronger now than they have been in decades, which is providing solid evidence that VSW will thrive despite the obvious loss of a key program,” Shaw said. “Our mission, vision, and values remain the same — we still exist to serve and support makers and interpreters of images, and our community.” The conclusion of the academic program comes with a change in the workshop’s leadership. Because he is a SUNY faculty member, Shaw stepped down from his role as executive director at the end of June, making way for Jessica Johnston, VSW’s curator of collections, to step into the role. Shaw had been the workshop’s director since 2008, and originally came to VSW as a student in 2003, drawn from Missouri for the rare opportunity to study artists books at the graduate level. He will stay on at VSW as the director and editor of VSW Press. Johnston moved to Rochester in 2005 to finish graduate work in photographic preservation and collections management at the George Eastman Museum. After graduation, she worked for eight years as an assistant curator in the photography department at the museum, and regularly attended exhibitions, artist book symposia, and artist talks at VSW. In 2014 she became VSW’s curator of collections. “As the incoming director of VSW I am committed to work with the VSW staff and board to continue our mission-driven mandate to support artists and to preserve their work and share it
with our community,” Johnston wrote in an email while traveling. “I feel privileged to be able to work with such a dedicated and energized group of people and I am confident VSW will thrive and grow in its leadership role in the arts.” Johnston said that VSW will build on its education legacy with the launch of a new workshop program in the fall through which it will offer in-person and online classes in the evenings. Kicking off that program in October is a workshop on how to create virtual reality works. Visual Studies Workshop also recently added a video digitization lab both to preserve its unique collection of early art and documentary videos and to better serve its role as a regional video archive. It plans to launch a community digitization service for activists, grassroots organizations, and the public, to help preserve aging media collections from throughout Rochester. “VSW has been a dedicated champion and supporter of often under-recognized artists making experimental or challenging work in media arts, artists’ books, and non-traditional photography since its founding in 1969,” Johnston said. “Our core programs, VSW Salon, Project Space Artist Residencies, and VSW Press will continue to offer this crucial support to contemporary visual artists into the future.”
roccitynews.com roccitynews.org CITY 43
ARTS
ROUNDUP
The historic Avon Park Theater reopens after years of neglect BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER
DKUSHNER@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM
Ann Younger, inset, brought the Avon Park Theater back from the dead. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH 44 CITY AUGUST 2022
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he lights are back on at the Avon Park Theater, a local movie house that had been neglected for years before being rediscovered and overhauled by village resident Ann Younger. The Avon cultural landmark just celebrated its 84th birthday on July 30, with a packed, fourday grand reopening that featured a screening of “The Wizard of Oz,” an evening of comedy, “CatVideoFest,” and the premiere of Rush native and jazz guitarist Simon Fletcher’s “Soundtrack to the Seasons: Upstate New York,” a locally-inspired 12song composition. The Park Theater first opened in 1938 at 71 Genesee St. as a successor to a silent film-era moviehouse across the street. The Avon VFW ran it for more than 30 years, beginning in the 1960s. But its last owner had used it as a storage facility for old cars, until Younger bought the theater four years ago. Younger had the support of the village of Avon, which secured a $400,000 state grant through the Restore New York Communities Initiative to rehabilitate the theater on the condition that Younger put up a 10-percent match. The financing helped pay for a new roof, a new HVAC system, and the stage. The plan is to host live music, classic movies, and comedy shows. To that end, Younger has booked groups such as The Beatles tribute band Mr. Mustard, and Rochester acts such as Prime Time Funk, John Dady and Friends, and Jeff Riales & The Silvertone Express. The groups are set to perform on Aug. 5, 19, and 26, respectively. She is also screening a slate of popular movies in August ranging from classics such as “Back to the Future” on Aug. 18 and 21 to new favorites such as Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story,” Aug. 4 and 7, and the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” on Aug. 25 and 28. Younger sees the Avon Park Theater, which is licensed to sell beer, wine, and hard cider, as filling a need for cultural events in smaller communities in the Rochester region. “When I bought it in 2018, I thought, ‘My competition is people’s couches, getting them off their couch and out from in front of their TV to do something,’” she said. “And I knew I had to make it more multi-purpose.”
ROCHESTER READS ONE ‘HELL OF A BOOK’ Writers & Books has named Jason Mott’s 2021 National Book Award-winning novel, “Hell of a Book,” as the 2022 selection for its annual Rochester Reads program. The work blends the stories of a Black author setting out on a cross-country promotional tour for his bestselling novel, a young Black boy in a rural setting, and a mysterious, possibly imaginary child, who appears to the author on his tour. This is Mott’s third novel and, like the others, it grapples with hard realities through both the lens of lived experience as well as fuzzier elements of supernatural or paranormal phenomena. The story revolves around the all-too-common issues of racism and police brutality, and is built like a mystery novel with elements of noir, hence the book’s alternate title: “The Altogether Factual, Wholly Bona Fide Story of a Big Dreams, Hard Luck, American-Made Mad Kid.” Karen vanMennen, who is Writers & Books’ coordinator of community reading programs, said that she knew the book was a great choice when she read it last year. “On my first reading of ‘Hell of a Book’ — from the meta-ness of the title to the closing exhortation — I was hooked,” vanMennen said. “The novel’s narrator is unreliable yet utterly compelling, the pacing is comfortably unrelenting. One could consider the novel as a stereotypical ‘page turner’ or even a kind of road narrative, but it is a book that explores deep issues including loss, memory, mental health, racism and police brutality, and thus deserves a slower, close reading. Ultimately, it is a book about contemporary America, about the struggles of being human and the power of connection. It is truly a book for our time.” Since 2001, Rochester Reads has served as a region-wide book club that encourages readers to dive into the same book during the summer and early fall. Past selections include “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest Gaines, “Kindred” by Octavia Butler, and “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The program culminates in a month of book talks and other events held at various libraries and other community spaces, as well as a series of readings and talks with the author during a fall visit. Mott will take part in four public events in Rochester from Nov. 1-3. “Hell of a Book” is available for purchase at Ampersand Books & Events at Writers & Books. Updated details will be posted at wab.org. - BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
‘CONSTRUCTION SEASON’ BUILDS A RAINBOW AT MAG As the old saying goes, Rochester has two seasons: winter and construction. In keeping with the adage, the southwest lawn of the Memorial Art Gallery is torn up. But there’s a rainbow at the end of this summer construction slog. The mess is part of the second phase of the Centennial Sculpture Park, which entails the installation of two monumental sculptures, new pedestrian pathways, and refreshed landscaping. A ribbon cutting is tentatively set for October. The two new sculptures — “Lover’s Rainbow” by Mexican artist Pia Camil, and a yet-to-be-titled mosaic wall by New York City-based artist Rashid Johnson — will anchor the expansion of the park on the MAG’s campus closest to the School of the Arts, joining 12 other sculptures that were installed when the Centennial Sculpture Park opened in 2013. Camil’s “Lover’s Rainbow” will be a highly-Instagrammable stop for visitors to the Neighborhood of the Arts. The giant archway, made of steel rebar painted to resemble a rainbow that will span several dozen feet of the open lawn, is likely to show up in cheerful social media posts. Johnson’s mosaic wall, which will be situated closest to Prince Street, facing the School of the Arts, was designed specifically with SOTA students in mind. The work will form a curved wall covered in mosaic tiles that depict the images of genderless and raceless faces, and is meant to entice students to spend time on the MAG’s campus and perhaps serve as a pretend audience as students practice a monologue or recite poetry. The sculpture park’s expansion underscores the project’s overall aim to open up the 15-acre campus by removing more of the wrought iron gate that used to sequester MAG from the neighborhood, and invite passersby to walk the grounds or sit and chat with friends, museum officials said. “Museums always were this place where you go, you see the art, you absorb it, and then leave,” said Memorial Art Gallery Director Jonathan Binstock at the time of the groundbreaking last fall. “I think all of this is really about shifting the relationship, so it’s not only welcoming the camera, but it’s also making the community the centerpiece.” - BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
roccitynews.com CITY 45
NEW MUSIC REVIEWS
a couple affirms their love for one another in hard times: “I know what you’ve been through/ Your every shade of blue.” This acoustic guitardriven song is a stylistic anomaly of the album, but it’s not surprising considering Emanuel shares songwriting credits with Enaharo, and production credits with both Enaharo and Ben Morey.
“FREEDOM” BY CHARLES EMANUEL Singer-songwriter Charles Miller Jr. (aka Charles Emanuel) and his soul-infused pop-rock have been a local mainstay since he moved to Rochester from St. Kitts in the Caribbean in 2013. But familiar as fans-in-the-know are with the satin-tongued musician and his previous intimate recordings, 2016’s “The Healing Process” and 2018’s “Breathe,” Emanuel’s star quality feels relatively unsung when compared with the depth of his talent.
Gentles Farm Market
1080 Penfield Rd Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm Sunday 9am-5pm Open May-October gentlesfarm.com
46 CITY AUGUST 2022
“Freedom” has the feeling of an artist who’s come out of his shell. The album is full of danceable, extroverted music that serves as an ideal vehicle for Emanuel’s positive outpourings of love — both for himself and for others. facebook.com/ CharlesEmanuelMusic. — BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER
Emanuel’s self-produced album, “Freedom,” due on Aug. 12, is the apex where his confident persona and smooth songcraft meet. The result is a seven-song suite of artist-defining R&B and soul that could be his breakthrough work. Throughout the album, the artist retains the earnestness and generosity of spirit that made his earlier music so appealing. But on “Freedom,” Emanuel turns to heavy hip-hop beats and rich cameos from Rochester-area musicians to enrich the sonic landscape. Judah Sealy’s smooth-jazz saxophone punctuates the palpable heartache of the opening track “Let You Go.” Additional vocals from Taurus Savant help to turn up the heat with the romantic entreaty “Love on Fire.” Channeling Stevie Wonder, Emanuel’s sultry vocal performance on “Back2Me” makes the song a gem. But the upbeat, ’90s-esque dance tune was a team effort, cowritten by Savant and Avis Reese, a primary collaborator of Danielle Ponder.
Selling local fresh fruits and vegetables for over 100 years.
The album ends with the sunny “All My Love,” as Emanuel uses reggae-inflected vocals to celebrate a blossoming relationship with a declaration of devotion.
The title track is an ode to personal empowerment and selfaffirmation, with the music relying on the album’s recurring combination of melismatic R&B melodies and bassheavy hip-hop rhythms. Another standout on the album is “Every Shade of Blue,” a stunning duet with Cammy Enaharo in which
“PASS THE GABAGOOL!” BY THE PICKLE MAFIA Fresh off its Rochester International Jazz Festival debut in June, the Rochester piano trio known as The Pickle Mafia is a confirmed force in local jazz music. But the band’s moniker, as well as the title of its first full-length album — “Pass the Gabagool!” out now on Spotify — indicates that pianist Charlie Lindner, bassist Ben Chilbert, and drummer Marco Cirigliano have doubled down on the silly while laying down some serious, easy-listening licks. Engineered and mastered by Austin DePalma, “Pass the Gabagool!” delivers engaging elevator music, in the best possible sense of the term. What makes it work is that Lindner and company never shy away from their gut instinct to be mercurial. The album kicks off with the lively “Trio de Janeiro,” a samba-inspired jaunt that flits between different time signatures and showcases Linder’s affinity for tight, concise melodies that waste no time getting stuck in your head.
and Lindner provides dizzying organ sounds on “Flying Pineapple.”
Cirigliano’s awe-inspiring facility on the drums also gets plenty of shine on the opening number, as he unleashes a drum solo overflowing with tricky syncopations.
On “Pass the Gabagool!” The Pickle Mafia proves itself to be both accessible and sufficiently complex. Lindner tosses just enough of a pop sensibility into the brine of his compositions to create a tangy concoction of familiar harmonies and hyperactive beats.
Lindner knows he has an absolute ace percussionist in Cirigliano, which I imagine explains why the drummer has another solo on the very next track, “The Dill Standard.” Not only is the title on-brand for both Lindner’s trio and his pickle company of the same name, the music is similarly charismatic as it transitions from sauntering blues to break-neck swing.
The Pickle Mafia will perform its album-release show Oct. 7 at Tournedos Steakhouse at The Inn on Broadway. The sit-down concert comes with a pickle-pairing dinner because, of course it does. For emerging details, check back at charlielindner.com/eventscalendar
There are also beautiful moments in which the album ushers listeners into a dream state with songs such as the piano interlude “A Glimpse Into a Crystal Ball” and “Tale o’ the Pub.” The latter is a master class in The Pickle Mafia’s greatest strength: groovability. Chilbert’s seductive bass line provides the firm foundation that makes the music so satisfying.
— BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER
The most traditional-sounding part of “Pass the Gabagool!” comes at its end, with the rainy-day ballad “Wynton’s Waltz.” But not before Cirigliano pounds his way through a third drum solo, perfectly named “The Malfunctioning Thunderstorm,”
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS PUZZLE ON PAGE 54. NO PEEKING! 1
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roccitynews.com CITY 47
LIFE
CITY VISITS...
ROCHESTER PRIDE
ELIZABETH LIND
MAURA (LEFT) AND MELISSA CHMIELOWIEC
KITARA ROMANOFF
“It’s from Michael’s, it’s a wreath! I just shoved a bunch of things in it and shoved it on my head. Driving over here was a little crazy.”
“We’re very excited to be back (at Pride). Next year we’ll have our 1-year-old with us, too!”
“My outfit was made by two queens at Roar. Basically what we want to share is summer, our new normal. Spring, we’re out at Pride again, everything comes together.”
PENNY OLIVIA
HANS BORS
CAROL BAUMANN
“It’s a relief (to be back at Pride). I honestly didn’t think we’d ever have it again after the last two years of purgatory.”
“I recently started making my own stuff when I started GoGo dancing at Roar a few years ago.”
“Every religion, whether it’s Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, whatever, is based on the same virtue: love your neighbor.”
48 CITY AUGUST 2022
PHOTOS BY LAUREN PETRACCA
INTERVIEWS BY GINO FANELLI
After a two-year hiatus, Rochester Pride returned in July. We talked to some of the characters who make Pride the most colorful celebration in town.
TIMOTHY COLEMAN
ELISABETH CONDE
VIVIAN DARLING
“We’re doing an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I want to be a tree fairy. So I designed a costume to give a little bit more pizzazz. Unfortunately, my footwork isn’t working, so I might have to trim it.”
“It’s a lot, it’s a lot of pressure (being Ms. Gay Rochester). It’s been 49 years of queens, of legends, and having that on my shoulders. It’s a bit heavy, you know?”
“I made it myself! All I wanted was a big ol’ obnoxious hat.”
ANTHONY “KIKI BANANAHAMMOCK” BIZZARRO
KRIS WYSOWSKI (LEFT) AND NIKKI STRASSBURG
GINGER KAIKAI
“I was pretty much wearing an outfit like this at a party in college, and someone said, ‘Ooh, look at miss banana hammock over there.’ And I say, ‘Oh, okay, we’re taking that name.’”
“I’m a puppy! Pup Skipper, it’s a fetish thing. I actually put the rhinestones in by hand, it took me about three months to finish.
“I’m a natural redhead.”
roccitynews.com CITY 49
LIFE
THE BUZZ
Grace & Disgrace’s tiny pop-up cocktail hour is gaining a steady following through word-of-mouth. Inset, the pop-up’s owners, Ralph DiTucci and Megan Goodney. PHOTOS BY JACOB WALSH
PASSWORD NOT REQUIRED Grace & Disgrace’s pop-up cocktail hours are quietly cool. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
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n a recent humid Saturday evening, a small crowd connected over cocktails in a cool and cozy den-like room inside a nondescript building in the East End. The dulcet notes of Chet Baker blended with the happy chatter of a dozen candlelit guests who were grouped in twos and fours at small tables, on couches, and perched on barstools. This was Grace & Disgrace, a tiny pop-up cocktail hour business that’s steadily gaining a following through word-of-mouth. Fifteen minutes earlier, the guests were lined up outside an unlabeled door at 17 Richmond St. waiting to be let inside to what was the first of two 90-minute seatings being offered that evening. Among them were Susan Dieter
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and Chip Yatteau, both of Webster. Dieter had heard about the spot from a co-worker and assumed the crowd would have skewed younger, given the event’s relatively under-the-radar status. That night, most of the people gathered outside were pushing 50, although the clientele changes with every event. “I think the demographic of the group here is interesting,” she said. The door eventually opened and the crowd was greeted by co-owners Ralph DiTucci and Megan Goodney. Grace & Disgrace is not a bar. It doesn’t keep regular hours, and its visitors who reserve a spot for one of the weekly Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night pop-ups can’t just order a beer or a shot or their usual. The menus, like the timetables, are tightly controlled. “We wanted to create a tiny, cocktail-
focused space that operates differently from most bars and restaurants,” DiTucci told CITY in an interview prior to the event. “We’re offering a more bespoke program.” Since opening, the events have expanded from two 90-minute seatings on Friday and Saturday nights to accommodating groups of up to four guests who book 45- or 90-minute seatings in 15 minute increments between 7 and 10 p.m. from Thursday through Saturday. The events aren’t geared toward those looking to drink themselves silly. They cater to people with adventurous palates who want a chill, brief outing and an audible conversation with a date or friends. Prior to launching in May, DiTucci and Goodney each had deep experience
in Rochester’s hospitality sector. They had been business partners for five years as the owners of Cristallino Premium Ice — which supplies crystal clear, spherical, and other custom ice cubes to area restaurants and bars — as well as Bar Mecca, a retail operation that specializes in bitters and equipment basics for home bars. They see Grace & Disgrace as an extension of their brand and mission, which DiTucci says is to support and expand cocktail culture in Rochester. The business name reflects a time when a past business endeavor fell through, and how DiTucci and Goodney handle setbacks in general. “It’s about coming to an acceptance both of how amazing we are and how we fall short, and the hope that we can do so with grace,” DiTucci said. The small-scale business model emerged in part from the changes that COVID made to the hospitality industry and the public’s relationship to going out. “We kind of realized how vulnerable we all are, and that it was beneficial to have a smaller plot of land that you’re responsible for, something that you can make sure that you’re taking care of, and you’re taking care of all of your employees, and all of your guests the best you can,” Goodney said. “Because when people go out, they’re doing it to indulge or to relax, or let go. And so you want to make it worth it for them.” Grace & Disgrace can accommodate up to 20 people at a time, and a reservation is required for each guest. Each event features a small tasting menu of six to 12 cocktails and mocktails (generally priced from $10 to $20), along with three to seven small bites (from $10 to $14), all of which are available a la carte. Given that DiTucci and Goodney handle taking the orders, making drinks, and fetching the food
for all of the guests, visitors can count on comfortably ordering just a couple of drinks and bites each during their stay. On this particular evening, guests could choose from an eclectic menu of eight drinks, each with a special twist. Their version of the cocktail bar mainstay the Old Fashioned was made with duck fat-washed Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Bourbon, demerara sugar, celery bitters, and cherrywood smoke, which was infused into the drink by setting the glass inside a little machine with a chamber that filled with smoke. The Long Island Tea was not the booze-soaked beverage served at clubs but actually contained orange pekoe tea, spirits, lemon oil, and honey. A Japanese Highball was made with Taketsuru whiskey and sesameflavored ingredients. A few beverages had musical titles. “Kiss Them for Me,” a fruity drink with pistachio milk, was a nod to Siouxsie Sioux in name and in her iconic eyes stenciled onto the foam. Nick Drake’s song “Pink Moon” was the inspiration for a nonalcoholic drink with Lyre’s Aperitif Rosso and flavors of orange, blueberry, and cardamom. Nibbles ranged from a simple braided loaf of bread with herbed goat butter and kumquat marmalade or pickled fruit plate, to upscale versions of Thom Yum soup and deviled quail eggs with wasabi and caviar. DiTucci said menu items rotate based on the season, the expected preferences (read: allergies and dietary choices) of guests on a given night, current inspirations, and other factors. As the guests from the early seating were leaving and the owners began clearing glasses and plates to prepare for the second wave, a few stragglers finished their beverages and commented on the pleasantness of the experience. Among them were city residents John Schloff and Dorothy Kelley, both first-timers. Kelley knows DiTucci from her previous line of work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester, where DiTucci volunteers as a mentor. “There are a lot of places to go in Rochester, but few capture the spirit of the owners,” Schloff said. “It just makes a difference.” See upcoming events and reserve your spot by clicking the link in the bio at @grace.and.disgrace on Instagram.
ICE
Cristallino Premium Ice elevates the humble ice cube and area cocktails with science and art. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY
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f you’re spending $10 to $20 on a cocktail, you want every element to be pristine — right down to the ice. That’s why dozens of local restaurants and bars are turning to Cristallino Premium Ice, which specializes in making crystal clear ice cubes and other custom shapes, elevating the humble cube to be worthy of a fancy potion’s premium ingredients. On a weekly basis, the outfit churns out perfectly clear, baseballsized spheres, cubes, gems, and other custom shapes to places that include Good Luck, Cure, Amore, and the Rose Tavern at the Lake House in Canandaigua. The company also takes custom orders for special events, and has frozen a variety of objects into its ice for clients, including company logos, figurines, and an engagement ring. “We all make ice in our freezers,” Cristallino founder Ralph DiTucci said as he opened the lid of a specialized freezer in what resembled an industrial kitchen in a discrete East End building. “And that’s valid, it makes your drink cool, which we like better. That’s why we use ice. So, better ice is better.” Cristillano’s creations are forged from 300-pound blocks of ice that take up to four days to make and require 40 gallons of water. Those blocks are then lifted out of Cristallino’s stainless steel, boxy freezer machine with a crane, and then cut down with saws before being shaped into crystal-clear cubes, spheres, or faceted forms. They’re sold to Cristallino’s retail customers for $10 per dozen. Wholesale pricing is available to restaurants. Pricing for custom orders varies. But as mesmerizing as the ice is, its value is about more than aesthetics. The clarity of Cristallino’s ice is achieved through directional freezing, a process that removes nearly all gasses and minerals that creates clouding. This
method also makes the ice much denser, which makes it slower to melt and dilute your drink, DiTucci said. At the site of Cristallino Premium Ice’s operations at 17 Richmond St., it’s business in the front, and ice lab party in the back. Owners DiTucci and Megan Goodney launched the ice company in 2017 at the space, which also houses their other two operations in the building’s front room: the bitters and bar tools retail shop Bar Mecca, and the pop-up cocktail events under the brand “Grace & Disgrace.” The cocktails served at these events each get their own ice treatment, DiTucci said. Their version of the Old Fashioned gets the harlequin cube, the surface of which is covered in diagonal lines to make a pattern of diamonds. The daiquiri has a faceted, gem top cube. The negroni, which is made with blanc vermouth and crushed ice, resembles a boozy snow-cone. DiTucci first encountered premium ice while working in Los Angeles, and saw an opportunity when he returned to his hometown of Rochester in 2016 and couldn’t find anything like it between New York City and Chicago. Filling that gap turned out to be a savvy move, and Cristallino became a natural fit for Rochester’s upscale bar scene. “When we started the ice business, we viewed clear ice as the logical next step for Rochester’s then-emerging cocktail culture,” DiTucci said. “Great hospitality programs require the best possible ingredients.” Local hospitality leaders Donny Clutterbuck and Chuck Cerankosky helped encourage DiTucci and were among Cristallino’s first customers. “Our reach has since grown, and we now supply over 30 bars and restaurants with cocktail ice on a regular basis,” DiTucci said.
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OPENINGS Coffee Connection, a cafe company that employs and empowers women with histories of addiction and trauma, will have a grand re-opening on Aug. 20 for its 681 South Ave. location, which closed in July for major renovations. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will feature live music, henna art, free samples, 15 percent off all beans, raffles, and more. ourcoffeeconnection.org CRISP Rochester is open at 819 S. Clinton Ave., offering lunch and dinner menus full of comfort food with a southern influence, custom cocktails, and local beers. crisprochester.com Signature cocktail bar, Pourin’ Joy, is open at 111 Park Ave., offering classic and custom cocktails, mocktails, and beer in bottles, cans, and on draught. The spot hosts Healthcare Heroes Thursdays, champagne brunches, and other special events. pourinjoy.com
CLOSINGS Lucca Kitchen & Cocktails has closed its location in the North Winton Village, which opened in 2019. Its owners opened Lucca’s Northside Kitchen in the former location of the Northside Inn, at 311 N. Washington St. in East Rochester.
EVENT Sager Beer Works is holding it down with foodie events in August, starting with the Sager Pig Roast on Aug. 5, from noon to 9 p.m. The owners have dubbed the event “Full Circle Hog Heaven,” as the animal was sourced from a local farmer who raised his spring pigs on Sager’s spent grain. For $25 you get roast pork, salt potatoes, corn, tossed salad, and your first drink. Have a dining tip? Email CITY’s life editor Rebecca Rafferty at becca@ rochester-citynews.com.
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Nine Spot Brewing owners Chris and Marina Nothnagle say every item on their menu will tell a New York story. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH
NINE SPOT BREWING SCREAMS ALL THINGS NY BY GINO FANELLI
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ew York’s culinary scene is as expansive as it is fragmented. Every region is home to signature dishes that seem like a foreign oddity to someone an hour or more away. Most of us know the struggle of trying to find a serviceable garbage plate outside the Rochester area. Good luck tracking down a stuffed banana pepper outside of metro Buffalo, or a spiedie outside of Binghamton. Nine Spot Brewing, which plans to open on Monroe Avenue near downtown Rochester in early August, is looking to pay homage
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to the different drinks and dishes associated with various New York cities and regions. On the menu will be offerings like the Utica staple of chicken riggies, Rochester’s beloved chicken French, pizza rolls popularized by the Queen City, and nine different brands of New York hot dogs, alongside an array of clean brews made from Empire State ingredients. Marina Nothnagle, a longtime worker in the state’s beverage industry, spearheaded the concept of Nine Spot alongside her husband, Chris Nothnagle, and partners Gary
Rodriguez and Edd Taylor. Even the brewery’s name is a tribute to something quintessentially New York — the nine-spotted ladybug, the state’s official insect. “Everything we do, we don’t just want to use New York ingredients, we want to tell a New York story behind it,” Chris Nothnagle said. “We’ve spent the past five years researching all of these weird little things about New York that we’ve fallen in love with.” The Nothnagles’ tributes to New York stretch well into the esoteric. For example, the brewery’s first
beer, a collaboration with Syracuse’s Buried Acorn, was a smoked dunkel called “The Great Squirrel Migration.” The name recalls the 1968 phenomenon in which squirrels, eager to seize upon an especially abundant acorn harvest in the northeastern United States a year earlier, flooded new areas of the region. In New York, hundreds of intrepid bushy tails drowned crossing the Hudson River in what newspapers at the time called an “invasion.” “The sugar maple is the state tree, and we’re working on doing our
PHOTOS BY JACOB WALSH
flight boards and tap handles out of maple, and we’re also trying to carry those kinds of things through into our recipes,” Marina Nothnagle said. “Apples are the state fruit, yogurt is the state snack . . . it’ll almost be like a New York museum.” Nine Spot’s second beer, contractbrewed with Battle Street Brewing in Dansville, is a pale ale dubbed “NY Grains, Trains, and Automobiles,” a name Marina joked came to her in a “COVID fog.” The title references the Battle Street building’s former life as a train depot, and the classic 1987 Steve Martin flick “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” much of which was shot in western New York, namely Batavia and Cattaraugus County. The beer pours a light straw color and has a subdued hint of zesty citrus on its nose. The initial sip offers a burst of bitter pine and lime notes, and ends silky smooth with a crisp, lightly grassy finish. This simple beer has no pretense and it shows off the chops of Nine Spot head brewer Mike Beebe. Beebe, a Rochester native, has brewed for establishments from Alaska to New Jersey. “We got the opportunity to try about a dozen beers before we hired him and it was really a no-brainer at that point,” Marina Nothnagle said. “He makes really great, clean (beers), and he respects the history of the styles. He knows how to make a great beer.” Nine Spot is the latest in a growing network of breweries on the southern edge of downtown Rochester. The brewery will be located in the space
formerly occupied by Towner’s Bike Shop and, decades ago, CE Hartson, one of the first car dealerships in Rochester. The brewery sits about half a block away from Strangebird Brewing on Marshall Street, and about a quarter mile from Roc Brewing on South Union. The Nothnagles are looking to tap into the traffic they hope will be generated by the nearby Strong National Museum of Play, which is undergoing a 90,000-square foot expansion, including the construction of a hotel. Nine Spot intends to be a family-friendly brewery, offering mocktails and sodas with its suds and ciders. “There’s not that many options (for families),” Marina Nothnagle said. “We wanted to create an environment where you can come in and sit down and order if you want that. If you don’t, you go to our taproom over here. We wanted to make it this kind of fluid space where everyone can find something.”
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Answers to this puzzle can be found on page 47
PUZZLE BY S.J. AUSTIN & J. REYNOLDS ACROSS 1. Value highly 7. Camera often attached to a bike helmet 12. “8-Minute _____” (’90s exercise video)
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