Rochester Arts and Culture Collaborative September Update

Greetings all!

The new arts season is upon us, giving us the chance to fill our calendars with one of a kind offerings by all the talented artists, professional and amateur, we have at our doorsteps. Reverb.mn, Rochester Music Guild, Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Post-Bulletin and KTTC events calendar, Rochester Now and Marquee Rochester apps for your phone - these are just a few ways to find a cure for "nothing to do here blues".  Beyond art events, there are various cultural activities going on as well, such as the IMAA Pearl Gala September 25, or the Latino Fest, Saturday, September 26 at Cooke Park with fun activities for the whole family.

Also, the Dolores Jean Lavins Center for the Humanities in Medicine at the Mayo Clinic would like to extend an invitation:

We are very happy to host Joseph Haj, the new Artistic Director of the Guthrie Theater, for an informal gathering on October 1 in the Mayo Clinic Landow Atrium. Please join us in welcoming him, and hear his comments on a new vision for the Guthrie.

RSVP to the Guthrie Theater at 612-377-2224.

We hope to see you October 1 at 7 pm.

Paul D. Scanlon, MD
Johanna Rian, PhD

A few updates from Collaborative partners:

• Art4Trails has made a lot of progress. With the Rochester Area Foundation as a fiscal agent, they have secured grant money from the RDA, the Judy and Jim Sloan Foundation, sponsorship from Forager Brewpub, some in-kind logo and brand development design work from emen design, and are completing a SEMAC grant application, due Oct 1. Call for artists will be posted on mnartists.org by October 1, and we will be sharing that link.  Panel of judges is being created from the representatives of city, artists, neighborhoods. Kelly Corbin of WeBike Rochester will work with the parks department to pre-permit the sites so the artists won't have to.  Publicity plans are also underway so watch your local news sources and spread the word!

• The Chateau Theater Task Force met for the first time Thursday, Sept 17. Here's the Post-Bulletin article about it if you missed it.  RACC member  and local music producer Jim Fricker reported on the meeting, which basically covered preliminary introductions and procedures. There is no plan in place as yet for how the committee will proceed but there is a lot of expertise on the task force so it is expected that a process will be forthcoming. These meetings are open to the public so they will also work on ways to inform the public as well as gather input. 

• The Request for Proposals for Armory/Senior Center re-use is on the consent agenda for Monday evening's (Sept 21) City Council meeting. The Agenda packet is on the city website and there you can see a copy of the RFP. It looks like there will be a March 2016 deadline, with occupancy available probably first quarter of 2017. The Spaces team will be studying the RFP to learn how we can best approach this project based on needs assessment and organization/individual interviews that RACC members undertook over the last few months. If you are interested in participating in this process, let us know! raccnews@gmail.com

• Please complete the Artists Thrive survey for the Minnesota State Arts Board if you haven't yet and pass it along! It's for all individual artists, all over Minnesota, in all disciplines.  The Minnesota State Arts Board is funded by all of our taxes, so help them serve us the best way they can!

Follow RACC on Facebook and Twitter (@RACCMN) and reach out with ideas or to help.  See you at the (fill in the blank) show!