Rochester Arts and Culture Collaborative February News

February, arguably the longest shortest month, is coming to a close. But through and despite the temperature swings, icy sidewalks, dirty snow piles, Rochester's arts and cultural scene keeps up its busy active schedule. We hope your winter endeavors have been rewarding and enjoyable.

**Please join us Thursday, February 25 at C4's Open Mic at Cafe' Steam for the announcement of the Art4Trails artists. The Open Mic starts at 7:30 and the announcement will come around 8:00.**

Updates

Spaces

Debi Neville of the Spaces team sent an email last week letting you all know that the proposal for re-use of the (former) Senior Center/Armory as an arts and cultural center of some kind is in progress. The City Council put out a Request for Proposals with a deadline of March 31 and the Spaces team is working hard to submit a complete proposal. As Debi noted in her letter, it is crucial to have feedback and support from probable users of the space, of which we are confident there are many. As her team reaches out to you this week and in the days to come, please consider how this building and its varied spaces for offices, meetings, classes, and more, could be a place for you! Thank you for your attention to this exciting idea with so much potential for supporting artists and arts and cultural organizations in creative, cost-effective, collaborative ways that we can't even imagine right now. 

Art4Trails

As we've been excitedly promoting, the Art4Trails summer public art installation is moving full speed ahead with the announcement of the artists happening on Thursday, February 25. The committee will be shifting gears to focus on the opening of the event the weekend of June 4-5. This will be a fun time of bike ride tours of the art installations, music, family activities and more.  Make a note of the date now and don't miss it!  The Art4Trails team gratefully acknowledges gifts received from generous supporters to support the project. These gifts help pay for the bases for the sculptures, insurance, and other costs, and the team will gratefully accept ongoing donations.  You can make a donation to Art4Trails via the Rochester Area Foundation website. (In the "note to seller" area on the payment page, please specify that the gift is for Art4Trails.) 

Looking ahead

The RACC steering committee is planning a community forum event, tentatively scheduled for late March at the library. We plan to focus at this meeting on opportunities to provide feedback on various pending issues, e.g., Chateau Theater re-use, the Public Art Master Plan, the proposed arts and cultural center at the armory, and other relevant topics awaiting public input.  Please watch for a date to be announced soon because we want you all there with your ideas and feedback.

Follow RACC on facebook, twitter (@raccmn) and email us at raccnews@gmail.com. See you at the show/concert/exhibit/festival...!