News
John Aasp

Starting on June 3, the exhibit “Clarissa Uprooted: Unearthing Stories of Our Village (1940s-early 1970s)” will open in the RIT City Art Space. This show, created through a partnership between the Center for Teen Empowerment in Rochester and the Clarissa Street Reunion Committee, has involved a number of collaborators including RIT faculty and students from the College of Art and Design and the College of Liberal Arts.

Two outdoor sculptures are adorning RIT’s campus this academic year, with more on the way. Works by artists Joshua Enck and Letha Wilson have revived an outdoor sculpture initiative that is part of the School of Art’s Anna Ballarian Visiting Artist Series.

RIT is contributing to Rochester’s revitalization efforts in a significant way, bringing a creative energy and economic development acumen translating into important arts, cultural, educational, and economic opportunities for the city.

A solo exhibition of photographs and video by David Butow, whose new book, Brink, chronicles politics in the United States from the 2016 presidential election through the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, is coming to RIT’s City Art Space.

Equipped with newly-developed professional skills and materials, students from Ceramics, Fine Art Photography and Metals and Jewelry gained insightful feedback on their work from 11 artists to wrap up the fall semester.

Luvon Sheppard, described as the heart and soul of the RIT School of Art faculty, has a solo exhibition coming to RIT City Art Space celebrating his five-plus decades as an artist, educator and community collaborator.

RIT School of Art's Anna Ballarian Visiting Artist Series adds a new dimension to the College of Art and Design's already robust visiting artist and exhibition programming.  

Normally lined with exhibits showcasing the talents of RIT faculty, students, and alumni, three RIT galleries are instead outfitted this semester with the desks and technology necessary to meet the academic needs of hundreds of first-year College of Art and Design students. The University and Bevier Galleries inside Booth Hall and the William Harris Gallery in Gannett Hall have been transformed into creative classrooms.

The College of Art and Design offered three courses as part of RIT's First Class Academy, a tuition-free, credit-bearing online experience that introduced incoming freshmen to the RIT and Rochester communities this summer.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 4: Robin Cass, interim dean of the College of Art and Design, and John Aäsp , gallery director, discuss how RIT City Art Space in downtown Rochester will invite the public to engage with the university through culture and creativity.