May 3

May 3 Jazz festival among the first-time events receiving grants from RDA

Four new events are coming to downtown Rochester in the coming months.

The Rochester Downtown Alliance’s Downtown Cultural Initiative Committee recently announced the recipients of the stART-UP grant (formerly called "DCI" grant) funding program for 2016.

The grants were implemented in 2013 to spur first-time arts events within the 44-block RDA boundary area. The goal is provide seed money for organizers to test out a new concept – with the hope that some become recurring events.

In total, the RDA handed out $8,500. According to the organization, six proposals were submitted; four of them were awarded funding. (An additional $1,500 was allocated earlier this year for two other projects, including Art 4 Trails.)

Here's a look at this year's scheduled events (text from RDA):

1st Annual Rochester City Jazz Festival

Sunday, July 24 from Noon-8:30 p.m. – Rochester Civic Theatre

The event is organized by John Sievers and will feature local, regional, and nationally recognized jazz performers. The jazz fest will be a family friendly event and encourage young jazz musicians to play alongside more experienced performers. Admission will be $10, which includes outdoor and indoor performances.

Hijab for a Day

Wednesday, September 14 – Rochester Civic Theatre

This event will document the experiences of five non-Muslim women in Rochester who will wear a traditional Muslim hijab for one day. This event is organized by Regina Mustafa of Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam, Dawn Sanborn, and Pam Whitfield. Organizers say the goal of this event is to encourage interfaith dialogue in the Rochester community, discourage Islamophobia, and educate the public on the beliefs of Islam. This will be a free event, but pre-registration is encouraged.

Harvey Milk Poetry Slam & Spoken Word Slam – Thursday, June 30

Latino Heritage Poetry and Spoken Word Slam – Thursday, October 20

Both events at the Rochester Art Center

These are two separate events organized by the Diversity Council designed to bring nontraditional participants and audiences together around culturally significant themes. Both events have an admission charge of $5. The Diversity Council applied for grant funding prior to the 2016 stART-Up policies update.

Applications for 2017 stART-up grants will be accepted starting November. Grants will be awarded at the beginning of January 2017.