Rochester Art Center to reopen with exhibition celebrating essential workers
For its first exhibition since the start of the pandemic, the Rochester Art Center is bringing together 18 local artists for a series of portraits paying tribute to the essential workers supporting us through the crisis.
Lifeline: Portraits of Rochester Essential Workers debuts July 1 at the Art Center. The exhibition pairs local artists with front line workers to produce portraits that reflect the community’s appreciation for the work being done by medical professionals and others across Rochester.
“During this public health crisis, when most of us have retreated into the safety of our homes, brave essential workers risk exposure to COVID-19 and support our community during this time of need,” the Art Center wrote in an announcement for the exhibition.
Ahead of the exhibition’s public debut, we talked with Pamela Caserta Hugdahl, the Art Center’s newly-appointed executive director. The transcript from our conversation can be found below.
MCB: Let's begin by learning a bit more about you. What has been your path to becoming the executive director of RAC?
Caserta Hugdahl: I first started working in museums in 2000, as a guard at the Walker Art Center, and soon became curious about what happens behind the scenes and how museums achieve success. Over the course of thirteen years at the Walker, many people guided me through some of the most mysterious jobs in art museums. I am proud to have helped the Cedarburg Art Museum and Gallery 224, both north of Milwaukee, improve systems and outreach, and I am excited to return to Minnesota to do the same for Rochester Art Center.
MCB: Describe your vision for the Art Center.
PCH: Our current vision statement is “to be a cultural center for innovation and creativity through contemporary art.” I think this is the essence of what we are here to do for Rochester residents and visitors to the Destination Medical Center. In this time of cultural and economic change, amidst a pandemic, we have the opportunity to think critically about how we can meet this goal in new ways with greater impact.
MCB: What can the community expect from the Art Center in the coming months?
PCH: A regular rotation of multiple exhibitions will ensure that visitors always experience something new and dynamic at the art center. We are also looking forward to welcoming small groups of students for our Total Arts Day Camp series, which was postponed by about four weeks. We are adding a fifth week for 1st-3rd graders to meet demand for this immersive one week day camp that will focus on the art of storytelling with author Melissa D. Savage.
MCB: How has the Art Center adjusted to this period of social distancing?
PCH: Staff have been keeping close track of guidelines and regulations from the State of Minnesota in order to prepare a robust program schedule as we reopen our doors to the public in a new era. Visitors can expect to experience the museum much the same way they did before the pandemic, but with some unobtrusive precautions for preventing the spread of COVID-19. Staff will be wearing masks and we hope visitors will do the same. We will have artists designed masks available for purchase to encourage the practice that is showing merit and respect for one another.
MCB: What can you tell us about this new exhibition on essential workers?
PCH: The staff are working hard to prepare multiple exhibitions and related programs that will serve as a time-capsule of this moment. “Lifeline”, thought up by our Finance & Development Manager Kalianne Morrison, features portraits of COVID-19 frontline workers by area artists. Artistic Director Sheila Dickinson is organizing an exhibition of artworks by internationally recognized artists made during this recent period of “Creative Confinement,” in which they call attention to many new scenarios we have come to recognize through stay at home orders, from social disparities to the absurd.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
Cover image: a portrait of Sudha Alvakonda by Eric Anderson (left) & a portrait of Dr. Jay Myers by Eric Tarr
