Rochester Art Center to host 'Essential Worker Appreciation Month'
Rochester’s essential workers will be able to sample the best in local art for free through all of October, thanks to a new initiative announced this week by the Rochester Art Center.
As part of “Essential Worker Appreciation Month,” all essential workers will be given unlimited free admission to the Art Center for a month, starting when the center opens at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The initiative comes in conjunction with the Art Center’s main exhibit, Lifeline: Portraits of Rochester Essential Workers, which has been on display since July 1. Twenty-one essential workers of all kinds, from the chair of infection control at Mayo Clinic to a Hy-Vee store manager and the leader of Project HOPE, were profiled and painted by local artists for the exhibit.
Visitors, essential workers or not, will also be able to check out two additional exhibits currently on display inside the Art Center.
Expression of Clinician Well-Being, a Mayo Clinic-presented exhibit showcasing art created around the theme of clinician burnout, takes up space inside the Grand Lobby, and an interactive space occupies the second floor process room. Exhibit-goers are encouraged to “express, process and share with other visitors the ways life has changed due to Covid-19” through drawings or words mounted to the wall.
The Art Center is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and noon - 4 p.m. on Sundays.
Parade rescheduled
UPDATE: The parade has bee postponed again due to weather. According to organizers, “We will be moving everything to {October 10]. There are a few final adjustments being made to make this happen. The simple reason for this is because we worked with our parade entries, the Rochesterfest Board and other groups to discuss potential cold/less than ideal weather and all were in favor of moving to the 10th which shows a much better forecast. This was done to hopefully give us the most enjoyable event possible for all parties involved and most importantly our community.”
ORIGINAL TEXT: After announcing and canceling the 2020 edition of the Rochesterfest Grand Parade, the festival’s organizers say the longtime Rochester tradition is back on.
In a press release Monday, Rochesterfest announced the return of the ‘drive-through’ parade concept — originally planned for mid-August in conjunction with the Rochester Community Celebration, but scrapped soon after its announcement. The new parade is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, October 3 on the RCTC campus — the same location as was announced in August.
“It’s been an extremely challenging year for all of us not just in Rochester but everywhere,” said Brandon Helgeson, executive director of Rochesterfest. “While it takes time to learn how to do things in our “NEW” normal we felt that coming up with some events for people to enjoy was not only needed but something we felt obligated to do for our greater community.”
After the concert, Helgeson says a drive-through concert is planned for 6 p.m. on the RCTC campus. The lineup was not immediately made available.
Applications to be a part of the parade lineup are available on the Rochesterfest website; the website says all “reasonable applications” will be accepted.
Cover image: Dr. Priya Sampathkumar by Simon Huelsbeck / courtesy Rochester Art Center
