Gallery r features work with local ties

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Gallery r, RIT’s metro art space in downtown Rochester, N.Y., is hosting a group exhibition this month featuring works from the private collection of Gerald Mead—a Buffalo, N.Y., artist and collector who has amassed over 1,000 works by more than 900 western New York artists.

“Hunter/Gatherer—Rochester Connections: Works from the Gerald Mead Collection” will be on view from Nov. 4 to 20 at the gallery, 100 College Ave. This survey exhibition consists of more than 40 artworks across all media by western New York artists selected from Mead’s substantial collection. An opening reception will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4. It is free and open to the public. The gallery’s regular hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.

The exhibition’s distinct focus is on artists with current and historical ties to the Rochester community, including those associated with RIT, Visual Studies Workshop, George Eastman Museum, Nazareth College and elsewhere.

“The selection of work is a testament to Mead’s extensive passion for the art communities of western New York, and to Rochester’s place within it,” said John Aäsp, gallery director for RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences.

Artists on display will include Roberley Bell, Wendell Castle, Greg Halpern, Nancy Jurs, Albert Paley, Peter Pincus, Frans Wildenhain and many more.

This exhibition will be presented along with “Hunter/Gatherer—Regional LGTBQ Artists from the Gerald Mead Collection,” which will highlight another unique iteration of Mead’s collection relevant to the LGTBQ community. That show also will open on Nov. 4 in the Rochester Gay Alliance’s Gallery Q, located next door to Gallery r.

Mead is an award-winning artist, educator, arts writer and independent curator who is a leading authority on western New York art. He serves on the boards of several arts organizations in Buffalo. Since 1987, he has assembled a collection of hundreds of artworks by artists who are associated with this region by birth or residency.

Thematic exhibitions from the Gerald Mead Collection have been presented at numerous college galleries and other public venues, including most recently at Fredonia State College and the Springville Center for the Arts in southern Erie County. He also has lent works from his collection to major exhibitions at Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College, the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, and Buffalo Arts Studio. Mead also is a frequent lecturer on art and collecting.

Gallery r serves as the primary showcase for RIT’s creative community in Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts. For more information, contact Aäsp at 585-475-4977 or by email at john.aasp@rit.edu.