Visual learning 

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When the first autumnal chills slice through the summer heat, the body wants layered clothing and heartier meals, but the senses and the mind sharpen with winter’s looming scythe. Maybe it’s the ingrained back-to-school association, or something older: it’s time for coming together, sharing knowledge across fires. In any case, it just feels right that the start of the fresh arts season comes during the fall, when our attentions turn inward and a bit more serious.

This year, our picks for not-to-be-missed visual art shows include sobering accounts of institutional and interpersonal abuse and its long-lasting impact; Rochester’s major institutions reflecting with deep dives into their collections; and individual artists digging into various fraught fragments of this American life.

“RG Miller: Tis Non:we Entewaha’hara’ne / Our Path Forward”
Rochester Contemporary Art Center
Through September 22

Decades ago, it was common to teach American youth that North America is a “melting pot” of cultures, before someone cringed at that visual and changed it to “stew,” in which its contributing cultures remain distinct and compliment the whole. But that doesn’t mean the earlier description wasn’t true—this country has been guilty of the horrors of forced assimilation, not least of which when it came to Indigenous people. The same is true of Canada, with its colonial ties to England, which carved up Indigenous lands when forming its borders with America.

Canada is where artist R. G. Miller—whose work is on view this month at Rochester Contemporary Art Center—spent 11 years of his childhood at the Mohawk Institute Indian Reservation School, similar to ones found in the United States. Forcibly removed from his family at age three, Miller was further severed from his roots through language and cultural deprivation at an institution that aimed to “kill the Indian in the child.” The exhibit of his oil paintings, mixed media works on paper, and collages explores the “chronic terrors and abuse” he was subject to not that long ago in history.

Miller’s art is an ongoing journey toward healing, and his educational exhibit is supplemented by a talk with Lauren Jimerson during the opening on Sept. 6 and a film screening by Cher Obediah on Sept. 12. rochestercontemporary.org

“Drawing as Discovery: 500 Years of Drawings and Watercolors from the Permanent Collection”
Memorial Art Gallery
September 28, 2024 - January 12, 2025

The MAG regularly presents exhibitions of work by master artists of old and avant garde contemporary creators alike, but it also has a fascinating, wide-ranging collection of works that aren’t always exhibited. Drawing from its holdings of more than 2,000 works on paper, the museum will exhibit an array of 100 artworks from a breadth of cultures and eras, including household names—Francisco Goya, Rembrandt van Rijn, Edgar Degas, Georgia O’Keefe, Kara Walker—as well as more obscure and unknown artists gifted to the gallery or collected by past leadership at the MAG.

And knowing the gallery’s curatorial team, reading the accompanying context, histories and their interpretations of the works will be just as enthralling as studying the nuances of the works themselves. mag.rochester.edu

“Sarah C. Rutherford: What We Hold”
RIT City Art Space
October 4 - 26

Artist Sarah Rutherford’s meteoric rise from studio artist to nationally-renowned muralist has been impressive, to say the least—more than a decade ago she began translating her supreme portraiture skills from canvas to wall, creating arresting, icon-like tributes to historical figures and community leaders in the “Her Voice Carries” series that celebrates women who amplify the voices around them, many of which grace buildings around Rochester. She has also spent much time helping young artists rise through her various endeavors as a mentor.

Rutherford’s upcoming show, “What We Hold: A Practice of Remembrance and Release” is a culmination of a two-year partnership with Willow Domestic Violence Center, and an expansion of her “Stories of Strength” project of art and storytelling as a mode of healing. This multi-sensory exhibition incorporates audio recordings of survivor testimony, layered drawings of their hands, and an immersive installation that bears witness to grief, recovery, and storytelling as empowerment. rit.edu/cityartspace

“Life with Photographs: 75 Years of the Eastman Museum”
George Eastman Museum
October 5, 2024 - Aug. 31 2025

Since opening to the public in 1949, George Eastman’s former residence has become the foremost museum of photographic history, art, and preservation studies. Now in its 75th year, Eastman Museum is launching a major retrospective drawn from its collection of photos and other materials that tell the story of the medium — and Rochester’s place in its history.

The exhibition presents a wide range of cultural histories and photographic practices, from early experimentation to radical takes on the medium, and includes major names and lesser-known artists alike. It will certainly appeal to photography buffs, but its attention to the general impact photography has had on human life will make it a fascinating visit for anyone. eastman.org

Melissa Ferrari
Visual Studies Workshop
December 2 - 30, 2024

While most venues present finished work by artists with a focus on the process of creation, there’s something truly amazing about witnessing that process as it is unfolding. Viewers can access that through studio visits or by checking out venues that dedicate a healthy chunk of their focus to the artistic process.

Visual Studies Workshop’s roster of Project Space resident artists hail from all over the world and represent an unlimited range of artistic practices and concerns. In this year’s cohort is Melissa Ferrari, an L.A.-based experimental animator who incorporates the magic lantern—a 17th-century projector—to present hand-drawn animated artworks. Ferrari will come to Rochester in November to source material from VSW’s collection of tens of thousands of lantern slides and work on her current magic lantern project, a film about the history of medication abortion. vsw.org

The year ahead will be filled with more opportunities to discover emerging artists and keep up with established ones. Follow along in CITY’s print edition, at roccitymag.com and in the weekly e-newsletters.