ROCHESTER & MONROE COUNTY ARE
PLANNING FOR ART & CULTURE.
<< About the Plan >> Status >> Plan Timeline >> Artist Engagement Team >> Additional Resources >>
Mural by Shawnee Hill and Katie Jo Suddabya
The Arts & Culture Plan will provide guidance on how to support and grow the area’s arts and culture network. The first step is to engage city leaders, artists and creators, arts and culture organizations, and the general public to develop a vision for arts and culture in the area. With this, action steps to help the community realize their shared vision will be identified and included in the plan.
The Arts & Culture Plan will deal with things like: How does arts funding get distributed? What organizations already exist, and who is missing from the table? Is it easy for artists/creators to thrive in this place? What barriers do people face to self-expression here, and how can we eliminate or reduce them? Thinking through questions like these will help make the Rochester area’s arts and cultural offerings more exciting, representative, and accessible to everyone!
WHAT’S AN ARTS & CULTURE PLAN?
WHAT’S THE STATUS?
As of May 2025, the team has completed Round 1 of community engagement, data from which is being used to draft the plan and its recommendations. When this content has been finalized and approved for public review, Round 2 of community engagement will begin. Stay tuned for opportunities to provide feedback regarding draft plan recommendations this summer!
HOW CAN I STAY INFORMED?
Mural by Chloe Smith
PLAN TIMELINE
<< May ‘25 >>
Draft plan recommendations
<< Jun–Jul ‘25 >>
Round 2 community engagement (re: draft recommendations)
<< Aug ‘25 >>
Final plan
The Arts & Culture Plan is being led by a project team including the City of Rochester, Monroe County, Designing Local (a consulting firm specializing in arts and culture planning), and an Artist Engagement Team. The Rochester Area Community Foundation and the Farash Foundation have generously contributed to the development of this plan.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
MEET THE ARTIST ENGAGEMENT TEAM!
These four local artists are heading into the community to have conversations with people about arts and culture. They’ll be working to make sure everyone has a chance to provide input into the Arts & Culture Plan. Stay tuned to this site for updates on engagement opportunities or sign up for email updates.
Paola Macas Betchart
Photographer
Poet
Community advocate
DEI&A practitioner
Shawn Dunwoody
Visual artist
Muralist
Arts advocate
Spectacle creator
LaShonda Davis
Visual artist
Muralist
Community advocate
Organizer
Lamar the Therapist
Hip-hop performer
Citizen artist
Open mic organizer
Psychotherapist
Rochester 2034:
Arts + Culture Section
The planning document is a 15-year comprehensive plan to improve the Rochester community leading up to the city’s 200th birthday. Its Arts + Culture section details the state of Rochester’s arts and culture scene as of 2019 and lists action items for continuous improvement through the year 2034.
Rochester Arts Initiatives & Public Art
This city website contains information on the Percent for Arts program, upcoming arts projects, arts and culture committees, how Rochester is working to be a city of the arts and for the arts, and more.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
5 Cities Report
This report from Arts in the Loop is a study of arts funding and organizational models in five other cities.
Arts in the Loop
This initiative is designed to energize Rochester’s center city by leveraging the arts, entertainment, and media sectors, with an initial focus on the Main Street corridor.