Kota Ezawa "Taking a Knee"

Visiting Kota Ezawa's Taking a Knee, presented by Deborah Ronnen Fine Art at R1 Studios (1328b University Avenue), is the perfect way to dip one's toe back into the act of visiting an art gallery. This tiny space, normally a photography studio, has been transformed for a limited time to display an extremely powerful and timely exhibit of a very important living artist, whom I had never heard of. The collection includes several watercolors, two light boxes, and an animated video, that stitches together these images and many more. 

Each painting is based on a photograph from actual football games, and portrays the act of taking a knee during the national anthem. Colin Kaepernick's initial act of protest was so controversial that it cost him his job. Sadly, the racial injustices that sparked those protests have not abated. Thankfully, more people have come to understand and participate in the protests, and that might actually lead to long-needed structural change.

I've never been a fan of the national anthem. Not just because the range makes it difficult to sing, but because of the lyrics. Why does a national anthem need to reference war? And why are we singing about "the home of the free," when at the time this poem was written, only White men were free? Black people were slaves. White women were essentially the property of their husbands. Indigenous people were hunted like animals. The Star Spangled Banner only became our country's national anthem in 1931. I can only hope that by 2031 a new, more inclusive, more peace-loving (and more singable) national anthem will be created. Oh, and that we will have dispensed with this ridiculous show of patriotism before sports games and opening nights of the RPO, etc.... 

The video plays to an instrumental version of the national anthem - Ezawa chose to let the images speak for themselves, knowing that viewers would have the lyrics running in their subconscious. The video is only about 90 seconds long, and runs on a loop that gives you the perfect amount of time to digest and consider before it starts again, and you can look for subtleties you missed the first time through: the pulsing of colors, the shifting of eyes, the fact that the only people who seem to move through the film are the photographers. 

There is a much more in-depth description of the exhibit on the Deborah Ronnen Fine Art website. This is the type of exhibit you would expect to see in a gallery in New York City, and we are lucky that Ronnen has shared this rare opportunity with us in Rochester. It only runs through November 7th, and I urge everyone to see it in person.

“Cry it out” at home

No, I’m not suggesting that’s what anyone should be doing in this time of social distancing, although I have cried a couple of times, and I think that’s OK - this is a really stressful time, and there’s no certainty of when it will end. In the meantime, it would be inconceivable to go through this pandemic without having the internet to help keep us connected. We have meetings using Zoom and cocktails with friends on FaceTime. You can stream movies and TV shows, and though the internet was already a rabbit hole, it’s more so now - it’s just too easy to go from one funny YouTube video to another, especially when it features a dog...

(photo from Geva's website)

A month ago seems like a lifetime ago. A month ago, I was contemplating going to see Geva Theatre’s Once for a third time. And I was going to see Cry It Out, even though I thought I wouldn’t identify with the characters – new parents. Unfortunately, both shows had to close prematurely. But fortunately, Geva was able to get permission to video both shows and is now offering them for rental for a limited time (for $35 each, until April 15). So the day they were released, I purchased and watched Cry It Out. If you don’t already have a Vimeo account (I didn’t…), it’s a bit of a process initially, and of course requires yet one more password (I won’t tell you mine, but let’s just say that Vimeo and Coronavirus will be forever linked in my mind!). While I missed being part of an audience watching the play (there’s no substitute for that shared experience), it was kind of nice to be comfortable on my couch, with no distractions. 

As is frequently true, you shouldn’t always believe the things you think, and I didn’t have to have had children to empathize with the characters. The play isn’t just about new moms, it’s about choices. And not just about the choices we make, but the choices we don’t have, due to whatever circumstances limit those choices. There’s always someone worse off and someone better off, with more or different alternatives at their disposal. And you never really know what other people are going through, so it’s easy to make excuses for your own choices (or lack of choice) and to blame others for theirs.

“Crying it out” refers to letting a baby cry itself to sleep, instead of the parents rushing in to soothe the child. The parallels to today’s Coronavirus crisis aren’t hard to miss - so many people are sick and dying, or are or will be out of work. What do we, as a society, choose? Do we follow those who say we “can't let the cure be worse than the disease”? Do we let people die to save the economy? Or do we collectively shut down, to “flatten the curve” for everyone? When we get to the other side of this crisis, do we return to business as usual? Or do we take stock, and finally address some of the problems that exacerbated this crisis – e.g., the lack of investment in and respect for science and medicine; the lack of affordable and accessible health care for everyone, not just the rich? Do we choose to do nothing, and let a huge segment of our society “cry it out”?

Here’s the link for Cry it Out:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/cryitout

As well as the link for Once:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/once

"Once"... twice

One of my greatest pleasures since moving to Rochester has been joining the board of Geva Theatre. And one of the myriad benefits is learning the lineup of the next season’s shows at the board meeting that directly precedes the season announcement. Last year, when Mark Cuddy unveiled the list, he asked if anyone had seen Once. Not one hand went up. In a group of avid theatregoers, that was remarkable, especially for a show that had won Tony’s for best musical, best book of a musical, best actor in a musical, best direction of a musical, as well as best orchestration, scenic design, lighting design, and sound design. As he began to describe the plot, it dawned on me I had actually seen it – at RBTL (in 2014). It obviously hadn’t made an impression on me! That made me curious to see the show at Geva, to observe whether it would be a different experience.

And it was.

It is always a relief when musical theatre is cast with trained musical actors (instead of actors who also sort of sing... Catherine Zeta-Jones and Glenn Close come to mind...). And it is awe-inspiring when those actors also play instruments. And real instruments, like the violin and cello and drums. Oh, and dance. Because musical theatre usually involves choreography, as well. No standing at the apron operatically declaiming. 

Geva’s Once did not disappoint. The actors were all extremely talented, and the staging was simple and effective. It’s a Guy meets Girl story (literally – those are the names of the main characters), but with a bittersweet ending - much as in real life. My first favorite moment was near the beginning, when the three ensemble women sang a song in Czech, because I have adored the harmonies and style of Eastern European music (to make a Western-ear generalization...) since my first introduction to the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir almost four decades ago. And my last favorite moment was near the end, when the company sang “Gold” (a cappella). The contrast from the rest of the string-accompanied pieces was powerful, and made even more moving by the song’s dynamics, or rather lack thereof – the entire piece is sung piano, and requires the audience to respond in kind, and kind of lean in. And we did. 

I tried to think about why I responded differently to this production than the one I had seen several years ago, and while I can’t recall the quality of acting or staging then, I do note one big contrast. The Auditorium Theatre seats 2400 – that’s larger than the largest Broadway house by 650, or almost 40%. You could fit all of Geva’s 522 seats in that difference. And that makes all the difference. At Geva, the experience is more intimate. There isn’t one seat from which you cannot see the actors’ expressions. There’s a special connection that’s made between actors and an audience when they can actually see and hear each other, and that opportunity doesn’t exist in a cavernous theatre.

I am sure that my memory of this production will last longer than six years. As long as my general memory remains healthy that long!

Green Visions

The Allyn’s Creek Garden Club, which I joined a few years ago, helps fund scholarships for Green Visions, under the Greentopia umbrella. We knew about the project in theory, but in September, we finally scheduled a group trip to one of their gardens, on Whitney Street, in the JOSANA neighborhood (the other is on Joseph Avenue, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy). 

Morgan and Tiani explaining the program

Morgan Barry, the coordinator, gave an overview of the garden, and invited us to walk around and admire the beautiful flowers still in bloom in late September. Morgan graduated from the RCSD, and although he had no gardening experience, he leapt at the opportunity to give back to the community through Green Visions. He also introduced us to Tiani Jennings, who started in the program when she was 17, and has since earned her GED. 

This is the seventh year of Green Visions, a workforce development program targeted to 18-21 year old at-risk youth in the neighborhood. In that time, close to 100 young adults have graduated the program, 11 of whom have transitioned to work or college. The program provides a diverse training, not just in gardening. The participants learn to make bouquets to professional standards, are involved in customer service, and sell directly at the Rochester Public Market. They work a 3.5 hour shift in the morning or afternoon, and make $30/day, so can earn up to $3300 in a season. The retention rate year to year is 85%; an in-neighborhood program means the participants can walk to work, so are more likely to be consistent. 

Another facet of the program involves staffing with the developmentally disabled; currently approximately one-fifth of the staff have development disabilities. While many of the flowers are grown on-site from seed or bulb, the program also works with School 17 and Edison Tech to pre-grow some of the flowers in greenhouses. The Dahlia Society recently donated dahlia bulbs (the program learned a lesson about bulb storage, when they discovered the bulbs they had over-wintered in their shed rotted). The flowers are grown without herbicides or pesticides, and the gardens use 30 tons of compost every year. 

Normally, their flower arrangements are available at Wegman’s, but weren’t this year because of the late spring start (bad weather) and other demand. They take orders for arrangements for parties, and are always looking for donations of vases (particularly glass mason jars). This was their most successful year in flower sales – they netted a whopping $7000 (as with most non-profit organizations, sale of the product only makes a dent in covering operating costs).

the neighboring house to be purchased

the new shipping container for storage

At the time of our visit, they had just purchased a new shipping container, for storing supplies, and they were in the process of closing on a neighboring house. The house will provide shelter from inclement weather, and also much needed toilet facilities. They still need to raise about $100,000 for renovations to the house, including an ADA-compliant ramp. They will then be able to provide year-round training and support to the participants.

a monarch butterfly finally
paused for a photo

The program is truly inspiring and inspired, and should be a model for other parts of the city, as well as other cities with at-risk neighborhoods. 

Early Voting

It’s incredible that early voting has only this year arrived in New York State. What took so long? If you look at New York Senate party control, you will understand. You might also ask why it didn’t happen in 2008, but you have to remember who the ineffective Governor was at the time…

So which states currently have early voting? Here’s a map, from the National Conference of State Legislatures:

Sadly, once a state has enacted early or advance voting, maintaining it is not a sure thing. The New York Times recently reported efforts in Texas to revoke early voting on campuses, citing spurious reasons. The real reason, of course, is Republican voter suppression of Democrat voters. Meanwhile, in Florida, the Republican legislature basically overruled the will of their constituents, who voted in favor of restoring voting rights for felons who had served their term. Of course, most of those re-enfranchised voters would probably vote Democratic, so how to foil them? Institute what amounts to a poll tax – require that all fines and fees be paid before being allowed to vote. 

I felt it was my civic duty not just to vote, but to be a “first day voter,” as I was termed when greeted at the polling site I selected (there are seven places in Monroe County, and you can choose whatever is most convenient (go to EARLY VOTING). Because the fewer the numbers who turnout early, the easier it will be for the “suppression” party to claim that the costs exceed the benefits, and work to reverse access as soon as they're back in control. The process was super simple – the poll workers looked us up on a computer, and then voters signed an electronic affidavit. A nearby machine printed out a ballot with a number that matched the identification tied to my name, and from there, the process was the same as regular Tuesday voting. 


On my way out, I informed the poll workers that I intend to go to my regular polling place on November 5, just to make sure that I’m not allowed to vote again. A supervisor who overheard informed us that the Board of Elections is going to manually match the early voter rolls to the printed rolls and indicate on the latter who has already voted. I am glad that they are doing everything they can to ensure a smooth and trustworthy process of early voting. And now that we have early voting, perhaps I will volunteer to be a poll worker in the next election!

Roc the Riverway Weekend – Insider Walk to High Falls

We have probably all been warned at some point not to fall in love with potential. But if you have ever walked over the Pont de Rennes Bridge near the Genesee Brewery, you can’t help but look down and think what a game changer it would be if Rochester developed the land around its best feature – High Falls. How many acres of brownfield are there, crying out for remediation and development? Close your eyes, and can’t you envision hotels, apartments, restaurants, a park and a boardwalk, and who knows, maybe even a performing arts center? Instead, it’s a wasteland, with the occasional deer sighting.

This past weekend was something called Roc the Riverway Weekend, with special events along the river, including Sam Patch boat tours (temporarily relocated from the Erie Canal), renewing of vows on the banks of the Genesee (I couldn’t get Charlie to do this with me!), and various other bike, boat, and walking tours. But the thing that intrigued me most was a tour to the base of the falls, through the RG&E-owned property (organized by the Genesee Land Trust). It intrigued about 100 other people as well, many with professional photography equipment! According to the tour leader, this was the first one of its kind, and hopefully not the last. 

We descended the hill next to where RG&E’s Beebe Station used to be, and stopped briefly to learn about the odd structure that remains from the days when coal would be delivered by train to a plant that would turn it into gas. 






Next stop was to view the derelict building with the smokestack, where, around the turn of the century, recyclable materials would be sorted, metal separated out, and the remainder burned to create steam for the surrounding buildings (if I understood correctly).

Once we reached the bottom, we were led through normally-locked gates, under the Pont de Rennes Bridge (where we were admonished not to pause because of potential falling objects, and it wasn’t clear if the fear was from the bridge itself or the people on the bridge), to the water’s edge.

It was thrilling to be so close to the river and to see and hear the falls from river-level. It was also depressing, since I have no faith that Iberdrola (RG&E’s parent company) will ever invest the funds to clean up the site (at least one of the individual parcels is part of the “Voluntary Cleanup Program” – the operative word being “voluntary”…). 

It appears that the entire mass of land is mostly owned by RG&E (about 20 acres?) with some additional property owned by the City. Given the relatively low priority of revitalization of the falls, compared to so many other pressing needs in Rochester, the land will most likely remain tantalizingly out of reach, except for the deer, who perhaps deserve a bit of refuge...

University of Rochester Inauguration of President Mangelsdorf

The last time I wore a cap and gown was at my college graduation, almost 40 year ago. I didn’t attend my MBA graduation because at the time and place, anyway, doing that was for losers. Instead, a fellow grad and I toasted to each other, at the hour of the ceremony, on a beach in St. Maarten…

So I was curious when I was contacted by my college asking me to represent the school in the procession for the inauguration of the new president of University of Rochester. I wasn’t sure what it would involve, and I wasn’t sure I was worthy of the honor, since it was my understanding that the invitation was primarily for the presidents of colleges and universities. But it sounded like an interesting opportunity, and I accepted, and duly submitted my height and head circumference. The rental cap, gown and hood arrived in plenty of time, and I googled how to wear the hood, but it was clear to me I couldn’t arrange it properly myself. I did take the advice on the instructions and wear a button-down shirt, to attach the hood’s loop to (otherwise, you risked feeling strangled by the hood, since the bulk of the weight hangs down your back).

Luckily, there were experts on hand at Eastman, where the delegates assembled prior to the event in Kodak Hall. I was not the only alumni stand-in (in fact, the only presidents attending were from local colleges), and most needed help with their hoods... It was fun to see the different PhD colors and stripes and puffy hats, and to learn a bit about the different hood markings (the brown band at the top of mine, for example, is the disappointing color of the MBA).

We assembled in order of the schools’ founding, and since Middlebury’s 1800 is relatively early, I was among the first in line, behind Williams and in front of the University of Virginia (I had a nice chat with the U of R psychiatry professor delegate for that school). That also put us in the first row, so I didn’t have to worry about not being able to see because of someone’s cap in front of me (interestingly, the tradition is for men to remove their caps after processing, but women to keep them on. I wonder how that will evolve to accommodate non-binary gender individuals. If it were up to me, everyone would remove them…).

The Words of Welcome from different constituents of the university were both inspiring and emotional, especially Human Resources’ Ashley Campbell’s poetic welcome from the staff and CEO of Common Ground Health Wade Norwood’s passionate and moving welcome from the community (he even gave a shout-out to the university’s involvement with East High and Mt. Hope Family Center). A genuine admiration and respect for Mangelsdorf was clear from all of the welcoming addresses.

Before the Investiture, we were treated to a performance by the Ying Quartet of Jeff Beal’s The Pathway, and the audience applauded both the quartet and Beal, who was in the audience.

Mangelsdorf began her Inaugural Address with quotes from a letter from the first U of R President, Martin Brewer Anderson, 1853-1888 (although technically there was an acting president who preceded him from the University’s founding in 1850). They concerned the requirements to be a good university president, and while most were still true, others were amusing and quaint (one quality required being like a woman in some respects… because of course he couldn’t envision that a woman could actually BE a university president!). There was lots of talk about equity inclusion and diversity (from the welcome addresses as well), and it felt absolutely authentic. Mangelsdorf embraced the responsibility the University has as the largest employer in Rochester, and acknowledged that they are not just a university in the community, but also of the community and for the community. 

Singing the Alma Mater: The Genesee

Mangelsdorf certainly inspires a confidence that she can and will lead the university in its next exciting chapter. Meliora!