City of Rochester Launches “Art Around: Downtown”

The City of Rochester today launched Art Around: Downtown, a series of self-guided walking tours and an online interactive public art finder that invite residents and visitors to explore Rochester’s rich public arts and culture landscape.  

The launch coincides with the release of the Draft City of Rochester-Monroe County Arts & Culture Plan, which supports economic development, downtown revitalization, and the arts. The draft plan fulfills goals outlined in the Rochester 2034 comprehensive plan and provides a shared vision and action steps to strengthen the region’s arts and culture ecosystem over the next 10 years. 

“Rochester has long been a city of artists, creators, and cultural institutions, and this draft Arts & Culture Plan helps ensure that we continue building a city that invests in and celebrates those strengths,” said Mayor Malik D. Evans. “The ‘Art Around: Downtown’ walking tours are a great example of how we can make public arts and culture more visible, accessible, and connected to everyday life. Whether you’re a resident seeing your neighborhood in a new way or a visitor exploring Rochester for the first time, we are excited for everyone to experience the creativity that defines our community. We thank our partners for their dedication to bringing these initiatives to life.” 

The draft plan, funded by the City, County, Rochester Area Community Foundation, and the Farash Foundation, translates extensive public feedback into a framework that includes six guideposts, eight priority areas, 20 goals, and 65 actions designed to enhance investment in arts and culture, improve access to the arts, support artists and creative organizations, and cultivate arts-filled spaces and experiences throughout the community. 

The City invites members of the public to review the draft plan, attend upcoming in-person and online community engagement sessions in November and December, and share their feedback. The dates, times, and locations of the sessions are available online at CityofRochester.gov/PublicArt. 

The input gathered during this process will shape the final plan, which is expected to guide arts and culture investments and programs throughout Rochester and Monroe County for the next decade.  

The “Art Around: Downtown” initiative demonstrates how the City is already acting on the ideas proposed in the draft plan. These self-guided walking tours, available at www.CityofRochester.gov/ArtAround, range from 1.3 miles to 5 miles and feature public art across downtown Rochester. Additional self-guided tours in the Neighborhood of the Arts, Public Market District, and Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood will be posted soon. As residents and visitors walk along the paths, an online interactive map provides information about the artists and stories behind the murals, sculptures, public art, and other creative works. 

Learn more about the City’s ongoing arts initiatives at CityofRochester.gov/PublicArt.