Public art has a way of influencing, inspiring, and lifting a community. In Rochester, the entire city serves as a canvas. Join us to learn about the power of Rochester's public art from artist Shawn Dunwoody and photographer Quajay Donnell. Please register below.

This program is part of a series highlighting participants of In This Moment: Revolution Reckoning Reparation, a project for ten teams of Black writers and photographers to profile ten Black leaders from across the city of Rochester published by Visual Studies Workshop. The project demonstrates the breadth and scope of revolutionary work happening in the area. This library series is co-sponsored by the Monroe County Library System and the Rochester Public Library. 

About the Presenters:

Shawn Dunwoody is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator in Rochester, New York. He is a visual consultant and owner of Dunwoody Design, located at the Outfit Collective. He is also the director of Rochester City Mural Arts, Rochester Fashion Week, and FOURWALLS Art Gallery, among other activities, all with an emphasis on creating accessible, shareable art for the community. He works with communities on large-scale murals and community-building projects. Dunwoody has facilitated national and international projects in Portugal, Brazil and other locations.

Quajay Donnell is a Rochester, NY based photographer and writer with a passion for public art and capturing his community. In 2020 Quajay documented the uncertainty and the shifts happening in Rochester, first with the pandemic and later racial justice activism. He’s used his creative practice to process his own feelings about the current political and cultural climate, while continuing to highlight what’s important to him and his family about Rochester. His work has been published in Departures Magazine, The Washington Post, CITY, The Democrat and Chronicle, The Waterbury Observer and seen on WXXI. He is the recipient of the 2020 George Eastman Museum Award for the Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s 30th Annual Members Exhibition. You can follow him on twitter @quajay and instagram @qua.jay.

Discover Public Art in Rochester will meet online using Zoom. Some basic knowledge of how to use Zoom is required, such as how to join a meeting. Email invitations will be sent out to registrants 12-24 hours in advance. Don't know how to use Zoom? We've got classes for that! Check out our full events calendar for dates and times.

Closed Captioning: Given 48 hours notice, HPL has the ability to offer Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) Services for this event. Please contact Cathy Scarnati at cathy.scarnati@libraryweb.org to make a request.