Arts & Culture

An empty space created by the removal of a well known sculpture at the Centennial Sculpture Park at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester wasn’t empty for long.

On Thursday, workers moved a bronze sculpture into the spot where a limestone version of that statue had stood for several years.

If you drive or walk by the Memorial Art Gallery on University Avenue near Goodman Street on a regular basis you may notice a change taking place. On Tuesday, workers, using a crane, began removing one of the large limestone sculptures.

It’s one of the figures created by artist Tom Otterness at the gallery’s Centennial Sculpture Park.  Several years ago, Otterness  created two figures at the entrance to the sculpture park-- a female sculptor who is carving a male figure from a block of stone.

Check out the night sky later, and there’s a good chance you’ll be able to see Mars a little easier.

That’s because the sun, Earth and Mars are lined up, something called Mars opposition, which  makes the planet appear brighter in the sky.

Steve Fentress, planetarium director for the Strasenburgh Planetarium at the Rochester Museum and Science Center tells us a bit more about what’s going on.

A Rochester church is hoping to build bridges across neighborhoods this week with a three night block party.

Asbury First United Methodist Church hosted similar outdoor events in the past several summers, but senior minister Rev. Stephen Cady said they're rebranding it this year in an attempt to break what he calls the cycle of political division, racial discrimination, outrage and apathy.

The annual Park Ave Summer Art Fest is expected to draw more than 250,000 people this weekend.

The 42nd annual festival along Rochester’s Park Avenue includes more than 250 artists from 22 states and Canada.

Organizers say to be part of the festival, artists must be part of a juried process and they have to have made the pieces that they are selling. Work is represented in 14 categories including jewelry, woodworking, metalwork, ceramics and fiber.

Information is still somewhat sketchy, but apparently there are efforts to try and ease the noise complaints some people living near Eastman Business Park have had regarding a film production going on there.

The film set appears to involve a car racing show, and Rochester city officials had sent out a statement recently saying there might be some lighting and noise impacting surrounding streets.

But some people, like Fred Nash, who spoke with Spectrum News, didn’t like the way the whole process was handled.