RocGrowth Candids launches Innovation in the Arts series

Recognizing the co-existence of a healthy creative class with a vibrant entrepreneurial environment, RocGrowth Candids is launching a series that will feature Innovation in the Arts. The series will focus on visual, culinary, theatre, music and performing arts.

RocGrowth Candids is a bi-monthly event featuring regional entrepreneurs who share their stories and the lessons they’ve learned building successful businesses. In July, the focus is the visual arts.

Jonathan Binstock, who in 2014 was named the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery, will moderate a panel.  Binstock came to Rochester from New York City, where he was a senior vice president and senior adviser in modern and contemporary art for Citi Private Bank’s Art Advisory & Finance group.

The panel includes Bleu Cease, executive director and curator of the internationally recognized Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo), K.C. Sullivan, co-founder and director of UUU Art Collective, and noted and distinctive artist, Sarah Rutherford.

Cease leads RoCo, which has grown from a tiny storefront to a downtown location on East Avenue. RoCo has supported thousands of artists of all disciplines and partnered with many organizations to help grow the art community in our region.

The UUU Art Collective is a recipient of Kiva Funding to support “an entrepreneur who wants to use the artistic platform to drive social change.”

Rutherford is a Boston native who is affiliated with, among other groups, Wall Therapy. “Her Voice Carries” is an art project led by Rutherford and features the unique stories of five women who are working and living in varying communities in Rochester.

RocGrowth for this event is partnering with Rochester Young Professionals.

Tickets are free, but you’ll need to register. Appetizers are offered. It runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. July 11 at Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, 20 Windsor St., Rochester. Click here for tickets.