Commemoration of Peace Plaza

Description

Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency and the City of Rochester would like to invite everyone to a Commemoration of Peace Plaza on Wednesday, May 18th at 1:30 p.m. with remarks from DMC Executive Director Patrick Seeb and Rochester Mayor Kim Norton. The Commemoration will acknowledge the history of this space and looks to the future possibilities for our downtown and the Peace Plaza.

The Commemoration of Peace Plaza will be followed by a community-hosted celebration from 2 – 6 p.m. “Partnerships have been an important piece of the Heart of the City project, so we are making partnerships a focal point of the event,” said Jamie Rothe, DMC’s Director of Community Engagement. “We want to highlight the multiple ways in which the Plaza was designed to be used by partnering with local organizations and community members.”

Activities are planned throughout the afternoon to showcase the new space beginning at 2 p.m.

• Rochester Art Center & Local Artists
  • The Rochester Art Center will engage community members with public art in public spaces through the act of “en plein air” art-making. Championed by the French impressionists, “en plein air” translates to “in the open air” a radical act for the time, of taking art-making out of the studio and into the streets. We’ll focus on exciting new works by Ann Hamilton and Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, as well as the beloved Peace Fountain by Charles Gagnon.
  • Passersby and attendees of the re-dedication will be invited to create alongside experienced artists in mobile, pop-up sketching exercises. These exercises will take place utilizing table-top easels set up on the new standing height benches in the peace plaza, as well as mobile “drawing horses” provided by the Rochester Art Center.

• Rochester Public Library
  • The Rochester Public Library team will be using the inspiration of the work of Ann Hamilton and Gwen Westerman to provide an opportunity for attendees to celebrate the art of words represented in the Peace Plaza by creating their own pieces to bring home.

• Pop-up Interactive Art with Danny Solis and Local Artists
  • Danny Solis, the professional spoken word poet, will be leading improvisational and interactive spoken word activities to welcome, celebrate and commemorate. As well as to energize, familiarize and utilize the space. This series of three performances will be a welcome to the Peace Plaza, the Heart of the City, and to Rochester itself. Using poetry, music, humor, and improvisation these performances are designed to make people feel at home in the transformed Peace Plaza space and invite them to imagine being a part of the vibrant possibilities that the space creates.

• John Sievers and Local Artists
  • Four, one-hour performances by local musicians. The curation for these four acts will focus on including family-friendly music that represents performances from Rochester’s local music scene while including diverse performers. The spirit of the performances would be showcasing a variety of styles in an urban street-performance setting.

• Maria Serbus with Grounded Evolution & Radiant SoL Yoga Studio
  • Grounded Evolution will be leading a Mindfulness Walk several times throughout the afternoon. The walk will include a 20-minute yoga experience led followed by a guided 15-20 minutes of a mindfulness experience. This walk will include instruction for simple, practical meditation exercises participants can do in the plaza and in everyday routines, regardless of experience level. Additionally, Grounded Evolution has prepared cards featuring “mindfulness moments”.  These will have tips and cues for how individuals can find moments of mindfulness in their everyday lives. Cards will be strategically placed in resting areas (i.e. cafe tables and tree rooms) to encourage participants and attendees to pause and take a mindful moment and appreciate the world around them in this hustle & bustle world.

• Sustainability Walk – 4 p.m.
  • Take a walk with the design team to learn about the design innovations incorporated into the project. Join us to learn about the sustainability strategies associated with the site, its design, materials selection, resource reduction strategies, and human health interventions that contribute to the public realm’s design.

• Celebrating the Women in Construction – 4 p.m.
  • The City of Rochester and DMC have set goals related to women-owned targeted businesses and women’s workforce participation on City/DMC-funded projects. It took the hands of many to complete the first public realm project supported by Destination Medical Center. From design to the hand laying of thousands of granite pavers – this project was touched by many – including very talented women. Meet the women who worked on this project and join us as we celebrate all women that participated in Heart of the City. Hosted by: NAWIC, City of Rochester, and DMC.