Behind the Glass Anniversary Preview - Year Two!
The latest podcast episode celebrates the second season of the @behindglassroc Behind the Glass gallery, highlighting the journey and growth of the artists and the community surrounding it. The @richardbcolon , @quajay , @byrobbell , and @stromie reflect on their experiences over the past two years, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and support for emerging artists in Rochester. They discuss how the gallery has become a significant platform for showcasing talent without financial barriers, fostering a sense of community over competition. Listeners can look forward to a special event on January 10th, where various artists will display their work, and the hosts will engage with attendees to share their stories. The conversation also touches on personal anecdotes, the impact of community support, and the joy of witnessing the artists' evolution and creativity.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
All right, wait.
Speaker A:We should have, like an air horn started off with that, right?
Speaker B:It's hard to switch.
Speaker A:It's hard to switch between.
Speaker A:You got it, though.
Speaker A:You got it, though.
Speaker B:I'll get there.
Speaker B:I'll get there.
Speaker B:Wait a second.
Speaker A:Yeah, there it is.
Speaker B:That took way too long.
Speaker A:Nah, we did it, though.
Speaker A:You know, we can.
Speaker A:We can.
Speaker A:We don't even need to edit in post.
Speaker A:We'll just editing.
Speaker A:Show us in real time.
Speaker A:Real time.
Speaker A:Doing it real time here.
Speaker A:Welcome to the behind the Glass gallery Celebration Season 2 podcast.
Speaker C:This is like a pregame.
Speaker A:This is a pre.
Speaker B:I was going to say the real one's going to be just.
Speaker B:Just an extravaganza of recording.
Speaker A:Oh, for sure.
Speaker C:This is the pregame.
Speaker A:The pregame for sure.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker A:It's been two years and the first episode we did, we have with our first actual artists in our.
Speaker A:In the studio also.
Speaker A:But we legit did this off of a laptop in the Mercatella main in the gallery myself.
Speaker A:Q.
Speaker A:Rob Bell, Roberto, Beth Larder.
Speaker A:We were literally just hunched over my Macs.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was talking with Berto at the city event, and he's saying, I still haven't been over.
Speaker B:I was showing him the whole setup.
Speaker A:He's like, he's gonna come look like, for sure.
Speaker A:I actually, I ran into him.
Speaker A:Ugly dog.
Speaker A:Shout out to Roberto and we're gonna have him for another beyond the Class episode soon.
Speaker A:But, yeah, man, it's.
Speaker A:It's been a journey.
Speaker A:A lot of great people coming through the studio and coming through the, you know, the mercantile glass doors and.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Q.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I think we had a great bunch this past year, and I'm excited to celebrate all of them in one night.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's a.
Speaker C:You know, obviously changed the format just a little bit.
Speaker C:Experimented a little bit with the.
Speaker C:The last Friday action, you know, try to create a new destination.
Speaker C: ingle month and, you know, in: Speaker C: ed life, you know, throughout: Speaker A:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And so that, you know, you know, how we're doing this.
Speaker A:Just like we did last year.
Speaker A:Last year we showcased the artists, one piece from each artist they submitted it to to us, and then we basically displayed them in the gallery and we left it up for about two months.
Speaker A:There was a lot of things going on during that time I, you know, my dad passed and it was started the new year.
Speaker A:So we're trying to like, in a way give ourselves a break but also give people time to, you know, be on the walls long enough so people can come and check them out.
Speaker A:So we're going to do that again.
Speaker A: and then we'll start off our: Speaker A:I think we got, you know, a great group of artists coming up this year.
Speaker A:We hashed it out and you know, basically talked about who we want to showcase.
Speaker A:Even, you know, sneak peek maybe people that are a little bit beyond Rochester but still close, which is pretty great.
Speaker A:But yeah, no, it's gonna be a great celebration.
Speaker A:Please come down this Friday, January 10th, 6 to 8.
Speaker A:Mercatella, Maine.
Speaker A:240 East Main Street.
Speaker A:You can stop in any time from 6 to 8.
Speaker A:The on street parking after 5 is, is free.
Speaker A:So don't worry about.
Speaker A:Yeah, free.
Speaker A:Ish.
Speaker A:So don't worry about, you know, the, the.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Sometimes there's leeway but hopefully you don't get caught with a ticket or hopefully nobody hits your car while you parked out there.
Speaker A:Little, you know, a little side story.
Speaker B:But yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll be out to also be out there recording live.
Speaker B:We did that last year was just a blast hearing everybody talk about their experience and what they've been doing since.
Speaker B:So we're going to be out there recording.
Speaker B:I think we're going to live stream the whole thing on Instagram Live or YouTube as well.
Speaker B:So we're gonna be out there with a whole setup.
Speaker B:So if you want to come talk about, you know, behind the glass or whatever, love to have you swing over to the lunch at our table and we'll have a good old time.
Speaker A:No doubt.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And shout out to Memorial Art Gallery.
Speaker A:They won best Art gallery at the, you know, City Magazine Best of Rochester and you know, we were up as nominees which was amazing.
Speaker A:So just being up with, you know, other really well established art galleries and Rochester was just a joy to be able to share that space.
Speaker A:So hopefully we win it one year.
Speaker A:That'd be pretty great.
Speaker A: t group artist from back from: Speaker A:So we can actually now tap into him because he's been to quite a few of the receptions since he actually was on the walls here.
Speaker A:So what do you feel about now we're at year two and how things have been from, you know, back all the way to January of last year to January of this year.
Speaker D:I think it's amazing to get on something on the ground floor and to see it blossom.
Speaker D:I think I said this before that I wasn't sure what this would turn into, but two years later, you know, every show, every year, I just feel more honored to be a part of that first group, you know, that's why I try to show up every.
Speaker D:Every time I'm in town, because it's just.
Speaker D:It's the rites of passage, I think, is what it's turned into for emerging artists.
Speaker D:You know, a couple of people that I've known this year who have been in it, a couple co workers, a couple other people, they're generally genuinely excited when they get that call.
Speaker D:And I think that's a testament to what y'all built, that it's more than just a gallery.
Speaker D:It's like, okay, it's almost like a stamp.
Speaker D:And I think y'all should be proud of what y'all build that is turned into that stamp and, you know, get the nomination for City after only two years.
Speaker D:You know, it's a staple.
Speaker D:It's turned into a staple.
Speaker D:And proud.
Speaker D:Proud of what y'all put together and just happy to be a part of it anyway, so.
Speaker B:Well, and I think that was a good point you said, Rob.
Speaker B:Like, I think we had.
Speaker B:Who was it?
Speaker B:Justice and.
Speaker D:Yeah, Morilli.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we had them over and, like, to hear their perspective as, like, new journalists and people who are trying to cover Rochester the way we think Rochester should be covered, you really getting into the neighborhoods and doing that stuff, like, what a great story that was.
Speaker B:But the fact that they're.
Speaker B:They had their work up on a wall in a different way than they're getting published in the dnc.
Speaker D:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:And you could see them talking about it different and like, oh, we're olds.
Speaker B:We're old.
Speaker B:So now they're thinking about it differently.
Speaker B:How do they do the next thing?
Speaker B:And that's like, oh, that's cool as hell.
Speaker D:Very cool.
Speaker D:Very cool.
Speaker D:And I talked to both of them when it happened, and they were excited.
Speaker D:So that was a.
Speaker D:That was a problem for me.
Speaker D:I look at them like my little sisters.
Speaker D:You know, I'm the editor now.
Speaker D:So that was a proud papa moment.
Speaker D:Proud big brother moment.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Uncle moment.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Moment, for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's crazy when you.
Speaker C:I mean, I look at the lists, you know, this year, obviously a smaller group but then even the folks last year, and then, you know, just.
Speaker C:I always make a joke if I see a show come up, you know, another show or someone kind of going together.
Speaker C:It's like the Marvel Universe, you know, right?
Speaker C:And it's like all these different branches of it, and, like, people.
Speaker C:People go off and have their own, you know, franchise.
Speaker C:You know, they've created their own groups or they're now having, you know, solo shows or multiple solo shows or in other group shows or, you know, kind of taking a step outside of what they're, you know, normally known for and being like, you know, what, I'm gonna, you know, show something that I don't normally show or, you know, just.
Speaker C:It's kind of cool just to see those.
Speaker C:Those connections.
Speaker C:And, you know, when you see folks out, you know, whether it's at a behind the glass reception or even just seeing them out, you know, at someone else's event, you, you know, you see those.
Speaker C:Those folks kind of connected, and you're like, oh, that's an alum.
Speaker C:That's an alum.
Speaker C:That's an alum.
Speaker C:That's an alum.
Speaker C:It's kind of a cool, you know, a cool thing.
Speaker C:You know, I think of, you know, the group, the group that just had the.
Speaker C:The show at Aldous Skuller, right?
Speaker C:And, you know, a lot of those folks, you know, minus Steve, and, you know, hopefully we get them in at some point.
Speaker C:Our alum of, you know, you know, behind the Glass and, you know, it's was so meaningful to them that, you know, part of their show had the alum, you know, patch up on the wall from behind the glass.
Speaker C:So just kind of.
Speaker C:It was cool.
Speaker C:And I think, you know, I think people would find each other anyway.
Speaker C:I think maybe we just helped accelerate that in.
Speaker C:In some way or kind of made people feel a little bit comfortable around each other or seeing, you know, the work printed at, you know, digitally is always cool.
Speaker C:You know, we're growing up in a.
Speaker C:A digital space, but, you know, we also grew up in a space where things were tangible and you held them and they were prints, and you kind of shared them that way.
Speaker C:And so seeing people, you know, share in both the digital and physical space is really cool.
Speaker C:A lot of zines, you know, are out there, you know, a lot of collabs, a lot of, you know, I was cleaning up my.
Speaker C:My desk at home, and there's a stack of zines, you know, from just different folks that have either had a zine out before, but behind the glass or, you know, Folks that have done zines, you know, since.
Speaker C:And it's, like, cool just to see, you know, those.
Speaker C:Those pieces come along and at work come along and, you know, be.
Speaker C:Be proud of people just being out there and.
Speaker C:And creating so well.
Speaker D:You know, what I love about what y'all do is so organic and like, y'all search out emerging talent.
Speaker D:Y'all search out people who haven't had an opportunity to showcase themselves.
Speaker D:Y'all don't charge people to display they work.
Speaker D:You know, it's no entry form or something.
Speaker D:It's just, you know, it's a phone call.
Speaker D:Do you want to be a part of this?
Speaker D:It's extremely curated on a personal level.
Speaker D:Like, y'all don't get paid for this.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker D:You know, you don't get paid for it.
Speaker D:It's no financial gain that you get out of it.
Speaker D:Y'all really do this out of the love of photography in this city and bringing people together and that's so rare.
Speaker D:Does it happen?
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:I mean, it's.
Speaker B:The way we ended up connecting was having that same philosophy, is let's do things the right way.
Speaker B:Let's do it the way we're proud of.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And it's not like, you know, that's.
Speaker B:That's what we're doing here.
Speaker B:That's what, you know, what they're doing there.
Speaker B:And it's like, oh, we want to be proud of not just the work, but the ethics and that we feel like we're contributing, not just.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker B:It's not just another gallery.
Speaker B:We're actually contributing through this because it was just another gallery.
Speaker B:Like, would you made it two years?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's a lot of work.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's a lot out of everything else.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker B:And if you're not going to.
Speaker B:If you're not going to feel really good about what you've done for others, it doesn't last.
Speaker B:It can't.
Speaker B:It's too much work.
Speaker B:It's too much.
Speaker B:Too much time out of taking away from the family, taken away from everything else.
Speaker B:And yes, sometimes it's good because the distractions good and being around people's good.
Speaker B:So it's selfish at the same time.
Speaker B:But if the end result isn't doing good, you wouldn't have made two years.
Speaker B:You would have done in one.
Speaker B:It would have been over.
Speaker C:Probably done it in two months.
Speaker C:But I think for sure, the energy.
Speaker C:You know, I was looking back at like, one of the early posts.
Speaker C:I think it was the first post that I posted and it showed up in my, you know, Facebook, you know, memories.
Speaker C:And I was like, oh, man, this is crazy.
Speaker C:It kind of takes me back.
Speaker C:And that's when, you know, Richard was doing it as a solo act and he, you know, he's curating, and I just was kind of, hey, I'll help you out with, you know, some of the graphic stuff and social media, and I'll co host.
Speaker C:And then I think after we got it at first one, Richard's like, hey, you know, like, it'd be great if we co curate it.
Speaker C:And, you know, that's kind of how we move forward from there.
Speaker C:But the energy, we feed off of each other's energy, and then we get, you know, the energy from the folks that we bring into the space and they give us a power charge.
Speaker C:And, you know, I say it all the time, like, if I never took another photo and I just shared the work of other folks, I would feel fulfilled in a way of, like, I just want to see other.
Speaker C:Other folks shine.
Speaker C:And, you know, that a lot of that comes from, you know, just being around Richard too.
Speaker C:And like, you know, that whole philosophy of, you know, supporting your inner circle, but also, like, there's.
Speaker C:There's plenty.
Speaker C:There's plenty of opportunity out there for all of us to eat.
Speaker C:There's plenty of opportunity for all of us to shine.
Speaker C:And, you know, there's this sense of, you, you know, that the thing that came up how many times in the recap podcast where people were talking about, you know, community over competition and not saying that competition's not good, we're saying that you don't need to be head to head trying to, like, battle someone, but the competition of, like, you know, Rob takes a photo.
Speaker C:Man, I really love that photo Rob took.
Speaker C:How can I elevate myself to get to that next level competition in that way?
Speaker C:As opposed to, like, I just want to undercut whatever Rob's doing.
Speaker C:Oh, I could take the photo better, or I can do it better than this person.
Speaker C:And, you know, I'm gonna try to do this.
Speaker C:That, like, there's no to me.
Speaker C:There's no sense of.
Speaker C:Of doing that because, you know, everyone has their own.
Speaker C:Their own thing.
Speaker C:And I think back to the beyond the Glass episode, what with.
Speaker C:With Rob, like, he's sitting here right now.
Speaker C:But I think about that, you know, how you, you know, when you're trying to be so much like someone else, you lose yourself, right?
Speaker C:Like, that line just kind of continuously comes back to me because we all have a different perspective.
Speaker C:We all have a different way of Seeing Rochester, we all have different way of seeing, you know, an individual or a different moment.
Speaker C:And so like, you know, for us to be able to share that and whether it's a photographer or a visual artist or, you know, whoever, you know, we've.
Speaker C:We've welcomed all of those folks into the space.
Speaker C:And some people, you know, maybe they were like, hey, I've not done it in a few years.
Speaker C:And, you know, this is my.
Speaker C:Kind of my way to come back into, to doing something, or I haven't looked at this photo in 20 years and be great to show it off again or show off some work that is more personal to me.
Speaker C:Like, that's just this.
Speaker C:I don't know, it's just a cool feeling.
Speaker C:You know, every month when you.
Speaker C:When someone comes up to you and they say thanks, and you're like, no, thank you.
Speaker C:Because you've given me, like this energy to continue to, to push forward and really want to do this.
Speaker C:If folks didn't bring that energy to the space every month, I don't know if I would feel, you know, like, wow, like, is this, you know, something worth doing?
Speaker C:But every single month, you know, I, I roll through and people are very appreciative.
Speaker C:But, you know, like Rob said and Richard said, like, it's, it's super organic.
Speaker C:Like, there is no prescribe, you know, you know, hey, you have to do this and you have to show that, and we need this work or that work.
Speaker C:You know, sometimes you kind of push folks in different directions, but it's not us saying, this is the five pieces we want to see from you.
Speaker C:You can only put this on a wall and this is the size we want.
Speaker C:It's like, do your thing.
Speaker C:And people have played outside the, the, the, you know, the lines a little bit where it's like you have six spots.
Speaker C:All right, well, I'll show 12 photos.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:Okay, well, we said six spots.
Speaker C:You didn't do anything outside of or I'm going to use 20 photos in one frame.
Speaker C:Okay, cool.
Speaker C:Like, that's your, that's your deal.
Speaker C:And it kind of shows off people's creative or what.
Speaker B:What Todd brought to the first one, like, he was bringing visual art pieces.
Speaker B:They weren't pictures.
Speaker B:Yeah, but were they statements?
Speaker C:Were they huge statements?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And I think about Emily from last month where, you know, a lot of folks know her for a collage work, and she dug into her, you know, her time, you know, overseas and, you know, kind of working in the time that she spent there.
Speaker C:Photos that she said she hadn't looked at in years, right?
Speaker C:And, you know, you know, Jen Carlson and, you know, the ability to, like, go from here's a photo to now I'm developing it to now I'm at Flower City, you know, making the prints.
Speaker C:Like, that's.
Speaker C:That's really cool.
Speaker C:Or, you know, folks that were like, I just picked up a camera a year ago, right.
Speaker C:You know, I think about who was it that we had?
Speaker C:Jess.
Speaker C:Where Jess was like, yeah, you know, my Noah gave me a camera and I took some photos, and I was like, wow, this is kind of cool.
Speaker C:And then continued to grow from there.
Speaker C:But it was like a trip to Israel and then a trip back home that really, she started to find her voice and, you know, seeing things to a different perspective.
Speaker C:I think that's.
Speaker C:Those are just some of the examples.
Speaker C:But, I mean, every single month there is, you know, that group comes together, and then, you know, sometimes they don't know each other, and then now they're feeding off of each other's energy, and now they're going to each other's shows or commenting or following.
Speaker C:And it's just that you're building this.
Speaker C:This community that, you know, I think is so important in a city.
Speaker C:And, you know, for some folks that are even transplants, right?
Speaker C:Like, many of us are transplants, but now we're creating this sense of community.
Speaker C:You know, Rob being born here and, you know, moving away for so long and then coming back and finding, you know, where is this place that I, you know, had my first breath of air and, you know, why is this, you know, part of my story and photographing that and then, you know, working for the DNC and then, you know, having, you know, supporting other folks that are in that.
Speaker C:That similar, you know, that similar vibe.
Speaker D:I get jealous about the.
Speaker D:When I see how people display their work now, I'm like, damn, I could have been way more creative.
Speaker D:It's a healthy jealousy.
Speaker D:But I'm like, wow.
Speaker C:Yeah, the diptychs.
Speaker C:Or, you know, just the collage.
Speaker C:Like, it's wild how I'm like, oh, we said you had six spots.
Speaker A:I think the first one last year was Paul Bianetti, who had these nice frames with two 8x12s in each one.
Speaker A:They were huge.
Speaker A:And I'm like, wait a minute.
Speaker A:This dude is like.
Speaker A:He was like.
Speaker A:He came in, he was like, this is okay.
Speaker A:I was like, actually, yes, it is.
Speaker C:Okay, still six spots, right?
Speaker C:And say six.
Speaker A:Six strings and ran them up.
Speaker A:And then justice, she had, you know, two frames linked together, which was pretty nice.
Speaker A:On the one string.
Speaker A:But I.
Speaker A:I also want to circle back real quick to what Rob said a few minutes ago about, you know, financially, you know, we don't get paid to do this.
Speaker A:I just want to shout out everybody that came to support and actually helped go fund and fund this event.
Speaker A:We were able to raise what was needed, and right now we're, you know, still utilizing the funds to make this event better than what it was last year.
Speaker A:So shout out to you guys the.
Speaker C:Same thing they did at the previous year.
Speaker C:So, yeah, very appreciative to that because.
Speaker B:It'S about supporting the artists, too.
Speaker B:It's about supporting them because this is an extra show and trying to help them with that process and bring this together and try to pop it, to make this a special night.
Speaker B:And, you know, last year, it was a special night.
Speaker A:Oh, for sure.
Speaker B:I think, you know, sitting there talking everybody, like, that changed me.
Speaker B:Thinking about that and talking everybody and just being around that kind of positivity.
Speaker B:Relentless.
Speaker B:Yeah, relentless positivity.
Speaker B:You know, he kind of forces you to think about that a little bit and live with it and not just like, sure, Occasionally, like, it's just hit over the head over and over again about how people are feeling about it.
Speaker B:So, yeah, yeah, I definitely recommend people come out for that because it's a special night.
Speaker B:So that's going to be January 10, 6 to 8 at the Mercantile.
Speaker B:We're gonna be setting up a whole setup where you can come tell us about your experience with behind the Glass, what you think about it, and there's just a ton of people that's gonna have their art up, and a lot of people are gonna be out.
Speaker B:So come on, it's gonna be a great night.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker B:Again, where can people find everything online?
Speaker B:So it's a app, behind the Glass for everything, right?
Speaker A:Rock.
Speaker C:Behind Glass Rock.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:And definitely what we're gonna have is, you know, we'll have at.
Speaker A:On each work from each artist, there'll be QR codes you can link to, you know, where you can find them, as well as the link to their podcast session that we did here in the studio.
Speaker A:If you want to, you know, listen to that at your leisure, that'd be great.
Speaker A:But, yeah, please come down again.
Speaker A:Last year was a great time.
Speaker A:You know, side note, I did mention that my dad passed last December.
Speaker A:Our funeral that we had for him was actually a couple days before last year's event, so I was able to tap into a lot of energy from the people that showed up, and it was great.
Speaker A:It came at the right time and full circle moment.
Speaker A:We actually raised the money needed for this year on the day that my dad passed last year, which is pretty great.
Speaker A:When Q hit me up and said we, you know, we, we actually hit the, the goal, I didn't even notice that.
Speaker A:So a couple days later I was actually, that's the same day my dad passed, which was crazy.
Speaker A:But yeah, no, I appreciate you guys for the support every day, but at the end of the day, this is, this is for the artists that we put on the wall, you know, so please come out and support them.
Speaker A:January 10th, this Friday, if you're listening to this, after January 10th, everything will be out for two months.
Speaker A:And if you're listening to this later in the future, after the two months, every first Friday, we'll be at Mercatellon Main.
Speaker A:There's always going to be work up, so please come down, support the artists that we're featuring during that time.
Speaker A:Appreciate you guys.
Speaker B:Yeah, thanks.
Speaker B:Thanks for joining the podcast today and we'll see you out on January 10th.
Speaker B:American Taiwan, Maine.
Speaker B:This has been a presentation of the.
Speaker A:Luxury podcast network.
Speaker B:Tick Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick Tick.
Speaker B:It's anniversary time.
