Visual Studies Workshop

Tickets are now on sale! The Injured Body is coming to the Little Theatre in Rochester on May 30th. Inspired by Claudia Rankine’s work, shot by @rajesh_ster , with dances primarily choreographed by @my.marikoyamada and portrait photography by @createwithmamajae . The Injured Body hopes to start conversations and bring community together. It’s a film about racism, resilience, and radical imagination. It asks the question: how do we carry the weight of racism in our bodies, what does it mean for our mental and physical health, and how can we begin to heal? There will be a post screening discussion between director Mara Ahmed and Professor Kate Mariner - don’t miss it! The film includes interviews with Amanda Chestnut, Greta Niu, Lauren Jimerson, Ayni Ali, Erica Bryant, Tianna Mañon, Mercedes Dennis, Lu Highsmith, Luticha Doucette, Khadija Mehter, Marcella Davis, Muna Taha, Ahyeong Kim, Indrani Singh, Elizabeth Nicolas, and Tonya-Noel Stevens. It weaves together dances by María José Rodríguez-Torrado, Rosalie “Daystar” Jones, Alaina Olivieri, Joyce Edwards, Mariko Yamada, Nanako Horikawa, Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre Kaufmann, Sejal Shah, Sraddha Prativadi, and Cloria Sutton. Please join us and reserve your tickets now. Link in bio 🔗 #theinjuredbody #neelumfilms #maraahmed

FULLY-FUNDED RESIDENCY DEADLINE: May 18, 2026, for the @visualstudiesworkshop ’s Project Space Residency Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) seeks residency proposals from artists for its Project Space. VSW supports artists in any stage of their career who are working in photography, film, or media art by offering 4 week Project Space Residencies at VSW in Rochester, NY. Project Space Residents receive 24/7 access to a private studio, digital printing equipment and an analog darkroom. They also receive a stipend of $1000, plus $250 for supplies, and a $500 travel budget for those traveling from outside the Rochester region. VSW welcomes applications from both U.S. based and international artists working in photography, film or media art. This round of residencies will be scheduled from January 2027 through December 2027. Find more information and apply at /residency/project-space-apply/ More opportunities like this one at theopencall.substack.com

VSW Project Space Residency Applications. Deadline May 18th "Applications for the Project Space Residency are open! Rooted in VSW’s mission to provide support to experimental photo, film and media art artists, the goal of the Project Space Residency is to provide time, space, and resources to artists so they can create. The 4 week residencies are open to artists at any stage of their career and take place at VSW in Rochester, NY. Project Space Residents receive 24/7 access to a private studio, digital printing equipment and an analog darkroom. They also receive a stipend of $1000, plus $250 for supplies, a $500 travel budget and free housing nearby, for those traveling from outside the Rochester region. Each year, a jury panel consisting of VSW staff, artists and guest curators review applications to select up to 12 residents for 4-week terms. We are excited to announce that our guest jurors for the 2027 application cycle are Aspen Mays (Artist, Associate Professor, California College of Art, Project Space Resident, 2022), Le’Andra LeSeur (Artist, Tulsa Artist Fellow 2024-2026, Project Space Resident, 2023), and Nando Alvarez-Perez (editor-in-chief, Cornelia Magazine and VSW Project Space Resident, 2017). Applications Close: May 18, 2026 (11:59pm ET) Apply here: /residency/project-space-apply/" /site/en/call/vsw-project-space-residency-applications

We already miss our residents! We were proud to host Ajunie Virk, Arielle Knight, and Jason Rhee as they worked on their terrific projects, hosted events with our community, celebrated Jason Rhee's birthday 🎉, and went on a field trip to our friends at @visualstudiesworkshop Thank you to everyone who joined us for their events, and we can't wait to host the artists again in the future! Squeaky Wheel’s Workspace Residency is supported by @teigerfoundation and @warholfoundation . Special thank you to @rustbeltbooks for being a sponsor of this session of the residency, and to @visualstudiesworkshop for hosting us. @ajunie.b.jones #AjunieVirk @a_c_knight #ArielleKnight @jasorhe #JasonRhee

Some of the incredible presentations from Day 2 of the Magic Lantern Society Convention! Slide 4: Suzanne Wray sharing the history of American Natural History Museum’s employee who carried educational lantern slides across the city by motorcycle… how fabulous is that. Day 3 is under way! 🦉🖤

New publication by Visual Studies Workshop: 'Invisible Fisherman: The Art of Bill Brand' "Artist Bill Brand has long been recognized both as a filmmaker and as the world's leading authority on the preservation of historically important experimental films. His extensive drawing and painting studio practice has been less known, until now. Invisible Fisherman: The Art of Bill Brand features critical essays by leading scholars on the experimental and expanded cinema practice of Bill Brand. The second half of the book shines a light on his lifetime studio practice in film, installation, drawing and painting, with full color images of his artwork. Brand himself navigates his portfolio in a "studio visit" with editor Tara Nelson, sharing his personal history with drawing and painting as a critical approach to problem solving and creative development throughout his career. Invisible Fisherman: The Art of Bill Brand includes essays by Robby Gilbert, Annie Dell'Aria, Alberte Pagán, Esperanza Collado, and Genevieve Yue. The book is edited by Tara Nelson and Scott Hammen "The name of artist Bill Brand is so well known and admired in the field of moving image art that it is hard to believe that many of his most notable achievements have up to now remained almost invisible. He has brought the same curiosity and inventiveness that have served him so well in preserving films of others to his own work in a surprising variety of other media." shares Tara Merenda Nelson, VSW Chief Curator and Managing Editor of VSW Press." /site/en/books/invisible-fisherman-art-bill-brand

On Film Presents: Join our event at VSW to watch short nonfiction films. April 24th @ 6:00 Our Uniform by Yegane Moghadam Exile Echoes by @maz.mahan Of The Trace and The Land by @nasbagherii ||: The Planet Egg by Simone Barros The film series is curated by Yasaman Baghban @yas_baghban

The end of winter was full of lots of good little adventures. (@uglyduckcoffee x @flourpailkids mural looks magical in the morning sunshine on a cold day) Swipe 👉🏼 . . #rochester #upstatenewyork #adventure #museum

What are you most excited for about the Symposium? 👀 Join us tomorrow in MAGIC Spell Studios from 10-5 to be a part of this great inaugural event and experience these things for yourself!

It’s a great day for a first Friday in Rochester with so many cool artists showing at venues across the city tonight. At BTG, be sure to come check out work from photographers Brian Tucker and Tytiana Jordan on the upper floor at @farmhousetablemidtown between 6-8pm. Bar and kitchen will be open. 90 S. Clinton Avenue, downtown Rochester. Free street parking after 6 and paid underground garage parking available too. #firstfridayrochester #firstfridayroc

We’re excited to welcome influential artist, theorist, and educator Charles Gaines ’67 MFA (@charlesgainesstudio ) back to campus this week! His use of formulas and systems in art created a pivotal bridge between conceptual art of the late 1960s and the critical postmodernism of the 1980s. An exhibition exploring his early experiments in abstract painting to pixelated organic forms is now on view in our University Gallery. Join Charles for a pair of events during his visit to #RochesterNY: Artist talk at @magrochester with assistant professor @cellentani ⏰ 6:30 p.m. 🗓️ Thursday, March 26 📍 Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave.) The talk is FREE and includes gallery admission, but requires pre-registration. A free RIT shuttle from campus is also available. Reserve your ticket at ➡️ rit.edu/go/charlesgaines. “In Dialogue: Collaborations with Charles Gaines” film screening at @visualstudiesworkshop ⏰ 7 p.m. 🗓️ Friday, March 27 📍 Visual Studies Workshop (36 King St.) $10 suggested admission Programming is supported by our Anna Ballarian Visiting Artist Series, Memorial Art Gallery, and Charles Gaines Studio. 📸 credits 🎨 Photo 1: 2020 portrait of Charles in his LA studio | photo by Fredrik Nilsen Photo 2: 2022 portrait of Charles in his LA studio | photo by Fredrik Nilsen Photo 3: “Numbers and Trees: Charleston Series 2, Tree #3, Vespers Drive” | 2024, color aquatint, spitbite aquatint, chine collé and UV-cured acrylic with printed acrylic box. Edition of 35. © Charles Gaines. Photo by Keith Lubow, courtesy Charles Gaines Studio and Hauser & Wirth Photo 4: “Numbers and Trees: Central Park Series I, Drawing 9 (detail) | 2016, ink on paper, framed: 28.5x36 inches. © Charles Gaines. Photo by Keith Lubow, courtesy Charles Gaines Studio and Hauser & Wirth