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The nonprofit arts organization Visual Studies Workshop announced Tuesday a move to the former Frederick Douglass Resource Center building on King Street, ending nearly half a century in the Neighborhood of the Arts.
VSW will renovate the new location and move its expansive collections over the winter before reopening to the public in March, Executive Director Jessica Johnston says.
The move simultaneously addresses two different problems: the need for a sustainable home for VSW and an appropriate use for the Frederick Douglass Resource Center building, which has been little used for the last five years.
VSW bought the King Street property for $500,000 from the previous owner, a limited liability corporation led by developer Matt Drouin.
The former VSW property on Prince Street sold for $1,050,000 to a limited liability corporation fronted by Nicholas Hotto. Hotto took out a $2.6 million loan for the purchase and intends to convert the building for mixed use.
“(VSW’s) move to the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood represents not just a new chapter for the organization, but a significant boost to the city’s cultural landscape,” Mayor Malik Evans said in a statement. “This relocation aligns with our vision for a thriving, inclusive community where art and history intersect and inspire in every neighborhood.”
Since 1978, VSW has been located in a grand stone building on Prince Street that once was part of the University of Rochester Women’s College campus.
That 25,000-square-foot campus had become much too large for VSW’s needs, Johnston said, and was increasingly costly to maintain. The building on King Street, across the way from the Susan B. Anthony House, is about a third of the size at 8,000 square feet.
VSW in 2022 lost the Master of Fine Arts program it had run together with SUNY Brockport due to low enrollment. It still hosts a number of programs, including a salon event series, artist-in-residency space and the VSW Press.
The master’s program represented a significant portion of VSW’s annual revenue, adding urgency to discussions of a move that were already underway. In the fiscal year ended in June 2023, VSW had revenues of $430,072, down from $596,523 two years earlier, the organization’s Form 990 filings show.
“We really examined what we wanted VSW to be post-MFA,” says Johnston, who became executive director in 2022. “This building has always been kind of intimidating and not very accessible … and we’re only using a small part of it.”
Hotto, the purchaser of the former VSW building on Prince Street, offered little comment regarding his plans. Public records show that he intends to apply for tax abatements targeted at mixed-use development.
The site is currently zoned for residential and offices. Hotto is working with the city on site use requirements; he says housing will not necessarily be the primary use.
“We’re more excited about the community space that it offers,” he says.
The Frederick Douglass Resource Center, meanwhile, opened to high hopes on King Street in July 2009. It was intended to serve as a facility to tell Douglass’s life story and host cultural events.
“We’re trying to build an institution that will stand the test of time, and will educate our young people,” Executive Director Gerald Hunt said at the time.
Instead, the center struggled to launch and closed within a decade, the victim of apparent financial disorganization. It received $1.2 million in public funding, but the property sold in 2019 for just $252,000.
Since then, it has been partly occupied by a light manufacturing firm as well as a church and other renters, owner Drouin says, but remains mostly in the same condition as when the resource center closed. That includes a 130-seat auditorium.
“We’re really excited about what (VSW) brings with them,” says Dawn Noto, Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association president. “With the infill of Canal Street and housing being so stable, it’s nice to have more things to do in our community. This will be a place to go to movies or events or workshops or programs.”
The space will provide VSW with a more traditional gallery layout, Johnston says, and will help make its large archival collection more open to the public.
“I feel a great sense of relief,” she says. “The move is a huge part of our plan; to move forward, this had to happen. So, now I feel really energized and confident for our next steps.”
Justin Murphy is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. He is the research and communications coordinator for Our Local History and a former reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].
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Betrayal by any other name (a behavior many so-called black leaders in Rochester are notoriously known for). The building should’ve become “The African-American Community Center.” Sickening.