Rochester Area Community Foundation offering free tickets to museums, shows and more
FINGER LAKES — To celebrate its golden anniversary, the Rochester Area Community Foundation is offering free tickets for area museums, cultural sites and performances throughout the Rochester and Finger Lakes regions.
According to the nonprofit organization, which works to provide local grants to people in need, the goal of this giveaway, called "Gifts for Good: Sampling Cultural Gems Across Our Region," is to help support cultural centers that may have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"We want to support our nonprofit arts organizations, many of which were shuttered or temporarily sidelined by the pandemic,” Jennifer Leonard, Community Foundation president and CEO, said in a news release. “We hope that providing opportunities for free attendance will attract new patrons who will come back again in the future."
Simeon Banister, the foundation's executive vice-president who will take over Leonard's job when she retires in September, said it made sense to commemorate the foundation's milestone anniversary with a free sampling of some of the area's cultural gems.
And for folks who have never visited some of the smaller, unique museums such as the Jell-O museum in Le Roy or the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, "now's your chance," Banister said.
In all, the foundation will fund 24 free opportunities through the program, which will run through March 2023.
To reserve tickets or to learn more about each of the featured events, go to racf.org.
May 8:The Avenue Blackbox Theatre - Second Sunday story time at La Marketa
May 21: Ganondagan State Historic Site - entry to the site in Victor (Ontario County) dedicated to Native Americans
May 28:Finger Lakes Museum - 60 minute paddling experience on Keuka Lake
June 10:Rochester Contemporary Art Center - 6x6 art display at East Avenue gallery
June 18: The Strong National Museum of Play - Juneteenth celebration and museum admission at Rochester venue
July 15:Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra - outdoor concert and fireworks at Saratoga Field, State University College at Geneseo
July 24: New York Museum of Transportation - trolley rides and museum entry in West Henrietta, Monroe County
July 30-31:National Warplane Museum - entry to the museum in Geneseo
Aug. 3: Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historical Park - entry to museum, gardens in Canandaigua
August (date TBA): Finger Lakes Opera - matinee to be held at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre in Rochester
Sept. 3-4:Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum - entry to maritime museum, gardens in Wayne County
Sept. 10: Cobblestone Museum - entry to open air museum in Orleans County
Oct. 7: Rochester Museum & Science Center - museum entry
Oct. 8: ImageOut Film Festival - complimentary tickets for some films to be screened at the Dryden and Little theaters (times and films have not yet been announced) in Rochester
Nov. 5-6: Jell-O Museum - museum entry in Le Roy, Genesee County
Nov. 12: George Eastman Museum - museum entry to Rochester venue
Dec. 3: Cobblestone Arts Center - program of a cappella music in the Farmington (Ontario County) performance space
December: Garth Fagan Dance - performance at Theater at Innovation Square in Rochester (date not yet set)
Jan. 7-8, 2023: Lamberton Conservatory - free admission to Rochester venue
Jan. 22, 2023: Genesee Country Village & Museum - hike, snowshoe or cross-country ski on the museum's 600-acre property (bring your own gear) in Mumford
Feb. 24, 2023:Fort Hill Performing Arts Center - one-woman show "Makin' Cake" at the Canandaigua venue
March 4-5: National Women’s Hall of Fame - entry to the museum, which is in Seneca Falls
March 16:Memorial Art Gallery - free admission to Rochester gallery