Murals, as we saw in the previous segment, could be a potent rallying point for a community. The once-bare walls could display figures, symbols and slogans uniquely reflecting the hopes, history and hardships of a neighborhood.

More impactful to the community than the paintings themselves, however, was the act of their creation; the call to arms, the recognition of a goal achieved, the bonding of mutual work and education last for the artists well beyond their time with a paint brush in hand. Look at some of these articles and you will see only the barest sliver of the mural depicted over the shoulder of a group of proud comrades. That’s what it’s about.

The below murals–all painted in the blossoming muralism movement of the 80s and 90s–may not have survived to the present day, but out there somewhere are people who remember a creative experience that changed themselves and their home, if only just a little.

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Ephemural #7: Hispanic Heritage Mural

As part of a youth summer job program, this mural celebrating Hispanic culture and heritage was painted on the side of No. 890 North Clinton Avenue in 1983.

The mural has since been painted over numerous times, in various garishly high-contrast shades:

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Ephemural #8: Anarchistic Mural

This RIT grad student, Richard Schneider, pasted up 130 copies of a single photograph he took onto the outside of No. 316 Genesee Street. The building, previously home to Roots Rock Records and the Ital-Corner Grocery, had recently experienced two devastating fires; one on April 16, 1981 had killed an apartment tenant, and the second on February 1st, 1982 caused such extensive damage that the building was written off for demolition.

By 1986 the lot was for sale as vacant land.

I was admittedly a little curious about Roots Rock Records, since record shops are cool. Though I was not able to find a whole lot of information about it, I came across a description on “Somanyrecordssolittletime.com“, a blog about 7” records:

In 1978, I first heard ‘Massacre’ standing at the counter of Roots Rock Records, on Genessee Street on the funky side of my home town, Rochester, NY. If you were a regular, as I’d become, Jah Earl would play 30 seconds each of all the latest singles, as he stood with his back facing you, shuffling thru the vinyl and flipping them onto the turntables. He’d give each single 10-15 seconds and then he’d glance over his shoulder in your direction. If you seemed to be listening attentively he’d let it play a little longer, until he saw a reaction. If you seemed disinterested, he’d immediately flip to the second turntable and play the next record. If you were into to it, he’d slide a copy onto the pile he was building for you. He was also a sound system DJ so he had one of his huge bass cabinets with a blaring metal horn atop it sitting in the middle of the tiny shop and he’d crank it up until you felt it deep inside your rib cage. That was a real sales tool, since even records I didn’t care for sounded great in there. He kept a big open box of herb on the floor behind the counter, and the street youth would come in, give him $10, and he’d grab a handful, drop it on a copy of his store top ten chart, and fold it up for them.

http://www.somanyrecordssolittletime.com/?p=2381

How quaint!

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Ephemural #9: Manhattan Square Mural

In 1990, Jorge Luis Somarriba and Peter Jemison designed and painted a mural in Manhattan Square Park which was comissioned by the Pyramid Art Center.

I believe Somarriba is the one in the hat in the above photo, based on him wearing the same hat in the newspaper article about the mural.

By 2012 the bold, vibrant colors of the original mural had faded away to a pallid version of their former glory:

In 2013 the mural would be painted over, as noted in this 2013 Rochester Subway Blog post: https://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2013/05/manhattan-square-park-mural-erased/

In 2019 the wall would become home to “This is Triumphant Music”, a mural by Sarah C. Rutherford, Justin Suarez, and Brittany Williams painted for WALL\THERAPY.

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Ephemural #10: Joseph Avenue Murals

Over the course of two weekends a pair of murals were painted on Joseph Avenue groceries by neighborhood kids.

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Ephemural #11: STOP Mural

In 1992, local artist Bill Dickerson painted a mural portraying the difficult choices of the urban youth.

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Ephemural #12: Lewis St. Center Mural

In 1995, the location of the Lewis Street Center was at No. 120 Ontario Street. That summer, children attending the center painted a mural on the wall as part of the Rochester Challenge Against Violence.

The wall in question now belongs to Menkir-Haila Kidanemehret Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and has long been painted over.

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I hope you enjoyed this brief survey of a handful of the murals painted in Rochester throughout the 20th century. I’m fascinated by discovering these short-lived artworks and how they came to be, or even how they came to not be. The intention and action behind these ephemeral artworks marks a desire to express, to beautify, to ornament, and to share a message–a desire that resonates even today.

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