The Hungerford Building

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-The Hungerford building located at 1115 E Main St, Rochester, NY,  is filled with artists every day of the week at all times. THe building is an artist studio open 24/7 for artists to work in their studio. However these artists use more than the traditional canvas and paintbrush.

The Hungerford building on a cloudy day just before snow, Rochester, N.Y. March 21st 2024

The artists in this building include oil painters, ceramic artists, glassblowers, photographers, and musical artists. All of these artists differ in the art they make but are connected by the building they do their art in. One of these artists is Brian Knight who is a Kung Fu and Qigong trainer

“There are Kudo, Shady, and boxing studios in this basement. Some people are painting and crafting, and there is also a comic book shop. There is a Buddhist temple on the fourth floor. A person is hosting a third-floor party with music playing. There are a lot of things happening here. There is a Gothic clothing store. I was surprised when I saw a guy having a shop full of...coffins!” Knight said.

Brian has been working and teaching martial arts classes for eight months in the basement studio. In the basement where Brian works, there are also many other martial arts studios. In his perspective, the activities happening in Hungerford are more diverse than most people think. Brain was talking about how he wanted people to know about how many different types of artists there are in the Hungerford building.

Brian Knight pictured here with his Kung Fu brother doing Kung Fu Stances. Rochester N.Y. March 14th 2024

“The building is like a factory with more than 20 years of history. This is a good location. People here are interested in collective activities. We support and correlate with each other.”

Brian meets and talks to people and has good relationships with his fellow studio artists and practitioners every day. Brian also has a strong relationship with his Kung Fu brother, a muralist at The Hungerford, a campaigning charity, who first introduced him to The Hungerford

“None, not any difficulty. People respect each other's space, and I found my own space. Some people have been here for ten years; I am just new here.”

Although he is new, Brian does not see any difficulty when working in the diverse community of the Hungerford building. People here are supportive, especially when Brain opens his studio and picks up on the Kung Fu demonstration. He also supports his brother's painting workshops and collaborates with others to support parties for guests on the first Friday of the month, the celebration of local art.  One of these other artists that is in the Hungerford is Jason Ferguson on the third floor.

Jason Ferguson is a tattoo artist, painter, sculptor, and teacher at Memorial Art Gallery, and RIT. Ferguson has been in Hungerford since 2018.  His studio is filled with Halloween decorations such as ceramic pumpkins, halloween masks, and skulls. He talked about his love for Halloween

“Halloween is my favorite time of the year, I can only but one mask per year so I always have something to look forward to in the next year”.

Jason believes that to help the art community, the biggest thing is to let the public know and share the love of art with the community. That is the biggest thing about the community at The Hungerford.

“I love the people here. I think it is the combination of different types and cultures of people and a variety of artists. Interesting people are working with each other. Some people work well with each other, and some people don't. But they come together to make things work. Students also teach me stuff that people do not normally teach me.”

Jason Ferguson poses in front of his artwork, Rochester, N.Y. May 28th 2024

Having so many different artists in the same building means that collaborations that might not have ever happened before happen because everyone is in the same place. Ferguson could ask a digital designer to create a hammer design for his project, or painters could ask a stamp maker for the stamp designs.  The Hungerford artists also come together to collaborate with Rochester Contemporary Art Center for exhibitions to promote each other. However this does not mean there are no difficulties having a studio in the Hungerford building.

The only difficulty, according to Jason, is the stress with the current management. There are inevitably small and big conflicts between the Hungerford artists and the building owner. The facility and service are poor and not correlated, respectively, with the rise in the rent price. Jason wants anything negative to be left behind the door; his studio is his happy place.

“When you do art, do it with love, because when you treat it like a job, you lose the passion” says Ferguson.“Taking what is in your mind and passing it into the world”.

His class is usually filled with laughter, a lot of fun, and good conversation. Without passion, Rochester's local artists will not have enough dedication, enjoyment, and ability to keep spreading the love of art to the world, even in the adversity of life.

Before we left the interview with Ferguson he told each of us to do what we wanted to do because we loved it and not to ever forget that love.

The Hungerford hosts events where they open up the studios to the public. These happen on the First Friday and the Second Saturday of each month. In the 2023 first Friday events, there were candy coins,  a Santa Claus running around the hallway, and everyone going there dressed up for a costume contest. The upcoming First Friday event is surrounding the Eclipse theme.Each artist prepares for the upcoming First Friday. The building is expecting a lot of people to show up because of the eclipse happening around the same time. This eclipse means many new people could get introduced to the Hungerford and the artists within it. Brian is doing Kungfu demonstrations and Jason is making eclipse pottery, and many other artists are working on their projects and promotions.

These will be the most vibrant days, welcoming 2500 visitors from all over the city, but behind those days is the dedication of many who never stop working and practicing throughout the months and years. The Hungerford is a community of people who pursue their freedom and personal development through experimental and contemporary art.