Past Exhibitions | 2025

Each year, Rochester Art Center presents a wide array of contemporary art exhibitions. These exhibitions offer visitors the opportunity to connect with art by local, regional, and nationally working artists.

Extraordinary Elsewhere

June 7, 2025 - April 26, 2026

This exhibition features artworks by international artists whose interdisciplinary practices are distributed across a variety of media including and not limited to dance, soft sculpture, site-specific installation, animation, and participatory poetry. Featured artists: Dahn Gim, Ivonne Yáñez, Mayumi Amada, Peng Wu, Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai, Rituparna Rana, Roshan Ganu, Shafrin Islam, and Ziba Rajabi.
Curator: Zoe Cinel

Cyclone: Artist Responses to 100 Years of the History Center of Olmsted County Collection

October 26, 2025 - Sunday, March 29 2026

Rochester Art Center is proud to present Cyclone: Artist Responses to 100 Years of the History Center of Olmsted County Collection, a major exhibition that bridges past and present through art, history, and community storytelling. Artists: Heather Acerro, Katrina Barnett & Catrielle Barnett, Alejandro Castañón, Devon Hugdahl & Theoren Sheppard, Jennifer Jesseph, Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, Olivia Otto, Juliane Shibata, Jacob Smithburg, Alessandra Sulpy, Suzanne E Szucs, Cole Redhorse Taylor, Pajyeeb Xiong

Celebrations in Fiber

March 12, 2025 - March 8, 2026

Zumbro River Fiber Arts Guild presents "Celebrations in Fiber," inviting visitors to discover the artistry behind the fibers that shape our world.

Face in Clouds, invisible ink by Ryan Woodring

September 13, 2025 - April 2026

Face in Clouds, invisible ink is a solo exhibition by NYC-based artist Ryan Woodring. The exhibition encompasses several recent bodies of work that proceed both literally and figuratively out of a reckoning with invisible illness.

Moving Beyond Bars

October 11, 2025 - February 8, 2026

"Moving Beyond Bars" is an immersive exhibition featuring monumental artworks and personal writings created by incarcerated women and men. Developed through residencies supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (2023–2024 and 2024–2025), the exhibition is led by Minneapolis-based dance/theater director Suzanne Costello and visual artist Ariadne Albright.

Erin Smith: Hard Copy

November 29, 2025 - August 2, 2026

Rochester Art Center presents "Hard Copy," a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Erin Smith. For the past few years, Smith’s practice has largely existed at the intersection of digital and physical media, a space she explores mainly through the lens of ceramics.

The Cherry Blossoms You Missed by Kathleen Hawkes

March 29 - August 31, 2025

The Rochester Art Center presents a solo exhibition of photographic works by artist Kathleen Hawkes. Hawkes’ still life photographs are a response to the unexpected death of a close friend. Through her compositions, Hawkes investigates grief, regret, and the inherent limitations of personal relationships. Hawkes’ work serves as a personal narrative and a complex portrait of a dear friend, from her singular vantage point, pieced together from belongings left behind.

Nostalgic Escapism by MacKenzie "MAC" Mitzuk

June 14 – October 5, 2025

Rochester Art Center presents a solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures by artist MacKenzie “MAC” Mitzuk. Mitzuk’s exhibition proposal was selected through a juried process among a pool of applicants. This exhibition is sponsored by the MFA Program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design as a part of an annual partnership, started in 2021.

Mick Meilahn: Primordial Shift

June 1 – September 28, 2025

Rochester Art Center is proud to present a captivating new exhibition by acclaimed glass artist and third-generation farmer Mick Meilahn.

Cameron Zebrun: Relics

March 26 - November 9, 2025

In this exhibition, Cameron Zebrun explores his deep engagement with the natural world through abstract sculpture and collage, examining geological time, environmental transformation, and humanity’s complex relationship with nature.