Thieves make off with artwork | Arts & Culture

It was suppose to be a celebration of Rochester’s young artists, but now thieves have forced the art piece-shake down exhibit to shut down. Several pieces of art were stolen right out of Village Gate Square.

The exhibit has become the largest student produced high school art exhibit in the state and now several students are disappointed that someone has made off with seven of their pieces.

More than 800 pieces were on display since last Friday from over 34 high schools in the area. The thief made off with what organizers considered the highest quality artwork in the show including a heavy sculpture. They noticed the work was gone Tuesday afternoon. They spent the entire night taking every piece down.

The news has come as quite the shock for students, parents and event organizers. They say they preferred to shut the exhibit down rather than risk any more thefts.

Sue Hollister, Shakedown Coordinator, said, “You know everyone is heartbroken. Some of these pieces the students wanted to keep for their portfolios; they worked on them for months. I mean these were pieces that were very near and dear to their hearts. It puts a big dent in the work that we've done which is a huge thing because the show should be up until Saturday.”

The Rochester School for the Deaf planned to visit the exhibit on Friday, but because of the incident, the trip has been canceled.

Event coordinators are in the process of filing a report with police, but they still have to make sure they know exactly which pieces were stolen and who they belonged to first. They say they still hope the person will come forward and bring the pieces back to the Village Gate Square because they mean so much to the students.