Nia Panes by W. Michelle Harris
Rochester Contemporary Art Center
137 East Ave.
Apr 3, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Springtime First Fridays are the best for viewing public art! On view outside RoCo is “Nia Panes” by W. Michelle Harris, an installation that reimagines the tradition of memorial stained glass windows through a contemporary lens. The project honors three foundational, though still lesser-known, figures in early Rochester: Anna Murray Douglass, Hester Jeffrey, and Austin Steward.

Harris’s tryptic incorporates the silhouette of a lancet window, echoing the stained glass found nearby in Christ Church. Each figure is framed by sunray backgrounds in Pan-African colors of red and green, while a pattern of Rochester’s iconic flower logo (created 50 years ago and being celebrated throughout the City in 2026) fills their surroundings. The name panel at the base of each portrait resemble the wake of Lake Ontario, symbolizing the ripple effects of their legacies, and also nods at the artist’s past video work In Their Wake.