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Gell Center

History & Location
Facilities
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Gell Poetry Prize


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Hours

Mon: 5 p.m. - 9 p .m.
Tues: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wed: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Thurs: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Fri: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.



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The Beautiful Necessity: The Regulating Lines of Claude Bragdon’s Transcendental Architecture

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m.
$3 W&B members / $6 general public

“In nature, in number, in geometry, in music, also, there is but one law, a law infinitely simple, infinitely subtle, incommunicable, evanescent. It is what Emerson calls the Beautiful Necessity. Gentlemen, let us build altars to that Beautiful Necessity.”
-- Claude Bragdon, “Mysticism and Architecture.”
Join us for an exciting presentation by Eugenia Victoria Ellis, PhD, AIA, who with Andrea G. Reithmayr is editor of The Beautiful Necessity.

First Fridays / Wide Open Mic

Hosted by Norm Davis
Fri., August 6
Admission is free.

Along with other local galleries and performance spaces, W&B will be open on the first Friday evenings of each month hosting Wide Open Mic, and a series of other readings and performances in our Verb Café and Performance Space. Known for its eclectic mix, Wide Open Mic welcomes poets, performers, and writers of all kinds. It is Rochester’s longer-running open mic, hosted by Norm Davis, poet and editor of HazMat Review.

Genesee Reading Series

Hosted by Wanda Schubmehl
August 10: James Cook & Sally Bittner Bonn
$3 W&B members / $6 general public, 7:30 p.m

Now in its 26th year, the Genesee Reading Series presents writers from the greater Genesee Valley region reading in the W&B Performance Space.

Senior Reading Group

Hosted by Norm Davis
Tues. August 10
Free and open to the public. 2-4 p.m.

Share your writing with other seniors in a comfortable atmosphere at W&B.

Members Night Events

Wed., August 11th 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Adult
Free to W&B members

If you aren’t a member of W&B, here is your chance to join at the door and enjoy a special read-aloud with audience participation on August 11th.

The August Member Night will feature a poet and story teller, sharing the oral arts of reading aloud with a chance for audience participation.  Come listen and see how words come alive in the throat, and a chance to taste them yourself.

The Bertrand Russell Society

Hosted by David White
Thurs., August 12
Free to W&B members, $3 general public, 7 p.m., W&B

The Bertrand Russell Society was formed shortly after Russell’s death in 1970. Russell was born in 1872 and worked in fields such as mathematical logic; philosophy; social, religious, and educational reform; anti-war protests and politics. An accomplished writer, Russell received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. This ongoing lecture series promises to enlighten and entertain. Monthly meetings are open to everyone, not just to members of the society.

 

 

Click here for more August Events...

 

 

Our Writer’s Retreat & Conference Center

The Gell Center of the Finger Lakes

The Gell House

The Gell Center of the Finger Lakes is a writing retreat and conference center owned and operated byWriters & Books. It is located on a 23-acre plot in the Bristol Hills, just 50 minutes away from Rochester, NY. It is a perfect location for individuals and groups seeking a unique and refreshing home surrounded by a landscaped yard and acres of woodlands.

The Gleason Lodge

The Gleason Lodge, which can accommodate up to 74 people, had its groundbreaking ceremony in June 1992 and was completed in the spring of 1993. This facility captures the essence of the Bristol Hills and provides an inspiring meeting place for day-long meetings, seminars, or workshops. The Gleason Lodge is completely handicapped-accessible. A new residential wing, housing up to twenty people, will soon be added.

A gathering on the hillside

At the Gell Center, we offer you several kinds of outdoor activities, such as hiking, herb and berry walks, mushroom observation walks and team building exercises.

The Bristol ValleyLocation

Nestled in the heart of New York State's Finger Lakes region, the Bristol Valley offers beautiful sights all year round. From the rolling hills to the sprawling woodlands, the Bristol Valley is an inviting location for relaxation and reflection.

Map to the Gell Center

The Writers & Books Gell Center is near the southern end of Canandaigua Lake, approximately an hour's drive from Rochester, Ithaca, Corning, and Elmira.

The Finger Lakes region is known for its natural beauty in all seasons. Winter offers cross-country and downhill skiing and snow-shoeing minutes away from the Gell Center. Spring provides beautiful displays of wildflowers and various Arts Festivals. Summer is a great time for hiking, swimming, and boating. Autumn is famous for its colorful foliage and the Naples Grape Festival.

Getting to the Finger Lakes region is quite easy via major highways, rail, or the Rochester International Airport.

History of the Gell CenterView of Ski Valley, across the road from the Gell Center

The property that we today call the Gell Center of the Finger Lakes was developed by Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Gell, beginning in 1929, to be their private home. The Gells spent two and a half years searching for the perfect spot, and found it in this secluded 24-acre spread in the Bristol Hills. The breathtaking views, wildflowers and animal life were the perfect contrast to their life in the city of Rochester, conveniently located only 50 minutes away. They nicknamed their house "The Beagle", after the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his voyages.

Dr. Gell was a man of diverse interests, with a passion for the arts and education. He and his wife, Geraldine, traveled to Canada every summer to attend the Shakespeare Festival, which they both loved. The Gells, after living here for many years, discussed ways in which their dream home could be used to benefit others.

Their ultimate goal was for their space to be used for creative purposes. They wanted the spirit of creativity and the quest for learning and growth to continue on when they could no longer live here. Today, Writers & Books carries on that spirit of lifelong learning and a respect for nature at the Gell Center, now consisting of the original Gell House and the newly constructed Gleason Lodge.

See the facilities and rental rates

 

Writers & Books, Rochester's community literary center, inspires and instructs over 25,000 people each year through a wide array of offerings in nearly every literary genre. Believing that the written and spoken word are central to our lives and culture, Writers & Books celebrates, promotes and works to make them available to all. Writers & Books is located at 740 University Avenue, near Atlantic Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts.