Friday, June 27, 2008

Arts in the Park

On the back steps of the Albright-Knox & in the Marcy Casino in Delaware Park

5:00-8:00 p.m.

FREE – no pre-registration required

Art, culturals, music, tours, boats, picnic fare and fun for all in the cultural heart of the City, overlooking the lake.

Start out on the back steps of the Albright-Knox, where the Colored Musician's Club will be playing and be among the first to hear the amazing young Erin Welsh belt out a few tunes. Don't miss the folkloric dancers on the back steps in between sets!

Be sure to pick up your free, re-usable tote from the Buffalo Niagara Association of REALTOR's tent at the top of the steps to Hoyt Lake -- it will come in handy as you wander from table to table and get to know some of Buffalo's many arts and cultural organizations. More than 40 will be on hand to talk to you about their programs!

Head aross Lincoln Parkway to grab a bite to eat and check out the Boats on the Lake -- yes they are available to rent again! Take a quick spin around the lake, and then head into the newly renovated Marcy Casino to continue talking to arts and cultural organizations and to enjoy the fabulous Art Show on the upper level featuring a dozen of Buffalo's best local artists. Proceeds from this show benefit Buffalo Olmsted Parks.

Stop for a wine and cheese break on the east patio of the Casino, and enjoy the sweet sounds of a string quartet, compliments of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Consider taking one of the three free 45-minute tours of this beautiful and historic area offered by Buffalo Tours. Get to know Lincoln Parkway (5:00), Larkland (6:00) or the Japanese Gardens & Historical Society building (7:00). Meet at the Buffalo Tours table next to the fountain at the foot of the back steps of the Albright-Knox.

If you're still up for more art in the park, King Lear will be on stage at 7:30 right behind the Casino. Shakespeare in the Park is the second largest free Shakespeare festival in the nation! Or head into the Albright-Knox for Gusto at the Gallery, featuring a Salute to Black Music Month, with a free Concert by The Rodney Appleby Band at 8 p.m. Gusto at the Gallery is a year-round, weekly free event.

Or just take a stroll around the lake. There is never a lack of somewhere to go and something to do in Buffalo!

Sponsored by:

Participating organizations:

• Albright-Knox Art Gallery
• Arts Council
• Broadway Market
• Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
• Buffalo Museum of Science
• Buffalo Music Hall of Fame
• Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
• Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
• Buffalo Religious Arts Center
• Buffalo Spree
• Buffalo Tours
• Burchfield Penny Art Center
• Colored Musicians Club
• Cultural Niagara
• El Museo Francisco Oller y Diego Rivera
• Folkloric Productions Dance Company
• Forest Lawn Cemetery
• GardenWalk Buffalo
• Greycliff Conservancy Inc.
• Lancaster Opera House
• Locust Street Art
• Market Street Art Center
• Music Hall of Fame
• Neto Hatinakwe Onkwehonwe Native Arts
• Niagara Arts and Cultural Center
• Niagara Rises
• Queen City Contra Dancers
• Road Less Travelled
• Roycroft Campus Corporation
• Shakespeare in Delaware Park
• Shea's Performing Arts Center
• Steel Plant Museum
• Squeaky Wheel
• Ujima Theatre Company

Art Show

The Art Show on the upper level of the Marcy Casino features the works of a dozen of Buffalo's many artists.

Proceeds to benefit Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Artists:

• Katie Bihr is known all over Hollywood as a key make up artist. Her artwork is expressive and abstract, often in series.

• Kara Daving's work represents a marriage of two contradictory worlds: the natural and the synthetic. She explores the similarity between jellyfish and plastic bags, and what happens when they are comingled in the oceanic abyss.

• Dr. Mark Donnelly is an award-winning regional photographer who showcases Buffalo and Western New York in expressive photography. Images of Buffalo's Olmsted connections will be featured.

• A.J. Fries' work has been described as nostalgic, cosmic, powerful without being overstated, and unreal yet admittedly appetizing.The majority of his work focuses on the mass consumerism of American popular culture, and such large-scale portraits of Oreos and Ring Pops show the elegance that can exist in such mundane materials.

• Ani Hoover is known for her bold and colorful abstract paintings on paper. Her paintings have been exhibited locally at the Castellani Art Museum, Buffalo Arts Studio, The Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Insite Gallery and the Albright Knox Art Gallery. Hoover will be debuting her largest paintings (over 30 feet tall!) at the Center for Arts at the University of Buffalo in 2009.

• LeRoi Johnson is a remarkable painter. Almost completely self-taught, his influences are his training in commercial art and his sophisticated African Art Collection of thirty years. He successfully fuses geometric abstraction with both his personal experiences and African themes. His art is bright, colorful, symbolic and original.

• Becky Koenig's contemporary paintings and works on paper engage nature and technology themes, color theory and the human senses.

• Kathy Sherin creates large and small format one-of-a-kind works on paper using diverse printmaking processes.

• Cathy Shuman Miller's paintings and prints are infused with energy, movement and color. Her work embodies a sense of timelessness, a connection to ancient history/religion, a physical link to stories and myths of the past that help develop her unique style.

• Patricia Schwimmer does colorful, intuitive acrylic paintings from the untamed heart.

• Al Volo

Patio Reception

Stop and enjoy a glass of wine, a cold beer or some light hors d'oeuvres on the Casino Patio while listening to the sweet sounds of a string quartet from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tours

Buffalo Tours is offering three 45-minute tours of this beautiful and historic area. Meet at the Buffalo Tours table next to the fountain at the foot of the back steps of the Albright-Knox.  

5:00 pm - Lincoln Parkway

One of the most beautiful avenues in Olmsted’s park system, Lincoln Parkway was a magnet for lavish homes built by many prominent Buffalonians in the early 1900s. 

6:00 pm - Larkland

John D. Larkin, founder of the Larkin Soap Company, bought an entire city block on Lincoln Parkway in 1908 and made it an estate for himself and his children which he called Larkland. Almost all the homes are still intact today. Come see them!   

7:00 pm - Japanese Garden and the Historical Society building

Walk around the only permanent structure left from the 1901 Pan Am Exposition, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society building, a neoclassical structure modeled on the Parthenon. Then enjoy the serene ambiance of the Japanese Garden In Delaware Park, a gift from Kanazawa, Japan, one of Buffalo’s Sister Cities.

Buffalo's arts and cultural scene is so rich, it is frequently difficult to decide which of many opportunities to enjoy next!

Sponsored by:
Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors (BNAR), Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and Cultural Niagara