Mission

Buffalo Arts Studio is committed to creating cultural connections in our community through exhibitions, public art, and educational programs. We also provide exposure and affordable studio space for local visual artists. Buffalo Arts Studio is a catalyst for self-empowerment and for the cultivation of new ideas and actions to enhance our region.

Vision

Buffalo Arts Studio will be the foremost community space for visual arts and artists in Western New York, a compelling place for artists of all experience levels and talents offering an abundance of opportunities to advance one’s skills and career while also contributing to the community’s continual growth. Buffalo Arts Studio works to create a just, creative community reflective of the region’s diverse population with space and resources for all voices to address contemporary issues.

History

A community for artists, artists for the community

Buffalo Arts Studio was established in 1991 by Western New York artist Joanna Angie who recognized that artists need safe spaces to work within a supportive community in order to best develop their practices. Her goal for the organization was to provide affordable studio space and valuable exposure for artists while also offering arts education and public art for the entire community. Angie worked directly with Canadian developers Elgin Wolfe and John Rae to make Buffalo Arts Studio the first major tenant in the recently rehabilitated vacant industrial complex at 2495 Main Street. Located on Buffalo’s east side, Buffalo Arts Studio and the re-named Tri-Main Center helped to enrich this previously underserved area by developing an exciting cultural environment that benefited the neighborhood and surrounding community.

Angie, who would serve as Executive Director for 20 years, led the effort to create a formal not-for-profit arts center that would be incorporated as Buffalo Arts Studio. Buffalo Arts Studio began renting low-cost studios for artists to use as an open and accessible work and exhibition space. The larger exhibition program was developed in 1992, a mural program in 1993, and an education program in 1998. Together, these programs realized the Buffalo Arts Studio mission to provide affordable studio space and community exposure for visual artists while creating meaningful cultural connections through exhibitions, public art, and educational programs. 

Today, Buffalo Arts Studio fills 20,000 square feet in Tri-Main Center, including 30 artist studios, three classrooms, two galleries, a ceramics workshop and kiln room, Community Space, full service kitchen, and a gift shop. At the core of Buffalo Arts Studio is the belief in the transformative power of the arts to inspire and affect positive change. In addition to exhibitions and classes, Buffalo Arts Studio programming includes community exhibitions, panel discussions, guided tours, and some of the best art party fundraisers around! As a result, Buffalo Arts Studio serves over 12,000 visitors each year. Buffalo Arts Studio is a community that looks to the future, consistently working to be equitable, inclusive, and engaging.