Exhibition Series
Buffalo Arts Studio’s exhibition program focuses on new works by emerging and established regional artists that critically address contemporary issues. Buffalo Arts Studio’s internationally recognized exhibitions program includes 8-10 solo and/or group exhibitions attracting over 13,000 visitors annually.
The Exhibition Program reflects the belief that artists and curators can effect change through purposeful collaborations that balance artistic innovation and creative impulse with community concerns. A series of gallery exhibitions, artist residencies, community forums, and public art projects will be curated with the intent to not only display powerful visual statements, but to also spur dialogue between varied audiences and to open doors to social, economic, environmental, and representational justice. The program is also invested in amplifying marginalized voices including LGBTQIA+, refugee, and ethnic minority communities through its diverse programming.
Displacement: Reclaiming Place, Space, and Memory, 2022 - 2023
Displacement: Reclaiming Place, Space, and Memory Exhibition and Workshop Series was held at Buffalo Arts Studio and the surrounding east side neighborhood, an economically distressed and traditionally underserved Buffalo area. The series, in partnership with grassroots activist groups, promotes the creation of new work, educates emerging artists, and fosters critical dialogue about transnationalism, arts access, and social justice. Events will engage diverse communities while making contemporary discourse more accessible through compelling aesthetic forms. Target populations include the economically distressed east side, underserved youth, and creative communities navigating the complex intersection of race, gender, heritage, and disability.
Displacement: Reclaiming Place, Space, and Memory Programs:
Sa’dia Rehman, The Falls, March 24 – May 4, 2023
Panel Discussion: Making Accessible, February 24, 2023
Jodi Lynn Maracle, Where the Rust Meets the Land, January 27 – March 1, 2023
Panel Discussion: Making Space, October 28, 2022
Matt Kenyon & Jason J. Ferguson, Homing, September 23 – November 4, 2023
Mizin Shin, World Network Models, September 23 – November 4, 2022
Navigating Identity, 2021 - 2022
Navigating Identity focuses on the creation of new work that critically addresses contemporary issues surrounding transnationalism, intersectionality, and representational justice. It reflects the belief that artists and curators can effect change through collaborations that balance community needs with artistic insight. All programs are curated with the intent to spur dialogue between varied audiences while working towards social, economic, and environmental justice. These programs realize our mission to provide exposure for visual artists while creating community cultural connections that consider the ways artwork, curatorship, and criticism engage diverse communities within contemporary political discourse.
Navigating Identity Programs:
Crystal Z Campbell, VIEWFINDER, April 22 – May 14, 2022
Panel Discussion: Art as Political Action, March 25, 2022
CaldodeCultivo, Attica NOW, February 25 – April 8, 2022
Panel Discussion: Depicting Duality, October 22, 2021
Julia Bottoms, Because We Should, September 25 – November 6, 2021
Activism in the Arts, 2020 - 2021
Activism in the Arts is a program reflecting the belief that artists and curators can effect change through purposeful collaborations that balance community needs, artistic insight, and educational impact. This series intends to not only display powerful visual statements, but also to communicate ideas involving social, economic, environmental, and representational justice in meaningful and accessible ways, all while inspiring action within diverse communities.
“Through the Activism in the Arts series, artists will activate the transformative power of the arts to spark dialogue and inspire change around timely issues,” said Alma Carrillo, Executive Director of Buffalo Arts Studio. “The National Endowment for the Arts support makes it possible for Buffalo Arts Studio to empower our artists and our communities.”
Activism in the Arts Programs:
Justina Dziama, A Millimeter of Space, January 22 – March 6, 2021
Felipe Shibuya, Black Cherry, January 22 – March 6, 2021
Patrick Foran, Exploded View, September 25 – November 3, 2020
Adele Henderson, Industry and Abundance, September 25 – November 3, 2020
Media, Image, and Perception in Contemporary Culture, October 23, 2020
Art Ecologies: Understanding the Environmental Impact of Public Art, August 28, 2020
Justice in the Arts, 2019 - 2020
The 2019 and 2020 Exhibition Program featured a special exhibition series reflecting Buffalo Arts Studio’s belief that artists and curators can effect change through purposeful collaborations balancing community need with artistic excellence. This two-year series, titled Justice in the Arts, promotes the creation of new work that fosters critical dialogue about social, ecological, economic, and representational justice through panel discussions, exhibitions, and residencies. It also educates emerging and student artists through formal classes, guided mentorship, and teaching assistantships. The program continues to expand arts access to underrepresented artists and audiences through community partnerships, public forums, studio space, working facilities, and hands-on workshops. This eight-exhibition series realizes Buffalo Arts Studio’s mission to provide exposure for visual artists, create community cultural connections through exhibitions, public art, and educational programs, and give special attention to artists from underserved and marginalized communities.
Justice in the Arts Programs:
Phyllis Thompson, Making Memories: Telling Visual Stories, September 27 – November 2, 2019
Paloma Barhaugh-Bordas, Understory, September 27 – November 2, 2019
Stacey Robinson, Black Imaginings, July 26 – September 7, 2019
Black Kirby, Night Boy, July 26 – September 7, 2019
Panel Discussion: Seeds of Change: Land, Trust, and Community, Friday, June 28, 2019
Reinhard Reitzenstein, WTF (Where’s the Forest), May 24 – June 28, 2019
Obsidian Bellis, Apothecary for Sis, April 6 – May 3, 2019
Annie Bielski, Joes & Anns, April 6 – May 3, 2019
Sheila Barcik, From the Core, January 25 – March 2, 2019
Lee Hoag, Amalgams, January 25 – March 2, 2019
Buffalo Arts Studio Exhibitions Program is supported by
Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, Erie County Cultural Funding, John R. Oishei Foundation, M&T Bank, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Contact Us
Buffalo Arts Studio
Tri-Main Center
2495 Main Street, Suite 500
Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 833-4450
