Past Exhibitions

Curated by Julia Bottoms, On the Rise II; Emerging Artists of Color

February 28 – April 5, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, February 28, 2025, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Friday at Tri-Main

Buffalo Arts Studio is thrilled to present a new group exhibition, curated by Julia Bottoms, “On the Rise II; Emerging Artists of Color,” which runs from February 28 to April 5, 2025. “On the Rise II” features new work by artists Emma Brittain, Joel Mulindwa, Bianca L. McGraw, Faith Quinn, Emeka Wajed, and XIII. The exhibition includes two and three-dimensional works in a variety of media.

“On The Rise was born out of a desire to spotlight emerging Black artists here in Buffalo. The arts community is rich with talent and artists who have honed their craft for years. I look around me and see so many who are ready to take the next step and just need a chance to get in front of an audience. The most beautiful problem of “too many amazing artists” is something I’ve faced both with On The Rise I and now with On The Rise II. So I hope to make this showcase an ongoing opportunity,” said Curator, Julia Bottoms.

Jay Carrier, Niagara it’s Great to be Here.

January 24 – April 5, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, January 24, 2025, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Friday at Tri-Main

Jay Carrier is a visual artist born on Six Nations to Onondaga and Tuscarora parents, who currently lives and works in Niagara Falls, NY and holds a B.F.A. from the University of Illinois-Champlain. Carrier studied painting at The College of Santa Fe, New Mexico and in the MFA program from the University of Illinois. Carrier has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout the US and Canada, including Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY, the Castellani Art Museum, Niagara Falls, NY, Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Fenimore House Museum, Cooperstown, New York, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, New York, Woodland Cultural Center Museum, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Chautauqua Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Chautauqua, New York and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York.

Part of Waterfront View Series, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bartow + Metzgar + Werberig, Terrakwa: An investigation of the Erie Canal Across Time and Geography

January 24 – March 8, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, January 24, 2025, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Friday at Tri-Main

The collaborative team Bartow+Metzgar+Werberig conducted a multi-year experimental drawing project to investigate the expression of time through a human-nonhuman drawing collaboration with trees. Their investigative process began in 2016 with a simple question — what is a nonhuman expression of time as it relates to the Erie Canal? The outcome produced 40 tree drawings (drawings made by trees) created with a simple drawing apparatus used to record atmospheric forces affecting a tree across time for a specific place. The artist team selected trees along the banks of the Erie Canal and its connected waterways. No two drawings are alike but when viewed as a collective offer a legibility that is provocative and speculative, and best perceived as perturbations rather than abstractions.

New York State’s Erie Canal is 351 miles long and runs from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY. The canal is, in large part, a public space. It offers an ideal condition of the “commons,” a space where the artist team could conduct their work without the hindrance of land ownership, accessibility, or trespass to land.

Part of Waterfront View Series, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Annual Studio Artist Show and Sale

November 20 – December 20, 2024

Artist Reception, Saturday, December 7, 2024, 5:00—9:00 pm

The Annual Studio Artist Show and Sale showcases the work of Buffalo Arts Studio’s 30 Studio Artists who actively maintain working studios on-site, many of which are open to the public during regular gallery hours. Each studio is unique and offers visitors a glimpse into the creative process central to making engaging artwork. The Annual Studio Artist Show and Sale features over 100 pieces of original artwork exhibited in the galleries and includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, and more. Many of the studios will also have work on display and nearly all of it can be purchased right off the wall and taken home with our guests. Original artwork makes the perfect gift! Gift certificates for classes and artwork are also available in the gift shop.

Joan Linder, Fulfillment

September 27 – November 9, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, September 27, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Fulfillment’s drawings examine local aspects of the hidden-in-plain-sight landscape of e-commerce, cloud computing, crypto-mining, and the legal contracts that bind us to these technology systems. This exhibition is a part of Waterfront View, a series of exhibitions, workshops, and panel conversations that examine how late-stage capitalism has shifted the view of water and waterways from a resource of collective benefit to a commodity of individual interest and shareholder profit.

Part of Waterfront View Series, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Stephanie Rothenberg, Aquadisia

September 27 – November 9, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, September 27, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Aquadisia is a multimedia science fiction project that focuses on the desire to be more sustainable and explores the ethical and economic contradictions of biotechnology within the fields of marine science and environmental conservation. This exhibition is a part of Waterfront View, a series of exhibitions, workshops, and panel conversations that examine how late-stage capitalism has shifted the view of water and waterways from a resource of collective benefit to a commodity of individual interest and shareholder profit.

Part of Waterfront View Series, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sarah Jane Barry, The Dragons in Our Lives

August 23 – October 11, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, August 23, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Sarah Jane Barry is a mixed media artist working in Buffalo NY whose love of painting was born during the pandemic in 2020. Making artwork gives Barry a sense of purpose during this strange and confusing time. She believes painting can function as a meditative process, providing a break from the monotony of day-to-day life and a chance to relinquish control. Barry is inspired by Folk Art, dreams, and the spontaneity of the natural world. As a result, her artwork is fluid, ethereal, and playful.

Léwuga Tata Benson, Fueling Change: A Multimedia Exploration of Niger Delta’s Oil Crisis

July 26 – September 7, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, July 26, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Buffalo Arts Studio presents Léwuga Tata Benson’s Fueling Change: A Multimedia Exploration of Niger Delta’s Oil Crisis. Benson’s immersive, multimedia exhibition will shed light on the harsh realities of oil extraction and its effects on the indigenous people of the Niger Delta in Western Nigeria, his homeland. Through a thought-provoking combination of artifacts, found footage, and sound, visitors will be transported into the lives of those most affected, raising awareness and fostering dialogue about the social, economic, and environmental consequences of unregulated oil extraction practices.

Part of Waterfront View Series, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Aitina Fareed-Cooke and Get Fokus’d Productions, Tales from the Porch, Part IV: Art is a Language

July 26 – September 7, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, July 26, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Aitina Fareed-Cooke originally developed the Tales from the Porch project in 2019 as an opportunity to tell the stories and amplify the voices of members of the Buffalo, NY community. In 2024, the Tales from the Porch project will focus on five artists with ties to Buffalo Arts Studio.

Curated by Aitina Fareed-Cooke, Tales from the Porch IV; Art is a Language is an exploration of visual, performing and literary arts through a documentary film, multimedia arts exhibition, and live performance series. The film will be screened at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the Burchfield Penney Art Center (dates TBD) and features artists Julia Bottoms, Bob Fleming, George Hughes, Phyllis Thompson, and Muhammad Zaman, all of whom share a deep connection with Buffalo Arts Studio. Buffalo Arts Studio will present the multimedia exhibition Tales from the Porch IV; Art is a Language, which will include work by each of the artists in conversation with Fareed-Cooke’s photography and poetry.

Colleen Ayson, Helen Beckley-Forest, Angela Guest, Kelly Schnurr, Layers

June 28 – August 9, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, June 28, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Buffalo Arts Studio brings together four artists working at the intersection of art and craft to exhibit in the Community Space gallery. Colleen Ayson, Helen Beckley-Forest, Angela Guest, and Kelly Schnurr all combine traditional modes of artmaking, including drawing, painting, and photography, with innovative textile and collage practices. The resulting objects are dynamic expressions of personal, playful gestures.

Evelyne Leblanc-Roberge, As the hour turns blue

May 24 – June 28, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, May 24, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Evelyne Leblanc-Roberge (Rochester, NY) will exhibit her multimedia project As the hour turns blue. As the hour turns blue explores how we wait and how the spaces we are waiting in alter the experience. The long-term project observes places of unexpected encounter where tension and boredom cohabit: waiting rooms. From doctor’s offices to airports to unmarked waiting lines and geographical terrains, this multimedia project documents and examines these space – real and/or restaged – as sets for fictional stories and actions inspired by actual events.

Multinational Illumination Art, 1,849 Millas: Al otro lado del charco; A Diaspora Journey

May 24 – June 28, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, May 24, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Multinational Art Collective will present their Vejigante masks as part of 1849: Al otro lado del charco; A Diaspora Journey. This exhibition, performance, and workshop series is centered on the Vejigante masks of Loiza and brings to the forefront the Puerto Rican experience as a diasporic population of the Caribbean.

Bree Gilliam, INSPIRED

April 26 – June 7, 2024

Re-Opening Reception, Friday, April 26, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

INSPIRED is a series of portrait paintings celebrating black creatives and professionals that inspire artist Bree Gilliam. For the artist, these powerful people exemplify what it means to be a creative. These individuals have and will continue to make an impact in their fields!
This exhibition was originally installed at BOX Gallery in the Hostel Buffalo-Niagara. This exhibition was made possible in part by Arts Services Incorporated.

Live on Five 2024

March 22 – April 26, 2024

Free Exhibition Preview, Friday, March 22, 2024, 5:00 — 8:00 pm

Ticketed Auction Event, Saturday, April 13, 2024, 7:00 — 11:00 pm

Art Pick-Up and Volunteer Appreciation Party, Friday, April 26, 2024, 5:00 — 8:00 pm

THE BIG AUCTION OF SMALL ARTWORKS RETURNS. Join Buffalo’s creative community for Live on Five 2024—the beloved auction of hundreds of 5″ x 5″ pieces by coveted local artists, all starting at $25. All are invited to initially see the work in Buffalo Arts Studio’s galleries on the fifth floor of the Tri-Main Center at the free exhibition opening reception on Friday, March 22, part of M&T Fourth Fridays. The exhibition will be on view for almost a month, giving visitors a chance to study the hundreds of works, pick their favorites, and strategize their bidding plan. Gather your friends and join the Buffalo Arts Studio family for an in-person ticketed reception including cash bars, lively music, and light fare as we count down to the auction ending together on Saturday, April 13. Finally, join us for our free art pick-up and volunteer appreciation party on Friday, April 26, part of M&T Fourth Fridays. 

Looking Up; Artists from the Hunt Gallery Residency Program

February 23 – March 30, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, February 23, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Looking Up is an exhibition of four artists who were a part of the Hunt Gallery Residency program. The C. Stuart and Jane H. Hunt Art Gallery provides emerging WNY artists rent-free studio space for four to five months and encourages the selected artists to collaborate and network with one another. This residency allows emerging artists to enter a collaborative environment in partnership with the Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA) where they will have the opportunity to collaborate and exhibit work throughout the duration of their occupancy. Buffalo Arts Studio Curator Shirley Verrico and Hunt Gallery Manager Christina Buscarino will co-curate a collection of work by former Hunt Gallery Artists-in-Residence Kevin Burzynski, DJ Carr, Laura Valkwitch and Nicholas Wheeler.

Phyllis Thompson, Evolving Memories

January 26 – March 1, 2024

Opening Reception, Friday, January 26, 2024, 5:00—8:00 pm

Artist Talk & Closing Reception, Saturday, March 2, 2024, 1:00 pm

Part of M&T Fourth Fridays at Tri-Main Center

Phyllis Thompson’s new exhibition, Evolving Memories is a survey of work from the artist’s 50-year career as an artist and educator. Evolving Memories traces four aesthetic and conceptual threads rooted in the 1970s or 1980s and that run through much of Thompson’s work. The themes embedded in nearly five decades of work come from Thompson’s childhood memories, experiences with family and friends, and imagined histories with ancestors the artist has only met through photographs. Thompson’s memories are supported by artifacts she has collected, spaces she has lived in, and places she has visited.