Year of the Arts: May at a Glance
Ever since Buffalo State President Aaron Podolefsky designated the 2011–2012 academic year as the Year of the Arts, the campus has been bustling with beautiful, thought-provoking performances and events.
Some of the offerings weren’t just entertaining, but life-changing. The daylong poetry and performance event 100 Thousand Poets for Change connected Buffalo to a global peace initiative; the haunting New York Remembers exhibit, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorists attacks, connected the Burchfield Penney Art Center with a statewide initiative; and the Anne Frank Project connected Buffalo State to Rwanda through its three-day conference focusing on "Our Shared Humanity.”
Take advantage of a few more opportunities to hear and see quality musical performances, exhibits, films, and discussions on campus during the month of May.
While Year of the Arts officially ends when the academic year wraps up, the arts will continue to provide a strong presence at Buffalo State in years to come. As Benjamin Christy, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, so aptly said, “We celebrate the arts every year at Buffalo State.”
May 1
Philharmonia and Choral Concert
The Buffalo State Philharmonia will perform with the Buffalo State Chorale, the Chamber Choir, and the Grand Island Community Chorus in a free concert titled “Music of the Stage,” featuring operatic interludes and musical theater pieces at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall. Soloists include soprano and assistant professor of music Holly Bewlay, and mezzo soprano and 2012 Buffalo State College Young Artist Competition winner Cassondra Conrad. The concert will be repeated on Sunday, May 6, at 7:00 p.m. at St. Stephen's Catholic Church., 2100 Baseline Road, Grand Island. (716) 878-3005.
Through May 4
Make Your Mark: The Culture of Drawing
An artistic exchange between the fine arts faculty of Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, and Buffalo State College culminates in the exhibit Make Your Mark: The Culture of Drawing, which runs through May 4 in Upton Hall's Czurles-Nelson Gallery. Meanwhile, Buffalo State visual arts faculty will have their work on display at Capital Normal University (pictured) beginning May 10. The public is invited to a reception with the Buffalo State faculty artists from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. May 3 in the gallery. It is free and open to the public. (716) 878-6014.
May 4
Television Film Arts (TFA) Film Forum
The public has the chance to view a number of students’ short films during the fifth annual TFA Film Forum 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Arts Center Auditorium. Jeff Hirschberg, director of the TFA program, and Lou Rera, associate professor of communication, judged the films prior to the forum based on overall technical and creative quality. The screening is free. (716) 878-6011.
May 6
My Favorite Things!
Join the Buffalo Choral Arts Society as it salutes Marcia Giambrone in her 25th season as conductor and music director in this hallmark performance of Giambrone's favorite selections from the Broadway stage and other tunes in a 3:00 p.m. performance in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall. Tickets are $15. (716) 812-1541.
May 9
Charles E. Beveridge Lecture
As part of the Graycliff Lecture Series, Charles Beveridge, considered the foremost authority on the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, will speak at 7:00 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center as the first of two leading landscape architects. Beveridge is the editor of the seven-volume The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted (American University, Washington, D.C.) and the author of Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape (Rizzoli, 2005). Admission is free for Burchfield Penney members and Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff. Tickets for the general public are $5. (716) 878-6011.
May 11
Message in a Bottle
Tracy Giblin, an art education graduate student at Buffalo State, wants to capture the hopes and dreams of young people today. Giblin has been collecting written hopes from children throughout Western New York. Participants have the chance to see these hopes and share their own during the Message in a Bottle event 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the studio classroom of the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Adults and children can write or draw a message to place in a bottle and share with others. The free drop-in workshop is inspired by the “Artists Among Us” exhibition that also opens May 11. (716) 878-3549.
Secret Spaces Exhibit and Opening Reception
Art Education Department graduates Kari Achatz and Nick Napierala created the interactive installation Secret Spaces that opens May 11 and runs through September 9 in the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s Useum. Visitors entering the Useum find themselves in a fantastical bedroom scene where guests are encouraged to write on furniture and investigate the installation that reveals hidden blankets and props. Guests also are encouraged to build their own fort or spaceship and share a secret space with others by taking a photograph and adding it to the artist’s blog. An opening reception with the artists will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 11. Free. (716) 878-6011.
May 11-August 26
The Artists Among Us II
In recognition of the artists of Western New York and the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s role as the Museum for Western New York arts, the museum is hosting its second-ever members’ exhibition. It is open to any member of the Burchfield Penney and artwork must have been created in the past two years. The artwork ranges from visual to performance art and is expected to include hundreds of works by member artists. As this is part of the Second Friday series the Burchfield Penney hosts, admission is free. (716) 878-6011.
May 13
Mother’s Day Tour
The Burchfield Penney Art Center is offering a tour of its new exhibitions for guests and the women they love. The tour runs from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and is suitable for all ages. Reservations are required. Admission is free for members and Buffalo State faculty, staff, and students. General public tickets cost $10. Call Mary Kozub, docent coordinator, at (716) 878-3156.
May 15
International Mini-Textile Juried Exhibition
Ten Buffalo State design students, along with associate professor of design Jozef Bajus and recent Buffalo State graduate Hillary Fayle, had artwork selected for a juried show opening May 15 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The show, titled Ordinariness and Grace, will travel to at least two additional galleries in Europe in exhibits running through mid-June.
May 18
Clay Olympics
Buffalo State’s ceramics program is hosting the 14th annual Western New York Clay Olympics Friday, May 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Ceramics Studio, Upton Hall 128. This year’s contest features students from four area high schools—Kenmore East, Lancaster, Lewiston-Porter, and Pioneer—whose teachers are alumni of the ceramics and art education programs. Approximately 40 high school student contestants, working individually and in teams, will compete in timed events using clay and various clay-forming methods in an Olympic-style contest. In conjunction with the contest, there will be a ceramics exhibition of the participating students’ artwork in Upton Hall's Czurles-Nelson Gallery. A juror will select the top artworks and the winning artists will receive cash awards made possible by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. The awards will be presented at 1:15 p.m. All the events are free and open to the public. (716) 878-5154.
May 23
Charles A. Birnbaum Lecture
As part of the Graycliff Lecture Series, Charles A. Birnbaum, founder and president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, will speak at 7:00 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center Auditorium. Birnbaum served as the coordinator of the National Park Service Historic Landscape initiative for 15 years and spent a decade in private practice in New York City where he specialized in landscape preservation and urban design. Admission is free for Burchfield Penney and Graycliff members, and $5 for the general public. (716) 878-6011.