The last weekend of programming in the Burchfield-Penney Art Center’s Rockwell Hall galleries is the second of the museum’s new RendezBlue festivals entitled True Lives/False Lives from February 28 – March 2, 2008. True Lives/False Lives is a four-day art event featuring autobiographical films, videos, poetry, music and visual arts. The festival culminates with a closing party on Sunday, March 2 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. as the final toast to the Burchfield-Penney’s 40 years in Rockwell Hall.

“Recently, diaristic and autobiographical video projects have exploded on You-Tube and other internet distribution sites, many exploring themes of self and identity by blending fact with fiction or presenting entirely imaginary personas (perhaps most notably in the controversial “Lonely Girl 15” V-Logs). The history of the memoir in film and video is, in fact, a study in the combination of truth with fictional elements, ranging from re-enactments to subjective interpretations of memories and history,” wrote Meg Knowles, co-curator of True Lives/False Lives and assistant professor in the communication department of Buffalo State College. “The tradition of autobiography in time-based media has had a central place in Western New York’s media landscape, making this an intuitive locus for a discussion of the autobiography as genre, as witness to history and as interpreter of memory and truth.”

Chuck Mancuso and David Meinzer have put together a group of musicians who will perform songs of self identity, including Jim Calabrese, Dave Meinzer, Cathy Carfagna, John Brady III, Jim Whitford, Rob Lynch, Mary Stahl and John “Duffy” Fornes. Story telling is the heart of songwriting and covers the musical landscape of Americana. The traditions of theatre jazz and cabaret to folk country and alternative rock forms will focus on two distinct sets of presentations by some of Buffalo’s best musicians and singer songwriters. Opening the evening is a compilation of great American standards including the works of Gershwin, Berlin, Arlen as interpreted while the second half constitutes original songs of Dave Meinzer and friends of various formats of the musical underground.

Artists Abraham Ravett, Kathy High, Jody Lafond, Dorothea Braemer and Gail Mentlik will be featured in a lively presentation and discussion of documentary work that addresses different notions of truth-telling in the autobiographical form. The films range from the riveting second generation recollections of the Holocaust by Abraham Ravett and Gail Mentlik to the fanciful “real and unreal memories” of Jody Lafond, the universal yet creative reflections on coping with aging parents by Kathy High and Dorothea Braemer.

Peter Ramos and Allen Shelton will present a lecture and reading from their most recent works. Ramos will read selections from Please Do Not Feed the Ghost, a collection of poems forthcoming from Blazevox Press. Shelton will read from his most recent book Dreamworlds of Alabama.

This program coincides with It’s All About Me, an exhibition of autobiographical works by many different artists from a variety of backgrounds from the Burchfield-Penney’s collection, which is on view at The M&T Center, 1 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, New York.



Thursday, February 28, 2008

12:15 p.m.

Autobiography and Art: The Self-Portrait

Lecture by Nancy Weekly

7:00 p.m.

Screening: Wide Awake by Alan Berliner with introduction by Meg Knowles

Friday, February 29 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Happy Hour at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center

Songs of Certainty and Mendacity

Dave Meinzer, Jim Calabrese, Cathy Carfagna with introduction by Chuck Mancuso

Saturday, March 1, 2008

12:00-1:30 p.m.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: A Family Workshop with Tom Holt

These workshops are free of charge and suitable for children 5 years and older; space is limited. Call 878-3550 for information and reservations (required).

2:00 p.m.

A RendezBlue Matinee

Screenings of work by Dorothea Braemer, Kathy High and Jody LaFond

8:00 p.m.

Remembrance and Recollections

Screenings by Gail Mentlik and Abraham Ravett

Sunday, March 2, 2008

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

That’s Me!: Artists Reflect on Themselves

A Family Workshop

The workshops are free of charge and suitable for children 5 years and older; space is limited. Call 878-3550 for information and reservations (required).

2:00 p.m.

The Relationship between Autobiography, Memory, and Poetry

A Reading and Lecture by Peter Ramos and Allen Shelton



4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

A Farewell to Rockwell Hall

Join the Burchfield-Penney as we toast our 40 years in the Rockwell Hall galleries



About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center

The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, contact the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at 716 878 6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.org.



The new 84,000 square foot Burchfield-Penney, designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008. The two-story building will be the Burchfield-Penney’s first free-standing home and have a major presence on Elmwood Avenue in the heart of Buffalo’s Museum District.



The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by Buffalo State College, the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and charitable contributions by museum members and visitors. Media sponsor: Buffalo Spree. True Lives / False Lives received major support from BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and a grant from the Buffalo State College Auxiliary Services Grant Allocation Committee.