Public Art
Newcomers to a city will often come upon unexpected art. Sometimes it may not even appear to be art: it might look like an unidentifiable structure, or something that doesn't seem to have a function. Other times, obvious major artworks have been commissioned for certain spots. Often, there are small gems tucked away in the nooks and crannies of parks and other areas. Buffalo Niagara has all that and more. Check it out. Here are a few highlights; we invite you to discover the rest on your own.
In and Around Buffalo
There are individual public art works throughout the City of Buffalo. A few examples include:
 Works by Larry Griffis
Works by the late Larry Griffis, founder of Griffis Sculpture Park in Ashford Hollow, stand on Bidwell Parkway between Elmwood and Potomac and in Delaware Park, south of the Sqajaquada Expressway. Birds Excited into Flight (1981) (left) is on Bidwell; it is a twenty-foot high work representing a circle of figures whose elongated hands change into stylized birds. Spirit of Womanhood (1962) is another elongated figure (fourteen-foot-high) of a woman holding a hoop. The hoop represents the world and the circle of existence. For more spectacular sculptures by Griffis, many over thirty feet high, visit Ashford Hollow, an hour south of Buffalo on route 219.
Works by Duane Hatchett
Hatchett's abstract steel sculpture (1978) can be found in Sisti Park, a charming urban pocket park at North and North Pearl Streets. The park was designed by landscape architect William Castle.
Kenneth Snelson
Internationally-known artist Kenneth Snelson's Coronation Day (1980) can be found in front of the City Court building in Niagara Squate. The sculpture is composed of 12 chrome steel tubes suspended by a web of steel cables.
 Traditional statuary
There are many public monuments and traditional commemorative sculptures throughout Buffalo. Notable among them are a seventeen-foot-high replica of Michelangelo's David by Angelus and Sons; the obelisk-shaped McKinley Monument (right) by Alexander Phimister Proctor in front of City Hall; John Adams' Quincy Ward's Indian Hunter in Delaware Park; Charles H. Niehaus' Lincoln the Emanipator behind the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society; and Allen George Newman's The Hiker at Main and Huron, to name just a few. Forest Lawn cemetery is home to another group of notable sculpture, including work by Charles Cary Rumsey, among others.
Small built works project
In Allentown, architecture students working with professor and architect Brad Wales have built several artfully-constructed bus shelters and a number of other structures throughout the neighborhood. Bus shelters exist at Main and Allen, Symphony Circle, and Plymouth and Pennsylvania. A bronze scenic viewer is at Allen and Days Park and a stylized windmill stands at Elmwood and Virginia.
Pan-American Public Art
As part of the Womens' Pavilion project of Buffalo's 2001 Pan-American centennial, eight public artworks by ten artists have been installed throughout the city. Among them are Nancy Gabriel's One More River to Cross at LaSalle Park; the work commemorates the Underground Railroad. Other works include William Cooper's Women as Warrior mural at the Langston Hughes Institute and Sandra Fernandez' Homage to the Unknown Woman at Main and Tupper.
NFTA Commissions
Subway
The art projects of the Buffalo Niagara Metro Rail system, curated by Buffalo art dealer Nina Freudenheim in 1985, have brought contemporary art to every subway station along Main Street. It is possible to tour all the artwork in a couple hours (and even have chicken wings at the Anchor Bar near the last stop!). Starting at the UB South Campus stop with exterior sculpture by Beverley Pepper and an interior neon installation by Stephen Antonakos, the project ends with the Allen/Medical Campus station, featuring an interior mural by Charles Clough and elegant bench sculptures by Scott Burton. Highlights along the way include colorful abstract exterior pieces by George Sugarman at Summer/Best, a spectacular aluminum tree branch by Robert Lobe and wall drawings by Harvey Breverman at Amherst, and an intricately patterned tile mural by Joyce Kozloff at Humboldt/Hospital.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport
A more recent Niagara Frontier Transit Authority project is the terrazzo floor design created by Robert Calvo at the Buffalo Niagara Internationla Airport. A large and interconnected pattern of colored tile strands, at some points sixty-five feet wide, the entire art work contains 250 feet of tile. There are eight, snake-like paths, each representing a theme of Buffalo Niagara's development, from ancient history through today. There is no need, however, to understand the individual components of this floor sculpture in order to enjoy its colorful and lively presence.
|
