Now that Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo (ELAB) have proven their placemaking might in bringing Silo City to life, it’s time for these creative types to talk it out. So ELAB is dedicating this year’s Creative Conversation event to the concept of placemaking in hopes of sparking a continuing dialogue about art and place here in Buffalo and how to continue breathing life into our forgotten spaces.
This Thursday, Oct. 17, Allen Street Hardware will play host to “Salon D’Ici”, an evening of art, music, dance, and most importantly, creative conversation. “Salon D’Ici (salon of here) evokes the exchange of the French cultural “salon” and arts creation here in Buffalo, sparking creative conversation and dialogue about how art can make, use, and reinvent the space, city and place we inhabit,” said Kisha Patterson-Tanski, one of the event organizers.
The event will feature a fine art critique, live performance of music, dance and spoken word, interactive art exhibits and an evolving poetry wall. Business owner and arts advocate Mark Goldman will give a keynote speech on his role in revitalizing some of our city’s streets, including his recent commission of dynamic murals along the side of Allen Street Hardware. Some local creative place makers will also be present to share their stories, including The Foundry, Painting for Preservation, and the organizers of City of Night.
With her strong academic background and experience in creative placemaking, Kisha Patterson-Tanski shared some insight on why this concept matters in Buffalo, and how this week’s Creative Conversation can be a gateway to greater artistic efforts to revitalize, repurpose, and preserve our city’s neglected corners.
“In a global, dislocated, tele-everything, information-age society, it is easy to forget cultural production is inextricably linked to place,” she said. “The art of a people is shaped by where those people are, and the places those people make are drawn from the art and culture of those people.
“Someone called Buffalo ‘the last place where you could wear black clothes, do bad art, and still have a good time.’ Perhaps that looks down a bit on a city for being as welcoming but not-too-demanding of the creative types, but perhaps it’s time to demand more. I’ve been told by more than one artist and architect, ‘Do your work here where the rents are cheap, but sell it in New York or Toronto or even L.A.’
“When we wake up tomorrow, all of us will pour our coffee into a cup on a table in the 716. I place that in real and waiting to be more than a last resort. It’s a place of possibility, opportunity, and a community that loves grand ideas. Granted, you may have to do it yourself. But here, you can do it yourself.
“The invited artists will inhabit a tiny stage in a reinvented building to share ideas, and hopefully open a dialogue about how Buffalo’s creative community can build this place with ideas. And how ideas can be as fertile as new urban farms, as firm and unyielding as old concrete grain silos, and as lofty and hopeful as the gigantic cranes.”
The doors to Creative Conversation will open at 7 p.m. at 245 Allen Street. Entry will be $5. For updates and more information on the event, visit the Facebook page.