Tag: April BRM
sunday may 4th 2008
Bernice Marie
It's not often you hear about someone moving from California to Buffalo to pursue a career in music, but Bernice Marie has done just that. A Niagara Falls native, she moved to Palm Springs when she turned 18, but ultimately found herself drawn back to Buffalo's closer-knit community.
Bernice played shows for about a year in California, but felt like she was lost in the shuffle.
“LA and Palm Springs are very overrated as far as music. You're just a small fish in a huge pond there. It turns out that when you leave Buffalo, you come to realize that you really love Buffalo. I mean, I really have honest 'Buffalove,'” she said.
She feels that Buffalo provides a better opportunity for artists, among other things. It's not like Bernice didn't get a fair shake in LA, where she played large venues like the Airliner and the Wire. She simply prefers the Queen City.
“We have better architecture, a better art scene, a better music scene. It's cheaper to live and enjoy yourself. T…
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“We’ve been the best kept secret in Western New York for close to thirty years,” begins Kevin Kazmierczak, Principal of the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (BAVPA). The school, which includes grades five through twelve, was founded in the late 1970’s as a college preparatory plan to attract students from all over the city, regardless of race or ethnicity. The BAVPA spent most of its time in a building on Clinton Street, and recently moved into a new facility on Masten and Ferry.
“The new facility physically supports our programs. In the old building, form did not follow function,” Kazmierczak said. “Once you go inside, you don’t know that you’re in the school. From the start, you can experience students' artwork.”
The programs at the BAVPA go beyond the arts, as the faculty strives to develop a curriculum that includes art-influenced ac…
sunday april 27th 2008
A New Look at Old Editions
Old Editions Bookshop & Gallery on the corner of Oak and Huron has just what its name would suggest: vintage books and art lining every bit of available wall space. Owned by Ron and Marilee Cozzi, Old Editions is one of the country's largest antiquarian bookstores with over 35,000 square feet of space, and they certainly have something for everyone.
For the everyday visitor, Old Editions offers self-serve coffee and snacks in the cafe area, and free WiFi for anyone who would like to come in and lounge. There are plenty of moderately priced reading copies available, but what makes this bookshop unique are myriad rare and unique first editions, author-signed copies, manuscripts, vintage paperbacks, and other collectable items available for purchase.
Reflecting the same variety of style as their inventory of books, the art that Old Editions Bookshop & Gallery offers sprawls acros…
friday april 25th 2008
CEPA 9TH Biennial Photographic Art Auction--Get Your Tickets Now!
This article originally posted on April 22.
Buffalo's internationally renowned Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts (CEPA) Gallery is currently preparing for its ninth biennial photographic art auction, featuring vintage photography.
The live auction takes place on Saturday, April 26, at the historic Market Arcade Building in downtown Buffalo's Theatre District. In addition, those unable to attend this exciting event can still buy art, as absentee bidding is underway. Visit www.cepagallery.org to view lots and enter bids.
CEPA is a not-for-profit arts center founded in 1974 as a resource for photographic creation, education and presentation. Since its official inception, CEPA Gallery has always had a practicing artist as its executive director. That position is currently being filled by Lawrence Brose. …
monday april 21st 2008
Steady Aim: Great Arrow Graphics
Great Arrow Graphics once housed their production facility in the Pierce-Arrow Building. A small staff of five or six people, including Alan Friedman and his wife, Donna Massimo, ran the entire business.
Beginning with only six hand-silkscreened cards in 1984, Great Arrow Graphics grew into a premier greeting card company, with over a thousand designs in stock to date, 25 on site employees, and 70 artists worldwide. Great Arrow Graphics, now on Main Street in Buffalo, is truly a success story. And to this day, every single card is hand-silkscreened.
Great Arrow Graphics was a small startup in the late 70's, making hand-silkscreened wedding and birth announcements for their friends, “Just because we could," stated Friedman. "And that opened our eyes to the idea of cards--making small prints--because we had always done silkscreen prints, usually posters, or one-time prints…
thursday april 17th 2008
Soap Works
At Soap Works, they understand that the only way to clean up a city’s problems is with lots of hard work, and of course, plenty of soap. Selling their hand-made creations since 2005, Soap Works operates in partnership with On The Job Ministries to provide mentoring and job-training skills to Buffalo teens. More than just a business, more than just a charity, Soap Works is leaving a footprint on Buffalo’s future by grooming the next generation for job-readiness. And with the dividends coming right back to the city, the smell of success has never been more fragrant.
The teenaged staff of Soap Works is drawn from Buffalo’s troubled West Side, and is responsible for almost every aspect of production and marketing of the soaps. “We’re really here to give young people a chance to make something they can be proud of… [and] to develop themselves as professionals,” said …
saturday march 29th 2008
Nicholson & Hall Corporation: Changing Directions in a Changing City
The appearance of downtown Buffalo has changed considerably since the 1920's.
86 years ago, if you were to stroll through what is now known as the Cobblestone District of Buffalo, you would have seen numerous signs of the roaring twenties. The harbor would be swarmed with traffic coming from the Great Lakes, while the surrounding businesses would be heavily patronized by sailors and other people associated with the thriving shipping industry. Because of this, there were about 22 boiler and pressure vessel companies in the lower Main Street area, which was known as "Boilermaker's Row." In 2008, only one of those remains: Nicholson & Hall Corporation.
Founders Lance Nicholson and Thomas Hall were originally from Sheffield, England, and came to the Buffalo area via the Erie Canal Barge. Nicholson passed ownership down to his son, Howard, who eventually sold the company to Louis…
