The following is a Summer 2014 release from Visit Buffalo Niagara:
This summer, Buffalo will host a vibrant series of public programs and initiatives that will showcase the city’s assets as a cultural tourism destination. Forthcoming highlights of Buffalo’s summer cultural calendar include: the acclaimed traveling exhibition Sincerely Yours: Treasures of the Queen City, which spotlights major modern artworks from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; the fourth annual echo Art Fair, which celebrates Western New York’s contemporary art scene; the completion of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed filling station at the Pierce Arrow Museum; exciting outdoor theatre productions at Delaware Park and Silo City; and the 20th anniversary of Garden Walk Buffalo, the nation’s largest garden walk.
With these and other initiatives, Buffalo’s arts and cultural organizations will engage visitors from across and beyond Western New York. An extended summary of Buffalo’s arts organizations and summer programming attractions follows below, and information about Buffalo travel and accommodations can be found at www.visitbuffaloniagara.com.
Visual Arts
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is recognized as one of the world’s leading collections of modern and contemporary art, holding more than 6,500 works with particular strengths in American and European works from the postwar era. The collection’s unique strengths will be on display in the major summer exhibition Sincerely Yours: Treasures of the Queen City, which spotlights some of the most celebrated works in the Gallery’s holdings—including paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, among others. First seen at the Denver Art Museum (where it premiered earlier this year to great acclaim), Sincerely Yours returns to Buffalo from July 5 through September 21 as the second stop on its national tour.
Burchfield Penney Art Center
The Burchfield Penney is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art and artists of Western New York, and holds a collection of more than 7,500 works of art and thousands of archival files representing the work of almost 600 artists. From July 13 to November 2, the Burchfield will mount a major retrospective of the Jamestown, NY native Janelle Lynch, who inaugurated the Center’s new artist-in-residence program last year. Janelle Lynch: Presence will illuminate Lynch’s photography practice, whose focus on the natural world reflects the interests of the Center’s namesake Charles Burchfield.
echo Art Fair
Now in its fourth year, the echo Art Fair is a juried fine art exposition that showcases the unique strengths of Western New York’s contemporary art scene, connecting experienced collectors and first-time buyers with established and emerging local, regional, and international artists. Following the success of last year’s fair—which featured works by more than 70 artists from the US and Canada, and drew more than 10,000 attendees—this year’s installment of echo is slated to take place in Buffalo’s Central Library on September 6 and 7.
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
A nexus of Buffalo’s bohemian arts culture, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is an artist-run center of creativity that presents the latest performances, literature, media, and visual arts from the city’s diverse artistic community. Since its founding in 1974, Hallwalls has established itself as a place for provocative, forward-thinking artistic programs, exhibiting works that re-imagine traditional boundaries of race, gender, and sexuality.
Architecture and American History
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House Complex
The project that Frank Lloyd Wright referred to as his “opus,” the Darwin Martin House complex is the largest of the Wright Prairie Houses in existence. The original complex consists of the main Martin House, a pergola, conservatory and carriage house, the Barton House, and the Gardener’s Cottage. With a visitor center designed by Toshiko Mori that echoes the proportions and geometries of Wright’s original design, the house is open for tours all year long.
Richardson-Olmsted Complex
A major component of Buffalo’s continued role as a center of architectural preservation, the Richardson-Olmsted Complex is in the midst of a dramatic restoration that will convert what was once a 19th-century psychiatric hospital into a hotel, conference center, and modern hub of community activity. A key element of the $56 million project is the “re-greening” of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed campus, which was completed last summer. The 140-year-old facility itself was designed by H. H. Richardson, and has been celebrated as an important example of Richardson’s iconic Romanesque revival style.
Buffalo History Museum
This fall, Buffalo’s premier historical organization will become the home to the workspace of one of the city’s favorite sons: Tim Russert, the iconic host of NBC’s Meet the Press, who passed away in 2008. An accomplished journalist who remained a lifelong fan of his hometown, Russert described in his memoir how his Buffalo childhood shaped his worldview. A recreation of Russert’s office—filled with Buffalo Bills memorabilia—has been on view at Washington D.C.’s Newseum for the past several years, and will soon be permanently relocated to the BHM.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site
The site of the 26th president’s inauguration remains a popular destination for history buffs and an integral part of Buffalo’s own history. This summer, the Theodore Roosevelt Site will mount a series of programs that includes the fifth annual Twilight Tour of Homes on Friday, June 20. Attendees will visit Buffalo’s Delaware Avenue-West Ferry Street neighborhood, once home to the prestigious Albright Estate, as well as the historic Garret Club on Cleveland Avenue.
Pierce Arrow Museum
The Pierce Arrow Museum explores the history of motorized transportation in the Buffalo region and beyond, featuring an extensive collection of automobiles, carriages, motorcycles, and bicycles that were made in Buffalo in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This summer, the Pierce Arrow is expected to complete a new two-story 1920s-style Filling Station, constructed according to the specifications of a previously unrealized Frank Lloyd Wright design.
Congress for the New Urbanism
From June 4 through 7, Buffalo will host the leading conference for urbanist networking, collaboration, and education, building on the city’s own history of urban planning and architectural design. Speakers at the conference will include the architects and urban planners Robert Stern and Andres Duany; the former mayor of Bogotá Enrique Penalosa; and many others. CNU.
Performing Arts
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Led by nationally acclaimed Music Director JoAnn Falletta, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is the cornerstone of Western New York’s classical music scene, performing more than 120 concerts each year. This year, the BPO kicks off its summer season performing with the June in Buffalofestival, which spotlights new orchestral works by groundbreaking composers. Other seasonal highlights include a joint concert with the World Doctor’s Orchestra on July 19, and an evening with Renee Fleming on September 13.
Falletta Guitar Competition
On June 4 through 7, emerging classical guitarists from around the world will travel to Buffalo for the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition, a public platform for the next generation of classical guitar talent. Participants will compete publicly for cash prizes, a recording contract, and the opportunity to return for a performance with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Shakespeare in Delaware Park
A free outdoor theatre festival that reaches more than 40,000 attendees each year, Shakespeare in Delaware Park will kick off its 39th season with a production of Henry V, which will run from June 19 through July 13, followed by A Comedy of Errors from July 24 through August 17.
Silo City
The banks of the Buffalo River are home to Silo City, an abandoned series of grain elevators that have been transformed into a multi-disciplinary space for arts, culture, and community events. From August 22 through 24, the Silos will host STOREHOUSE, an experimental arts project performed by the local company Torn Space Theatre. And on June 28, City of Night will return to Silo City, featuring live performances, interactive art exhibits, local food trucks, and more.
Additional Programs
Garden Walk Buffalo
Garden Walk Buffalo, the nation’s largest garden tour, will celebrate its 20th anniversary on July 26 and 27. A free, self-guided tour of nearly 400 Buffalo gardens, the Walk draws more than 60,000 visitors to Buffalo from around North America each year. Garden Walk Buffalo marks the culminating event of the National Garden Festival (held June 21 through August 2), which encompasses six weeks of garden tours, open gardens, a garden art sale, horticultural bus tours, and more. In recognition of its 20th anniversary, Garden Walk Buffalo will mount a wide range of special initiatives this year, including an exhibition of botanical drawings at the Burchfield Penney Art Center; a community celebration on the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed grounds of the Richardson Olmsted Complex; and the creation of a 60-page commemorative publication on the event’s history and impact.
Buffalo Museum of Science
One of the oldest science museums in the United States, the Buffalo Museum of Science houses a collection of more than 700,000 natural and historical objects from around the world, with a special emphasis on the rich natural history of Western New York. Through September 21, 2014, the Museum is hosting Mummies of the World, the internationally acclaimed traveling exhibition that brings together the largest collection of mummies ever assembled. Supplemented by extensive scientific, historical, and interactive materials, Mummies of the World sheds new light on ancient cultures and civilizations from every continent.
Canalside
Buffalo’s vibrant waterfront district will host more than 800 public programs this summer, including music and dance performances, historical tours, outdoor classes, family activities, and more. Perennially popular celebrations like the Buffalo Maritime Festival, Irish Festival, and Pride Festivalwill kick off at Canalside, providing food, recreation, and cultural activities for visitors and locals alike.
Larkin Square
Formerly home to Buffalo’s historic Larkin Soap Company, the Larkin District (“Larkinville”) has been revitalized into a vibrant residential and commercial neighborhood. The centerpiece of the district is Larkin Square, which hosts a wide array of public events each summer including Food Truck Tuesdays, performances by local musicians on Wednesday evenings, readings by local authors at the local Filling Station restaurant, and—starting this year—a new outdoor urban market featuring food, crafts, and live performances.
Tours
Explore Buffalo
This year marks the debut of Explore Buffalo, a new local tour company that invites visitors to experience the city’s unique attractions firsthand. A staff of expert tour guides will lead a series of tours focused on Buffalo’s arts, architecture, food, and outdoor activities, providing an informative introduction to the city’s assets.
Open Air Autobus
Open Air Autobus crafts a variety of comprehensive educational autobus tours that go beyond Buffalo’s greatest hits, taking visitors deeper into the city’s neighborhoods and more thoroughly into its past.
Buffalo Tours
Led by Preservation Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo Tours offers a wide variety of guided walking tours of the city’s historical, cultural, and architectural treasures.
Forgotten Buffalo
The region’s authority on unique landmarks, classic taverns, old-world neighborhoods, and “Nickel City” oddities, Forgotten Buffalo is known for tours that travel off the beaten path. Attendees will be treated to the best of Buffalo’s food and drinks, and will experience the city’s history up close.
Buffalo River History Tour
The Buffalo River History Tour illuminates the history the Erie Canal and its role in transforming Buffalo into one of the early 20th century’s great industrial boomtowns. Visitors can learn about the city’s historical role as the largest grain port in the world, and experience the nation’s largest collection of standing grain elevators from just a few feet away.
Lead image Falletta on stage with the BPO and guitarist Artyom Dervoed of Russia, 2010 first-place winner