Burchfield
Penney Art Center - Table of Contents
Gateways: Space, Place, and the Transformative
By Ted Pietrzak, Director, Burchfield
Penney Art Center
Excepts from the "Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College Grand Opening" Catalog, November 22, 2008
In 1825 the Erie Canal opened, redefining Buffalo, the state of New York and the nation. At 363 miles long, it connected Buffalo and the Great Lakes with Albany, New York City and the Atlantic Ocean, making Buffalo a gateway to the west for pioneers and goods, to the east for food and raw materials, and the nexus where shipping and manufacturing boomed.
With Buffalo's economic and population growth also came the growth of arts, culture and education. In 1861, the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (now the Buffalo Museum of Science) was created; a year later, in 1862, the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (which built the Albright Art Gallery in 1905) was established. Following these came the Buffalo Library in 1886, and in 1891, the Buffalo Society of Artists was organized, setting the stage for many artists' groups to follow. Concurrent with this, in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, artists and architects flocked to the region.With the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 and the expansion of railways and roads, the strategic importance of the Erie Canal as the gateway that defined and fueled Buffalo's growth slowly evaporated. Today the commercial importance of the Erie Canal is, literally, history. However, the history, architecture, arts and culture that grew from this gateway still define the region, and with contemporary arts and cultural institutions, Buffalo is becoming a destination for arts and culture once again.
How appropriate, then, to use the metaphor of the gateway for the opening of the new Burchfield Penney Art Center which is opening its doors , and its collections and programs, to visitors from all over the world. ....The museum is a platform that allows us to connect with the talented artists of our past and present, and the new Burchfield Penney Art Center will always be a gateway to their art - and through their art, they will profoundly affect us.
See also: Links to additional excerpts by Director Pietrzak from the catalog
