Public Art - Table of Contents

On this page, below:   

Work in Progress

Finished mural

Queenseyes,  "Mural Alert: Cecily Brown @ BAVPA"

Mark Sommer, "Cecily Brown Creates Mural with Local Artists, Performing Arts students,"

WORK IN PROGRESS July 1, 2021 photos WORK IN PROGRESS - July 1, 2021     ...    Houses on Woodlawn Avenue    ...   The school is on the site of the demolished Offermann Stadium    ...   The original name of the school was Woodlawn Jr. High, and was the subject of the 1976 segregation case Arthur V. Nyquist in which Judge John Curtin ordered the public schools to be integrated WORK IN PROGRESS - July 1, 2021    ...    Perhaps Buffalo's most prolific muralist, Chuck Tingley, assists NYC artist Cecily Brown    ...   "There was also the unexpected thrill of working on a lift. 'It's a lot of fun – standing up there is unlike anything I've experienced before,' Brown said. 'The wind's in your hair and it's really fantastic.' " - Mark Sommer WORK IN PROGRESS - July 1, 2021    ...    Chuck Tingley assisting Cecily Brown    ...    "Brown came to rely on Tingley, who mixed her paints, operated the lift and painted alongside her. He was the only other painter to work above ground level." - Mark Sommer WORK IN PROGRESS - July 1, 2021    ...    "Cecily Brown was in perpetual motion on the wall of the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, her brushstrokes distributing mural paint onto the yellow, drive-in theater-sized surface like shards of colored light." - Mark Sommer

FINISHED MURAL July 22 and 29, 2021 Photos "The painting, which took six days to complete, was the culmination of an 11-week effort that involved one world-famous painter, seven local artists, nearly 30 Visual and Performing Arts students and the support of UB Arts Collaboratory and Bortolami Gallery in New York." - Mark Sommer Mural background: Top, blue water or blue sky(?)   ...   Middle: Yellow sky, filled with flying and sitting birds    ...  Foreground: Children playing in garden setting(?) Upper left mural   ...   Bird(s) in flight    ...    Buildings  with smokestacks Upper right mural   ...    Yellow house on left with three dormer windows is a representation of the white house with three dormer windows across the street on Woodlawn Avenue, shown below    ...     Yellow house at right with gabled dormers  is a represent ion of the  gray row houses across the street on Woodlawn Avenue, shown below: "And Buffalonians that July 3 were taking hold of "The Flight of the Chickadee," a brightly colored, mostly abstract canvas across the street from the boarded-up rowhouse where abstract painter Elizabeth Murray lived in the late 1960s." - Mark Sommer Upper left mural:  Yellow bird     ...    Other flying birds Birds Stenciled and other birds Birds     ...  Offermann Stadium which was razed on this site to make room for Woodlawn Jr. High (today  Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts)    ...    "A short time later, Brown was up in the air on a scissor lift with Chuck Tingley, a Buffalo muralist serving as her assistant. Working quickly, the two painters drew Offermann Stadium – a ballpark that once stood where the school is – as if by alchemy." - Mark Sommer Birds At right:  A chickadee    ...    Mural title:  Flight of the Chickadee    ...    "Jodi Lynn Maracle, a Mohawk artist and storyteller, shared a part of the Haudenosaunee creation story about a chickadee that sacrificed its life so humans could live. That became part of the mural's imagery." - Mark Sommer Birds in flight Foreground/bottom mural  ...   "Naila Ansari, a professional dancer and choreographer, suggested re-creating movements the students were familiar with on TikTok, and the idea took off. Ansari danced for the students while Zak helped them sketch freehand to catch the motions of how people move in space."  - Mark Sommer    ...   Details below: Foreground/bottom    ...    Boy wearing sneakers Foreground/bottom Foreground/bottom Foreground/bottom Foreground/bottom    ...    Inspirational word for students:  "Grow"    ...    Note plants and flowers Foreground/bottom    ...    Plants Foreground/bottom    ...    Plants Inspirational words for students:  "BLW" = Black Lives Matter    ...    "Be True 2 You"    ...   "Peace"    ...    "Grow"    ...    Note plants and flowers    ...          ....

Partial reprint Mural Alert: Cecily Brown @ BAVPA By  Queenseyes Buffalo Rising, July 1, 2021 Internationally renowned artist Cecily Brown is currently in Buffalo, painting, exhibiting, and signing books. Currently, she is painting a soon-to-be-celebrated public mural on the side of the 2-story Arts Building at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (BAVPA). Painting concept from the Collaboratory’s Instagram page | The Arts Collaboratory’s spring Working Artists Lab, led by painter Cecily Brown, is now in full swing. For the past two months, Cecily has been leading virtual brainstorming workshops with a team of Buffalo artists, storytellers, and high school students. Considered “one of the foremost painters of her generation,” Brown was initially invited by The University at Buffalo Arts Collaboratory to participate in the organization’s Spring 2021 Working Artists Lab. During her stay in Buffalo, presented in partnership with Bortolami Gallery (NYC), Brown has embarked upon a collaborative approach with a number of local artists to successfully pull off the BAVPA mural, which is – incredibly – Brown’s “first public mural.” In addition to painting the mural, the group’s source materials are currently on display at the Arts Collaboratory‘s new incubator at 431 Ellicott Street, called The Space Between. It is there that the impressive collaborative nature of the project has unfolded. Ultimately, this process will result in what Brown calls “a Buffalo story.” It is interesting to note that the Albright-Knox Art Gallery was one of the first museums to buy one of Brown’s paintings, which significantly adds to the materializing connection between the artist and the city. As a painter and social justice advocate, Brown anticipates on returning to Buffalo on an annual basis, now that she has even further solidified her connection to this city, thanks to the AK, our region’s own united front of artists, and the Arts Collaboratory’s ongoing commitment to connecting artists with the resources that they need to create without limitations.

Partial reprint Cecily Brown Creates Mural with Local Artists, Performing Arts students By Mark Sommer,  The Buffalo News, July10, 2021 Cecily Brown was in perpetual motion on the wall of the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, her brushstrokes distributing mural paint onto the yellow, drive-in theater-sized surface like shards of colored light. In one moment, Brown was filling out the sleeve of a dancer in a purple sweatshirt. In the next, she was adding yellow and gold flourishes in the spaces between. A short time later, Brown was up in the air on a scissor lift with Chuck Tingley, a Buffalo muralist serving as her assistant. Working quickly, the two painters drew Offermann Stadium – a  ballpark that once stood where the school is – as if by alchemy. Moving to the right-hand corner of the two-story wall, Brown painted snow flurries against an ocean-blue sky. She moved fast and intuitively, because that's how she works and the time she had to finish was drawing near. A few hours later, Brown was on a plane returning to New York City. And Buffalonians that July 3 were taking hold of  "The Flight of the Chickadee," a brightly colored, mostly abstract canvas across the street from the boarded-up rowhouse where abstract painter Elizabeth Murray lived in the late 1960s. "I think it's incredibly joyful to emerge from the pandemic with a project like this that offers art for everybody, and really helps spotlight the arts in Buffalo," said Elizabeth Larrabee, one of the school's art teachers. The painting, which took six days to complete, was the culmination of an 11-week effort that involved one world-famous painter, seven local artists, nearly 30 Visual and Performing Arts students and the support of UB Arts Collaboratory and Bortolami Gallery in New York. 'Next obvious step' Cecily Brown is used to working on a large scale. Her current show at Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met in New York features two large paintings almost 26 feet in length. But the British-born figurative and abstract artist, who has made New York her home since the mid-1990s, wanted to try working on a bigger scale seen outside museum walls. "I've been looking to do something more public for awhile," Brown said. "A mural seemed like the obvious next step after having worked so large the last few years." Brown, 52, is in the prime of an internationally renowned career. Her work is represented in major collections from New York to Paris to London, and she's a favorite with auction houses. Brown's 1999 painting, "Suddenly Last Summer," sold for $6.8 million at a 2018 Sotheby's auction. Her 2001 work, "Figures in a Landscape 1," went for $5.5 million in 2020. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery purchased her painting, "Father of the Bride," in 1999. "That was the first museum to buy my work," Brown said. "I was just starting out, really. It was huge for me."   Bronwyn Keenan, director of UB Arts Collaboratory, became friends with Brown when she owned a SoHo gallery in the 1990s. Brown suggested coming to Buffalo to make a mural, and Stefania Bortolami agreed to underwrite it as part of her gallery's Artist/City project, which pairs an artist with an American city. Keenan assembled the team of visual and nonvisual artists and students to ensure the mural was grounded in Buffalo's history and culture, and to capitalize on the performative aspects of working on a 1,500-square-foot wall. The participants met via video conference call on April 16 for the first of several brainstorming sessions. In early June, the team met to share ideas and sketches at the Space Between (431 Ellicott St.), the Arts Collaboratory’s downtown incubator. Jodi Lynn Maracle, a Mohawk artist and storyteller, shared a part of the Haudenosaunee creation story about a chickadee that sacrificed its life so humans could live. That became part of the mural's imagery. Seeking 'the vibe' During Zoom meetings, the students talked about wanting the right "vibe" so passersby would relate to the imagery. Naila Ansari, a professional dancer and choreographer, suggested re-creating movements the students were familiar with on TikTok, and the idea took off. Ansari danced for the students while Zak helped them sketch freehand to catch the motions of how people move in space. Working with an acclaimed painter provided an important career lesson for the students, most of whom are African American, Ansari said. "I thought this was a way of allowing the students to see that this is not just a world that is only specific for white folks," Ansari said, "but that you can interact in this world, and be a part of this world." ... There was also the unexpected thrill of working on a lift. "It's a lot of fun – standing up there is unlike anything I've experienced before," Brown said. "The wind's in your hair and it's really fantastic." Brown came to rely on Tingley, who mixed her paints, operated the lift and painted alongside her. He was the only other painter to work above ground level. "I really enjoyed the collaboration," Brown said. "It was like being back in art school in the best way. I'm really happy, very happy. It was just very invigorating." Brown said the mural won't be her last.  "I'm already looking into where I can do the next one," she said.