Events
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Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon
How High the Moon is the first retrospective to trace the evolution of Stanley Whitney’s wholly unique and powerful abstractions over the course of his fifty-year career. The exhibition’s title is inspired by the 1940 song penned by Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, which became a jazz standard that has conveyed enchantment, longing, and, in some interpretations, has reached for the sublime.
“Stanley Whitney’s lifelong exploration of color has created an oeuvre of stunning inventiveness and rigor that evokes deep human emotion, beauty, and hope,” said Cathleen Chaffee, Charles Balbach Chief Curator of the Buffalo AKG. “It has been one of the great honors of my career to work with Whitney on this, his long-overdue first retrospective.
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Total Solar Eclipse and Astral Visions
Buffalo, New York is situated on the central line to view a total eclipse of the sun on Monday, April 8, 2024 one day before the 131st anniversary of Charles E. Burchfield’s birth. To honor what is being called the “Great North American Solar Eclipse” (https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/blog-posts/what-will-the-2024-total-solar-eclipse-look-like-from-buffalo.html), the Burchfield Penney Art Center worked with Kevin K. Williams, Ph.D., on an astronomy-themed Burchfield exhibition and related programs. Dr. Williams is an associate professor of Geosciences and director of the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at SUNY Buffalo State University who collaborated with Tullis Johnson and Alana Ryder in 2013 to co-curate the exhibition, Oh My Heavens, that examined the scientific, historical, and spiritual implications of Burchfield’s works.
Total Solar Eclipse & Astral Visions is being curated by Burchfield Scholar Nancy Weekly with assistance from Curator Tullis Johnson to include Burchfield’s paintings, drawings, and studies that depict the sun, moon, constellations, and night sky, as well as stunning solar astrophotography by Alan Friedman taken from “his backyard observatory in Buffalo.”
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Exhibitions: Total Solar Eclipse + Astral Visions
Total Solar Eclipse & Astral Visions will include depictions of the sun, moon, and constellations by Charles E. Burchfield, alongside stunning solar astrophotography by Alan Friedman taken from “his backyard observatory in Buffalo.”
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Exhibition: Sin Wai Kin: It’s Always You
It’s Always You, 2021, encourages viewers to reflect on the performance and commodification of identity in our present moment. The two-channel video work features a boyband of Sin’s construction in which they perform dressed up as each of the band’s four members The Universe, The Storyteller, The One, and Wai King (a pun on the artist’s name). Each sways in slow motion against a greenscreen to a slow beating rhythm, alternately taking on the frontperson’s solo as they flirtatiously repeat the captivating lyrics.
The personalities that Sin deploys through each character developed out of their careful research into boyband culture, from late 1990s groups such as the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC to contemporary groups such as BTS and Mirror. The members of such bands are often marketed individually, creating distinct fandoms around each. This sociocultural phenomenon serves as the backdrop for the universal message of It’s Always You: that all gender in the social sphere is a staged performance.
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Exhibition: “Before and After Again”
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum has announced a landmark exhibition that will respond to the tragic slaying of ten members of Buffalo’s Black community on May 14, 2022. Before and After Again will feature new paintings, poetry, and prose by artists Julia Bottoms, Tiffany Gaines, and Jillian Hanesworth, who previously served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of Buffalo and was recently nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on the “Choose Love” video with the Buffalo Bills. The exhibition will be on view free of admission charges in the Buffalo AKG’s M&T Bank Gallery from March 8 to September 30, 2024.
Since the May 14 racist mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Markets in the city’s East Side, which brought national attention to the active
forces of racism and segregation that continue to plague Western New York, Bottoms, Gaines, and Hanesworth have engaged in intimate,
profound dialogue with members of Buffalo’s Black community, including the families directly affected by the tragedy, to consider the
humanity and resilience of this community in the face of systemic racism. The resulting artworks that will comprise the exhibition include
portraiture, symbolically charged still life painting, a series of fourteen new poems, and written testaments to communal healing.
Exhibition: Robyn Tsinnajinnie – “A Shared Experience”
K Art Gallery invites you to the opening of Robyn Tsinnajinnie’s solo exhibition, “A Shared Experience.” Witness her journey from initial sketches to breathtaking final artworks on March 22nd at 6 pm.
A Shared Experience features unseen sketches that showcase Tsinnajinnie’s works progression and thoughtful placements. One aspect worth noting about Tsinnajinnie’s paintings is the profound connection to her Navajo culture, evident through the elements surrounding each piece.
Immerse yourself in Tsinnajinnie’s vibrant palette, complemented by a bespoke pink Hefeweizen Beer, christened ‘Pink Ladies,’ echoing her daring color choices. Proudly in collaboration with Spotted Octopus Brewing Co., this event promises an unforgettable blend of art and flavor.
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Photography Days
Make your reservation today! Bring along your favorite photographer and join us for Photography Days to get the most out of your photo experience at the Botanical Gardens! We are opening up the Botanical Gardens for the public to take family photos, engagement shoots, senior portraits, maternity photos, baby photos or photos of any special occasion at a reduced rate.
Our Photography Policy (below) will apply during your reservation. Please keep in mind that Photography Days provide a shared space and you must be respectful of other guests.
KEEP IN MIND! As the sun begins to set in the fall and winter, the Botanical Gardens conservatory will also lose daylight as we are an open glass greenhouse. We will be providing our house lights to create a lovely experience during sunset, but please keep this in mind as both a photographer or model as you may need to utilize different camera settings.
If you would like to take posed photography outside of these days and times, a Photography rental reservation is required. To inquire, please contact events@buffalogardens.com.
Photography Policy:
Pets are not permitted.
Furniture and large props are not permitted.
We do not allow drone photography inside.
The Botanical Gardens’ plants, arrangements, exhibits, benches, chairs, tables, signage etc. are not to be moved, walked on, or disturbed in any way. Any destruction will be at the cost of the guest.
If your party is late for your reservation, you will be held to the remaining time of your reservation or you can reschedule for a full session.
No alcoholic beverages are allowed in the facility. We reserve the right to ask anyone who appears to be intoxicated to leave without a refund.
Some exhibits or special events may be taking place on the day of your reservation; therefore, some rooms may be unavailable or altered.
Open Art Nights
The Buffalo Botanical Gardens is full of natural beauty and so much inspiration and what better space to come and create?! We’re inviting artists of all media and abilities, near and far, to grab their sketchbooks, canvases, pencils or paints, and find inspiration under the lush conservatory for an intimate art experience that you won’t find anywhere else in Buffalo. You will have the entire 30,000+ square foot conservatory full of exotic plants from around the world at your fingertips to create in plein-air for four hours. *Limited registration
This experience is best suited for artists ages 16 and up. All participants are encouraged to bring their own easels, small tables, water cups, and water-based or dry media to work with. Only chairs and water for painting will be provided. Please keep in mind the nature of the greenhouse is very warm and humid. Water bottles are welcome and encouraged. Please review our full Artist Expectations below before reserving your space.
Artist Expectations for Open Art Nights at the Botanical Gardens:
What’s Provided: One chair per artist, clean water for painting, supply disposal, and of course the beautiful conservatory full of inspiration, accompanied by soft, soothing music.
What you should bring: Artists are welcome to bring their own materials such as easels, small tables, water cups, and water-based or dry media. *No oil based media, spray paint, or splattering can be used for the safety of our plants. Keep in mind only chairs and water for paints will be provided. Water bottles are welcome and encouraged and beverages will be available for purchase in the Admission area.
Clean up: Artists are responsible for placing trash in receptacles and following all material disposal instructions. Absolutely NO materials or soiled water will be dumped down the sink, in potted plants, or in the garden beds.
Respect others and our Plants: Artists are welcome to set up anywhere on the paved space throughout the conservatory. Please keep in mind this is a shared space. Do not block walkways and be considerate of other artists. The Botanical Gardens’ plants, arrangements, exhibits, benches, chairs, tables, signage etc. are not to be moved, walked on, or disturbed in any way. Any destruction will be at the cost of the guest. Absolutely NO plants are to be touched, moved, pulled or cut. For the safety of our plants, only water-based or dry media will be permitted.
Not Permitted: Large props, drone photography, alcoholic beverages or drugs are not permitted in the facility. We reserve the right to ask anyone who does not adhere to these guidelines to leave without a refund.
Also, get the chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials while attending this special event!
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Alex Boeschenstein: Silent Terminalia
Silent Terminalia is the latest iteration of an installation comprised of variable groupings of freestanding obelisks, fabricated out of pine, MDF, steel, and PLA plastic with a combination of hand carving, 3D printing, and CNC-routing techniques. The forms taken in part from CT scans of ancient paleontological specimens and transformed into architectonic and totemic figures are covered in chalkboard scribblings to degrade the apparent unity of the monuments, upsetting any singular interpretation of them and turning them into instruments of (un)learning and (mis)teaching: malleable repositories for the intermingling of madness, expertise, and absence.
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Exhibition: After the Sun-Forecasts from the North
After the Sun Forecasts from the North, a new exhibition that will survey a generational response to the precarious state of our natural environment.
Featuring the work of twenty artists with strong ties to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, After the Sun considers how emergencies at a Northern latitude reverberate globally. The exhibition presents new artistic engagements that build on the Nordic region’s tradition of depicting the natural world, and asks what art is generated in response to the intensifying global climate crisis.
Occupying the entire first floor of the Gundlach Building’s special exhibition galleries along with outdoor space on the museum campus, After the Sun presents artistic responses to the climate crisis that range from the analytical to the speculative, the poetic to the political
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