by Nicole Murray All too often, “Western New York” is a term used to describe the city of Buffalo and its immediate suburbs. Maybe names such as Clarence, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, and Lancaster come to mind. But if you take just a short 45 minute drive outside of any of these places, you’ll find that [...]
by Nicole Murray Art in its truest form is a means of self-expression which is why those who identify as LGBTQIA+ often turn to the arts as a safe outlet for exploring and questioning self-identity, gender roles, and sexuality. (LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual/Agender, with the “+” used as [...]
By Tessa Pszonak, Jess Trainor, and Holly Grant By definition, a community is a social unit united by a shared geographic location and/or commonality. In a region as diverse as Western New York, there are many arts and cultural organizations whose work provides this 'community' space for the immigrant, refugee, and newly arrived populations. This [...]
By Tessa Pszonak and Jess Trainor We all know the pandemic has negatively affected people’s mental health and created new barriers for those already suffering from mental illness. For April’s spotlight, we wanted to highlight the work of those who are using the arts to help alleviate general and mental health challenges within the community, [...]
By Tessa Pszonak, Jess Trainor, and Holly Grant In honor of Women's History Month, we took some time to speak with four incredible WNY women who are paving the way for other women in and through the arts. Brazen-Faced Varlets, a woman-owned theatre company here in Western New York, is breaking down the barriers of [...]
The fight against social injustice that rose onto the international stage in 2020 implored us to find a way to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and artists who are often left behind, unheard, or ignored. That is why we are adjusting the focus of our 2021 monthly features to highlight arts and [...]
Like many others in our community and around the world, we have spent December and January reflecting on our impact and how we can best support the WNY arts community during this difficult time. In 2020, we dedicated our monthly features to highlighting organizations across our region that are making significant strides toward greater accessibility, [...]
What a year it’s been! Despite all of the challenges and setbacks that this year has brought, the WNY arts and cultural community has managed to maintain or even improve upon our efforts of increasing accessibility, diversity, inclusion, and equity. Back in January, we took some time to reflect on the previous year and noticed [...]
For this month’s Accessibility in the Arts spotlight, we sat down with Dawne Hoeg, Director of the Stitch Buffalo, to learn more about the organization, they're work, and the community they serve. Stitch Buffalo, located on Niagara Street in Buffalo, advances social justice for refugee women in Buffalo, NY by creating opportunities for cross-cultural exchange [...]
For this month’s Accessibility in the Arts spotlight, we sat down with Kate LoConti Alcocer, Executive Artistic Director of the Irish Classical Theatre Company, to learn more about the organization, their programming, and how they are leading the charge to make theatre more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing communities. The Irish Classical [...]
