Albright Knox…
Last night, I attended the special meeting of the City of Buffalo’s Common Council in regards to the deaccession of antiquities at the Albright Knox. There were several speakers, Louis Grachos and Charles Banta of the gallery and Carl Dennis and William Stanton of the Buffalo Art Keepers. After two hours, I left because there were still a dozen or so speakers remaining.
One of the things I love about this community is the passion it possesses. It’s that passion that drives us. I saw a lot of that passion last night - on both sides.
If you look at it from one angle, preventing the deaccession would mean that the future of the gallery is in jeopardy. On the other hand, are we depriving museum visitors of seeing these works of art? It’s a decision I’m glad I don’t have to make, although I know which side I am clearly in favor of.
Either way, I encourage you to read all you can about the process and reasoning behind it (for discussion points, e-mail me or jgillespie@mercurycapitalpartners.com) and then join the gallery so your voice can be heard.
The Albright Knox is a treasure of the WNY community and it’s up to us to ensure it’s relevance in the future.
THANK YOU MARTY!!!
Our thanks go out to *former* goaltender Marty Biron who was traded to Philadelphia today. Marty has been the ultimate team guy. He’s been the kind of teammate that you hope for in that situation. He’s rarely complained about being a back up and never rustled feathers as he could have.
Bflo Blog had this crazy open thread today…and you can see comments from me on there. (Actually, as it turns out, an old high school friend was on there and we will catch up soon.)
You have to wish Marty nothing but the very best. Hopefully, it’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for. And I may even find myself rooting for Philly…just a little!
It’s What We Do
So unless you live in a cave somewhere, you are well aware of the hit and subsequent fight involving the Sabres and the Senators last Thursday at HSBC Arena. (For a recap of the events, check out Bflo Blog. They always have the best take on sports.) It was one of the craziest and best games of hockey ever played. Watching Marty Biron fight was…well, it was funny. Marty isn’t a fighter, but when put to the test he went out and supported his team against a player (Ray Emery) with 50 lbs. on him. Anyhow, the league ended up fining Coach Lindy Ruff $10,000 because he admitted to telling his ‘enforcer line’ to “go out and run em” after the Neil hit on Drury.
Buffalo Sabres’ fans’ response? To pay the fine for him. And the statement from the Sabres’ office:
The Buffalo Sabres organization is aware of some fans wanting to donate money to help pay for the fine that was levied on Lindy Ruff by the NHL on Saturday. It certainly is a wonderful gesture by our fans to want to assist Lindy through various fundraisers, but the team will pay the fine. We do not want fans to donate any money to Lindy or the organization as a result of the fine.
The two gentlemen planning fundraisers to raise $ have said that any money raised will be donated to the charity of the Sabres’ choice.
We take care of our own here in Buffalo. If you come after one of us, you come after all of us. Buffalo may have its share of problems, but we are a tight knit city when it comes to getting down and dirty. It’s a mentality that doesn’t exist everywhere. It didn’t even exist in Buffalo on Thursday night with the Senators because nobody came to Ray Emery’s defense after he was attacked by our own Andrew Peters. Now, Emery is their toughest player, but something has to be said for principle. Protecting our own. It’s what we do.
Inside this room…
What: Common Council Meeting - they passed a resolution opposing the sale of the arts at the Albright Knox Art Gallery. This is a public hearing.
Where: City Hall, 13th Floor (65 Niagara Square)
When: Tuesday, February 27, 6:00 PM
Who: Louis Grachos, Director of the gallery and Charles Banta, President of the Board will present the Gallery’s deaccession plan to the Council in response to the resolution
I was going to post the discussion points, but they were rather lengthy. If you are interested in reading them, please e-mail Joanna: jgillespie@mercurycapitalpartners.com and she will be happy to forward them on.
“The Forgotten City”
ARTVOICE DOCUMENTARY SERIES and KNUCKLE CITY FILMS
PRESENTS | A FREE SCREENING of The Forgotten City
At: Gallery 164 |164 Allen St. Buffalo, NY 1420| For More Info: 716.883.7539
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 @ 7PM
The Forgotten City is a soul stirring documentary taking place in Buffalo, New York exploring race relations, segregation, crime, and politics. Through exclusive breathtaking footage and one-on-one interviews with many citizens and some of Buffalo’s most influential leaders, The Forgotten City exposes the bitter truth about Buffalo and all inner cities. It challenges stereotypes, encourages change and shakes up the status quo. Buffalo was once a booming city; one of richest in the United States and is now a place where crime, racism and poverty plague a once great city.
This film is a personal journey of two young filmmakers who forged an unlikely partnership following a 2001 murder; one a friend of the victim and the other a friend of the murderer. Instead of waging war, they embarked on a documentary film project that would take them into the heart of Buffalo’s most dispossessed communities and crime ridden streets. The result of their exploration is a documentary film with a raw, hard-hitting, unblinking first-hand look at the way some of us really live in America. This film brings to light the racial turmoil and economic hardships that have become the lifestyle of so many living in Buffalo’s inner city.
The Forgotten City, however, is not simply a film about the problems that plague Buffalo’s inner city; it can easily be the story of any American city and is a film that everyone should see.
This is an extremely important film about young people in this city…
To Deaccession or Not to Deaccession…that is the question!
There is an interesting article in Artvoice today about the deaccessioning of antiquities by the Albright Knox.
I’ll admit…I know very little about either art, art history or deaccessioning. So, when someone contacted me last week to see if I would help spread the word, I agreed to meet and learn more about the process and what it would mean for the future of the gallery.
After spending time with Charles Banta, President of the board of the Albright Knox (BFAA) yesterday, I have to admit that I found myself asking why people are opposing it? Am I in support of the deaccession? No…I haven’t heard the opposition’s side of it. Do I oppose the deaccession? No. BUT, it seems to me that without the deaccession, the future of the gallery is unclear…and if the majority of the pieces to be auctioned off are kept in storage, who is really missing them?
Tomorrow, I’ll upload a file with the gallery’s discussion points about the deaccession and why it’s necessary to sustain the gallery. After you’ve read the discussion points, I encourage you to find out the opposite point of view - information is always our best ally - and then to consider joining the gallery.
The first auction is scheduled for March 19. If the opposers of the deaccession obtain 300 signatures, they can bring them to the gallery and request a special meeting, even though it is without legal standing. At the special meeting a membership vote would be held (hence the importance of joining if you want your voice to be heard). What’s interesting to note is that the board voted unanimously to deaccess back in November…and after another pole of the members, that remains unchanged.
For more information, check out this article in the News today.
I’m interested to know what you have to say about this…
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
I have a friend who works at Rich’s…and we’ve been talking about how to better get the word out about available jobs to folks. Rich’s currently has a number of job openings, so we’re going to post them on the blog. I’m a little behind already with this, but so far, here’s what we have:
Manufacturing Division Controller
IS Infrastructure Project Manager
Senior Financial Analyst Corporate Planning
Assistant Marketing Manager-JV Subs-International
That’s all I’ve got for now, but they continue to roll in daily…for a complete listing of jobs at Rich’s, click here.
Abraham Lincoln
Buffalo’s 133rd Annual Commemoration of President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday and the War for the Union to be Held Sunday at Historical Society.
Sunday, February 18, 2007, the public is invited at no charge to witness the ceremonial commemoration of the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, at 1:30 PM at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Gather around the bronze statue of Lincoln which overlooks Mirror Lake, outdoors on the museum portico at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue.
There will be a Colors Advance, the Invocation from Chaplain Cook, Tributes from the assembled units, then a Military Salute with rifles fired, and Colors Retire.
Ample parking is free also in the museum’s lot at Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue, near the History Museum exit of the Scajaquada Expressway (Route 198).
Honoring a long-standing tradition, members of the Buffalo Civil War Round Table will present tributes and a military salute, led by Benedict Maryniak re-enacting Chaplain Philos G. Cook of the 94th New York Volunteers. Participating will be living members of the 140th and the 155th New York Volunteers, Army of the Potomac;
22nd Battalion Virginia Volunteers, Army of Northern Virginia; Philos G. Cook Camp #223, Sons of Union Veterans; John B. Weber Camp, Sons of Union Veterans; The Buffalo Guards Camp #1975, Sons of Confederate Veterans; and the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Henrietta York Circle #91 and the Ladies Auxiliary, Sons of
Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Represented will be descendants of people who served in the various units. Also present will be people in Civil War era garb, including the voluminously-skirted ladies dresses of the period. Ceremony participants welcome questions from visitors
after the ceremony.
The national commemoration of President Lincoln’s birthday, actual date of February 12, began in Buffalo in 1874. It is the legacy of Julius Francis, owner of a Main Street drug store, who deeply revered the martyred President and undertook the respectful public emembrance of the man as his life’s mission. Francis underwrote and organized the first public ceremony, in 1874, and presented it every year for
the rest of his life, as well as similar programs in the local schools. Two petition appeals to the United States Congress succeeded in establishing the legal holiday of Lincoln’s birthday. Congress in more recent times combined the February birthdays of President Lincoln and President George Washington into the national Federal holiday
observation known as “President’s Day”.
Mr. Julius Francis donated his collection of Civil War and Lincoln-related documents and artifacts to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Funds from the Francis estate were used to commission the bronze seated Lincoln statue by sculptor
Charles Niehaus, which was unveiled in 1902. It stands on the south portico of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society as a lasting tribute to both the man who would have a nation remember its Civil War President and to President Abraham Lincoln.
For further information, call (716) 873-9644 or consult www.bechs.org.
7.7.07
S.O.S. - Save Our Selves.
What are you doing on 7.7.07? No matter where you are, you will be able to hear, see, go to a concert to support the Climate crisis we are currently facing.
If you haven’t seen Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, see it…admittedly, I haven’t yet, but it will arrive via flickr next week. It’s an issue that faces all of us, everywhere on the planet. It’s a global issue. No matter which continent, which country you live in, it affects you.
7.7.07 will be a concert with famous musicians on every continent, performing to support our planet. Radio, internet, television, you name it…they’ve covered it…Check out Live Earth for more information.
Snow? So What!
I have a question for you…something that Jen asked yesterday. When did we start cancelling things based on the fact that snow is predicted? When? I missed that memo!
Yesterday…schools and businesses started to close because they were predicting a foot of snow. A foot of snow! This isn’t Charlotte, people. This is Buffalo. We know how to handle snow. We’ve been dealing with it forever. We survived the blizzard of ‘77, that crazy Thanksgiving storm about 7 years ago, hell…we survived the October Surprise Storm. And we’re crying about a foot of snow? We still have less snow than Oswego does…they have more than 100″ of snow now. They can whine and cancel stuff. When we do it based on 1′ of snow…it makes us soft…and we’re not soft!
