Buffalo Rising Online

Buffalo is #1 on National List of Top Arts Destinations. As I read the headline, I paused in disbelief. My city? Number 1? In something positive?

Sure enough, AmericanStyle magazine ranked Buffalo number one on its list of Top 25 Arts Destinations. The report by WGRZ cited: AmericanStyle readers referring to Buffalo as ‘a hidden jewel’ and ‘a well-kept secret'. We agree.

What makes our city a top art destination? Let us focus on just one element—artists who find their creative juices inspired and released here.

The proof is Artspace Buffalo Lofts, 60 housing units with shared studio space that is currently filled, with a waiting list 300 deep. Which brings us to the focus of our article—Bass Reeves, songwriter.

His current album is #2 in the world on MP3 download charts.

Bass is a produ…

Let's say right off the bat that the term "artistic genius" is thrown about a bit much. But in the case of AJ Fries, the word genius is more than an admission on his business card. Sure, it's a laugh, and Fries is good for plenty of those. But then you see one of his paintings, and the levity dwindles to total silence. He's a dead-on realist with camera-like precision. His paintings are awesomely three dimensional, and one sees all at once that the genius bit is no joke.

When you realize that you're looking at a painted image, not a photograph, something fires in your brain; you're head cantors to the side, and there's an almost uncomfortable sense of trying to right yourself in front of something that you know is a painting while another part of you thinks, No. No way. No one can paint a pile of clear bubbles like that. Or, No way in hell is that not a photograph of wate…

Donn Esmonde moved to Buffalo in January of 1982, after accepting the job as sports feature writer/columnist at The News. "It was bitter cold and the snow was piled high all over the place. 
I stayed because I discovered a sense of community that seemed non-existent in the Long Island suburb where I was raised. It seemed like one person here could make a difference, whereas down there you were just another ant on the world’s biggest anthill. And I also stayed because The News has been kind enough to allow me to switch jobs as my interests changed per cause or project. Fighting to resurrect history at Erie Canal Harbor became, for years, like a part time job," Esmonde said, adding, "Besides, the world doesn’t need another bad electric guitar player!"

Q: 
Best thing to happen in Buffalo in past 20 years? A: The conversion of long-vacant downtown buildings int…

Celia White is a well-known Buffalo poet with one published book, six chapbooks, and for the past decade she has organized the Urban Epiphany poetry reading. She was this year's recipient of Artvoice’s Best of Buffalo Awards for Best Poet/Spoken Word Artist. Writing has always come naturally for White. “I’ve been writing since I was child--around age 11, I’d say,” says White. She has kept a journal since that age, and started writing fiction in college.

White says the journaling she has done is not so much about cataloging her own experiences, “I think for me, the process of writing it down is more important than the writing itself. That interest in the process of writing carries over to her attitude toward poetry. In her own words, “Mainly what I’m interested in is how people put their experience into words.”

White didn't start reading her poetry until 19…

Being in the Bay area and Northern California for the last 2 years, I can see my already beloved Buffalo with new eyes. More importantly, after studying culinary arts and working within the field, I can taste the city with a new palate. I have had the fortunate opportunity to get my first bite of Buffalo at the new Tabree restaurant on Elmwood. My guest and I had the privilege to indulge in an amazing tasting menu off of their abbreviated menu during the soft opening.

Tabree is the fusion of the extensive culinary background of Bryan Bryndle and the tasteful artistic energy of his partner, Tara DeJoseph. Bryndle, who studied at the French Culinary Institute, and has a resume that would impress, with such notable positions as the maitre d' at The Four Seasons Restaurant for six years, captain of the Gotham Bar and Grill, service director of Pastis. He was also inducted into …

At the age of 14, Larry III began working on his father’s steel commissions. During high school summers, Larry was involved in moving Griffis Sculpture Park to Ashford Hollow and then erecting and installing the sculptures. There was great excitement in the early years in Buffalo at both the Sculpture Park and Essex Street.

"My father would have these huge projects, and I worked for him in the summers," Griffis said. He taught my brother Mark and I how to work with steel, how to fabricate it and how to bend it. Think Birds Excited Into Flight on Bidwell Parkway. I've been in this for most of my life." Though, when pinned down for an answer, Griffis says his favorite medium is bronze, he has extensive experience with many different mediums.

Griffis recalls a five-minute sketch his father made on a napkin that became a summer-long lesson in fabrication for him. …

Buffalonians always love a good party. Whether it be strolling the streets of Allentown's Art Festival or digesting their ways through the Taste of Buffalo, the opportunity to celebrate is never passed up by Buffalo residents. So, what better an occasion to eat, dance, and compete than the Augustine “Pucho” Olivencia Community Center's 39th Annual Grease Pole Festival on July 18th, 19th, and 20th.

Buffalo's oldest Puerto Rican Festival and rated one of Western New York's Top Ten Festivals by the Buffalo Evening News, the Grease Pole Festival is one you cannot miss. Taking place outside the Community Center on 261 Swan Street, thousands of people will gather to celebrate Puerto Rican culture, and if the large amount of people doesn't give the festivities away, the traditional music from as far as Texas and Puerto Rico will. Delicious Latin food will be served as friend…

After a cold Buffalo winter there so many things to look forward to when the flowers start to blossom and the thermostat rises. Throughout the country, cities and towns, big and small, celebrate the simple pleasures in life--food and drink. Some are grandiose and well known like the Aspen Food and Wine classic, but Buffalo holds the great distinction of holding the second largest food festival in the country.

This year, "The Taste" celebrates its 25th year with some interesting changes and old favorites to please the senses. Over the past quarter century the event has grown from a humble 10,000 attendees to nearly a quarter million expected this year.

I was able to speak with Kevin Cavalieri, Chairman of the event, about this year's Taste of Buffalo, and we shared the excitement of this year's event, its history and the changes that will take place. This year they will be of…

Richard Kegler is to computer fonts as Indiana Jones is to archeology.

Like Indiana Jones, Kegler can make a seemingly humdrum topic like fonts seem extremely interesting. Kegler scrutinizes ancient scripts and historical writings for unusual lettering, which can all be transformed and preserved into digital fonts.

When he is not rummaging through texts, Kegler is also the creative director at P22, a “virtual” company in Buffalo that licenses fonts and typefaces to major publishers, in-house designers, and scrap bookers from around the world.

You may not know the name P22, but you have seen its fonts. Some of the company’s most treasured work appears in best-selling novels, on signs hanging in some of the most beautiful cities in the world, and here in the pages of Buffalo Rising.

“Walk through any book shop and you will see our fonts on covers of many books,” …