Overview of the echo Art Fair

The highly anticipated echo Art Fair is coming together as an exciting confluence of fine art, events, public-art installations, private art tours, food, drink, and live performance art--all taking place in the burgeoning Larkin District. The echo Art Fair is a homegrown event with a regional, national and international reach. Serious and beginning collectors and students of all ages will walk the fair and revel in this opportunity to meet artists, shop or browse, and enjoy the creative milieu. 

Amidst this atmosphere of creativity, expats and out-of-towners, international art press, and artists and galleries from Portland, Oregon, to Toronto, to Tonawanda will converge. The second annual echo Art Fair will be a robust extravaganza, guaranteed (see schedule).

The main event, the two-day juried fine art fair, will take place on July 7-8, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. There is no admission charge. To complement the fair itself, there are myriad additional elements:

• Start out with a VIP event Friday, July 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Albright-Knox director Louis Grachos will guide a select group on an exclusive tour of several important private collections, as well as the Albright-Knox's current exhibit "Wish You Were Here." $150 for this event. Lunch is included. Email: echoartfair@gmail.com to register.

• Friday, July 6, 6 to 8 p.m, the fair offers a VIP preview party, sponsored by Tecumseth Street Galleries--four Toronto-based contemporary art galleries: Birch Libralato, Diaz Contemporary, Georgia Scherman Projects, and Susan Hobbs. With a $50 VIP ticket purchase, VIP preview party attendees gain the opportunity to preview and purchase artwork. With their advance ticket purchase, they also receive a free subscription to Buffalo Spree magazine, the fair's media sponsor. Sample restaurant, the award-winning, forward-thinking Allentown favorite, will provide delicious food and drink--as a major sponsor, they will also be vending fresh and locally sourced food at the fair throughout the weekend.

• For the run of the fair, site-specific installations will be positioned in and around the surrounding areas of the Larkin Center of Commerce. The neighboring Larkin Development Group is sponsoring the installations, which will not be for sale. Joanna Gillespie, local art consultant, is managing the placement and installation of these projects

• An echo Art Fair panel discussion, presented by First Niagara, takes place Saturday, July 7, at 10 a.m. at the newly opened Filling Station restaurant. "Art Collecting 101" will be moderated by Gerald C. Mead, Jr., an artist, collector, curator and educator. Participants include Nick Norton/collector, Nina Freudenheim/gallerist, Adam Greenberger/gallerist. Admission to the panel is free.

• On July 7 is a Saturday night dance party, dubbed "d'echodance." It is hosted by long-time event promoter Tony Billoni, and will take place at DNIPRO Ukrainian Hall. Admission is $5 at the door, with a cash bar. Partial proceeds from the event will go to Give 4 Greatness, the campaign to benefit the arts and education in Buffalo. Stay up-to-date on the d'echodance Facebook page.