By Rebecca Bratek:
This Friday, the sunny yellow gallery between Allen and North on Elmwood will be celebrating a new opening and exhibition--the Casa de Arte.

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It's hard to imaging that it's been twelve years since the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts (EAFA) was founded. In that time, the festival has grown in many ways, while at the same time it has remained true to its grassroots beginnings. The festival has helped to raise the cultural tide of Buffalo, and has been referenced time and time again as national media sources continue to acknowledge the driving players behind Buffalo's thriving art scene. 
This year, along with the best Kidsfest to be found anywhere, a second solar

Following is from Councilman David Franczyk regarding the attempt of an Atlantan congregation to pilfer Buffalo's architectural heritage (see recent post):
"I drafted a resolution (see below) that would help to prevent poaching of our architectural treasures. Putting Saint Gerard in suburban Atlanta is like putting it an an area with no appropriateness. It's not reflective of that neighborhood - it is reflective of Buffalo and the immigrants who built it. This plundering could start

Each year, the West Indies population in Buffalo organizes a parade and festival that starts at Niagara Square and ends at LaSalle Park. Hundreds of participants and spectators take to the streets, dressed in bright and showy costumes, many with fantastic plumes

At the bottom of a stair, just off the ornate main lobby of Shea's Buffalo Theater a carved door lets you into a hallway space so opposite in appearance from the elaborate picture palace above it is hard to believe that you are in the same building. Traversing the low dark pipe-lined hall, unceremoniously lit with bare fluorescent bulbs, you periodically pass oddities such as a gilded throne.  After a short distance the hall ends at a small basement room lined with full-height shelves, boxes and, files crammed with

The 500 Block of Main Street has some long-overdue life as the Main Washington Exchange has opened in 523 Main Street.  Main Washington Exchange is a shared work space offering an environment for like-minded individuals to build a community through collaboration and creativity.

Developer Roger Trettel purchased the property early last year planning a small mixed-use project.  Trettel's original vision was for Cornucopia, an incubator of sorts providing small spaces for retail or service tenants on the ground floor and live/work

Another incredible opportunity has been squandered this week on the east side. Late Sunday night a fire broke out as arsonists damaged 94 Northampton beyond repair. It's easy to write off this loss as "just one more" but this house had an incredible amount of character and great potential. The home is just one block away from the recently saved and rehabilitated

Back in 2009 I posted on the idea of turning an abandoned seaplane launch ramp at LaSalle Park into a kayak drop-in site and dog-friendly water access point (FB group). Since that time, waterfront activist Nate Drag has been keeping the candle lit and is now organizing a cleanup of the launch on Saturday, September 24th from 9am to 12pm (FB event). It's all part of Riverkeeper's

By Dean Evaniak:
Last evening, I attended a discussion at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta about the proposal to move St. Gerard's Church. The event was sponsored by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art and the Parish of Mary Our Queen in Norcross, Georgia. I must say, I went

When I was young, my favorite thing to do for my birthday was to go to a Japanese hibachi grill. I was fascinated by the chefs who would chop food at the speed of light, while tossing eggs in the air before breaking them on knives. The sound of the sizzling grill and the flames... I would go once a year until I finally 'outgrew' the theatrical dinner. It wasn't until last week when I realized that I had not actually outgrown my love of hibachi. A friend called me up and told me that a Japanese restaurant had opened in the former iHop restaurant on Delaware Avenue... and they had hibachi grills.

The Food Network is holding a contest called The Great Food Truck Race where people from around the country vote for their favorite food truck. Well, Buffalonians love two things - Lloyd the taco truck and voting in online contests. So it should come as as no surprise that little lovable Lloyd is currently ranked #1 in the country. That's right, just 13 months after first turning the key in the ignition, Lloyd is currently ranked America's favorite food truck. 
They've overcome a blown

By Joann Steinmetz:

Richard Raines wasn't looking to become a community activist.  But a series of car break-ins, burglaries, and muggings that plagued North Buffalo last fall motivated the Wellington Road homeowner to reach out to leaders of several neighborhood organizations and eventually establish the North Buffalo Coalition (NBC).

The Pan American Watch Area, Parkside Community Association, North Buffalo Block Club Association, Voorhees Block Club, Fordham Block Club and the Central Park Homeowners Association comprise the informal coalition and Raines has

By Samantha Murphy:

Chic and Sweet, a new women's apparel clothing store, has brought simple elegance and designer clothing to the Hertel District. Chic and Sweet, owned by Annemarie and Zack Schneider, just opened its doors on August 1.
 
The store, located at 1453 Hertel Avenue, offers women conservative, professional, and quality clothing you can't find anywhere else. Chic and Sweet carries 3 tiers of designer ware; high-end celebrity brands, like Tolani and Eva Franco, a middle price point and some younger, more affordable lines, such as Covet or Elan, which

Buffalo's film aficionados can experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to locally view a classic film alongside a musical performance by a groundbreaking musician. Steven Severin, best known as the bassist and co-founder of influential 1980s band Siouxsie and the Banshees, will perform a new score he created for Jean Cocteau's surrealist film Blood of a Poet in conjunction with a film showing. The show has toured throughout the UK and North America, and will now be presented once in Buffalo. The show will be hosted by Buffalo-produced television program Offbeat Cinema and Hallwall's

We all know how nice it is to have so many collegiate institutions in the region, especially since the advent of Service Learning programs. There is one university that's located 150 miles away that should also get some credit for lending a hand to our grassroots organizations. 

This summer, Cornell University offered its students a Service Learning and Action Research program called The High Road Runs Through the City/ The program teamed students up with local organizations affiliated with Partnership for Public Good. The goal was to immerse the students into hands-on learning

Back in June WCP reported that an upgrade was underway at this apartment building on Elmwood Avenue. While owner Barons of Buffalo, LLC has been busy on Elmwood, another apartment complex in the company's portfolio is getting similar treatment on Main Street.

Built as The Wayne apartments in 1914, the interior units eventually became downtrodden, and that was their condition when they were purchased by new owners. I spoke to General Manager Marilyn Rodgers who told me that

Every Saturday I will be featuring an obscure architectural element found in the city, to see if someone can figure out where it is.

We used to run this same sort of post every once in a while, but somehow got away from it.

There are no clues - just a photo depicting the item. I'm sure that there are a lot of BRO readers out there who have scoured the city and have seen just about all that there is to see. Others might learn about some of the more obscure detailing found in the different neighborhoods. Either way, I'll keep mixing it up each week to keep you guessing...

By Hannya Boulos - Buffalo ReformED:
 
After initial turnaround plans to receive School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding were denied by the New York State Education Department, The Buffalo Public School District has been given until August 31st to submit improvement plans or SURR plans for 7 of its persistently lowest achieving schools.
 
Although the district has until January 1 to submit plans to be considered for state funding, the district MUST submit to the state a school improvement plan by August 31st, regardless of the financial incentive. It is expected

A few months ago I wrote about St. John of God Church in Chicago (see here).  The closed and vacant church has been sold to another congregation in the Chicago suburbs and is currently being strip mined for reassembly several miles from the site it was designed for.  The interior of this church and all of its substructure will be sent to the dump.  The interior of another closed Chicago church will be assembled behind the facade of this church.  This Chicago scenario is disturbingly

By Nikki Drag:

464 Gallery owner, Marcus Wise, has done it again.  Tonight, Friday, August 12, he will introduce his newest contribution to the Arts Community in Buffalo. Studio 464, which will be located upstairs from 464 Gallery and offers rental workspaces available to local artists. It is a clean and serene area where creativity and spirited inventiveness is fostered.

Studio 464 was previously a 4-Bedroom Apartment that has been converted into four individual studio spaces with access to a full kitchen, full bathroom, attic storage, and a large open common