Bunnytown
During a recent BRO Friday Happy Hour (hosted by Westcoast), a viewer (GTO) chimed in with a question relating to Bunnytown in the city's Cobblestone District. GTO wanted to know what Bunnytown was and Arete was good enough to find someone to answer that question. The following is a response from Bunnytown co-founder, John McKendry:
The concept was started by myself with most of the credit going to Carly Hill. We should have had a business plan and adhered to it. It was named Bunnytown because of the large number of rabbits running through the area.
At one point there were 9 artists on the second floor of the two story building at 49 Illinois across front the Sabres parking ramp. Openings at the location started out to be very successful but failed because there were no time parameters regarding the evening closings and consequently complaints arose from the neighbors as to the wee hours that celebrating took place.
Openings were accompanied by bands and political speeches and a high degree of enthusiasm followed, but without a business plan things spiraled out of control.
I felt I should shut the operation down after a year, try to form a board of directors and have a committee choose, based on artistic talent and education, who would be future tenants at a reasonable rent. Up to this time Carly collected enough from the artists to just pay utilities. She often fronted the money herself.
Unfortunately the tenant on the first floor was not happy and would not commit to renew his lease and the sale of the building shortly followed.
The amazing thing was that the chemistry of the whole thing worked well and it could be used as a model for someone to try the same thing later in a similar warehouse district.
I blame myself somewhat for my naiveté in not policing the operation better as the artistic community that the concept drew, had no concept of time, no respect for other people’s property and a freebird way of dealing with the opportunity afforded them.
The age group of the artists that were involved were in their late 20's. I had a close friend and college professor who taught art at one of our colleges get involved to try (in my mind) to advise these younger artists on utilizing this opportunity properly. She was my biggest disappointment as she at age 40 soon took on the younger artists bad habits. I won't bore you with the irresponsible things that happened.
I will mention one episode however that brought the concept to a quick halt.
Someone of the 9 artists allowed a group of skinheads to use the building for self-mutilization which if it is a form of art was just too much for me.
In retrospect there may not be any limits to creativity in the field of art but there has to be some respect and an ability to work with the business community who realizes that art can bring about critical mass and thereby contribute to economic development.
Respectfully submitted,
John McKendry
A great concept that just needed a bit more forethought. I hope john does not let this experience deter him from attempting another shot at this.
Coming from a site that's rightly taken the lead in condeming graffiti as a scourge on our fair city, the images illustrating this story are a big dissapointment.
when was all this happening?
W: hmm - the grafitti's not on the brick - and it does mark the location for the story....
If you paint it on your own building it is not graffiti. Is that so hard to understand?
The bunny is actually a nice drawing too
Yes, but I thought half the rage and vitriol "New Buffalo" has toward graffiti was that it scared the neighborhood's lil old ladies and signified crime and blah blah blah. So which is it? Because if you are gonna condemn Meth and Atak, you ought to just as easily condemn the pretty little artists as well. You can't have it both ways.
I also think that this particular graffiti wasn't bad. It reminds me of this incredibly talented graffiti artist in London (I can hear the shrieks now but check his work out.) named Banksy. If you've heard of him, you know that the bunnies don't exactly compare, but you also know that rather than being simply destructive, there can be a rare artistic/political/emotional side to graffiti once in a while. And I don't know what it is, but I think the bunnies are kind of cool. Here's a link to some Banksy work to see a different side to graffiti that almost makes you forget it's graffiti: http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/03.html#
Bark
Why don't you put forth an honest argument.
The difference is that this graffiti was painted with permission and was not intended as a destructive act. In your example those punks painted on the little old ladies houses without permission as an act of destruction.
Is it really that hard to uinderstand the difference?
Focus people. The story is about an attempt to bring an art collective into existence---not graffiti. An image on a bldg done/alllowed by the owner is not graffiti. Move on people.
Ditto as Pauldub: I hope someone with a plan steps forward.
Bark does have an argument.
From a site that has been leading the anti-graffiti movement, to post that picture is a double edged sword. Yes, it does mark the building and isn't done by a random graffiti artist - but by a tentant of the building (from what I understand).. But - there is no discernible mark to say that this is Not graffiti or "bad" graffiti.
When I started reading the piece, I thought it would be another anti-graffiti piece.. yet it was a (kind of) positive piece about a semi-successful art space. Yet, Mollie asks "when was all of this happening?". The same question I had. When you host something in the decaying parts of downtown Buffalo, in a unmarked building, except with a spray painted bunny on a metal sheet. That doesn't exactly welcome the public. I'm not saying the graffiti had anything to do with the decline of the building - I just agree that it's a poor photo used to promote something that isn't around anymore, especially after the heated debates concerning Atak and Meth. Who were showcased on this site with a slideshow - with half of the pictures not on Brick - but on streetsigns and metal traffic control boxes.
Just misleading. I felt the same way Bark did. And that was why.
rick: Those punks did not paint on old ladies' houses. They painted on old brick buildings, street signs, etc. I never said anywhere in my post that they did. Perhaps you should brush up on your reading comprehension and your own dishonest arguments.
Thank you Dave.
All I wanted to do was point out the hypocrisy. Obviously, I'm not the only one who sees it. You can't launch all out war on graffiti artists, publicly ask for their heads, demand prison sentences, and then in the next breath laud a different group of artists who also employ graffiti, just because you happen to like their (cute) bunny graffiti. It's absurd.
Matt: Banksy is amazing. But if you are gonna tow the hardline graffiti is crime bullshit that Forever Elmwood and BRO commentors call for, then he too should be in prison. Sad, eh?
The counter argument of the owner allowing the graffiti is the flawed argument. The fact is that this building has no other identifier but the spray painted bunny. Readers of the article see a worn-down building, with a graffiti bunny, period.
We should answer these questions:
1. What were the "irresponsible acts" that led to the demise of the project. (Not boring, but essential to understand why this failed.)
2. Why wasn't the space better advertised, save the poorly spray painted graffiti-esque bunny?
The little old ladies with money aren't going to go there to buy art in that space.
The bunny's got nothing on Banksy.
What is the real point of the article? We have a neighborhood collective (810 Elmwood). The one in the article isn't around anymore.
Bark
The difference is that the punks were destroying something that was not theirs. The artists were not. You understand the difference so stop playing dumb
Let us not drift off subject. The article is not about the bunny. The point of the article was to identify what bunnytown was. That simple. Yeah, we know about 810 Elmwood, but that does not tell us what bunnytown was. And obviously it was no 810 Elmwwod. They got it right.
The bunny was spray painted on the ajoining building not the building in question. During the operation of bunnytown the grafitti was not there it was sprayed on after the operation closed.
My last point is that if you read the article you would see that they rented the space and did not own it. I would be willing to bet that the building owner did not consent to have the graffiti sprayed on the building by the tenants.
Then it is graffiti.
Option 1: Foam at the mouth, demand lynching.
Option2: Perp pays hefty fine and cleans up mess.
I'm an option 2 kinda guy.
by the above descriptions -- the guys marking the ground with spray paint to indicate where gas and electric lines is graffiti. if spraypaint=vandalism, why isn't the stuff outlawed? please let go of this flimsy and off-subject argument. please.
p.s. i am still curious as to when this artisis' group was in existence.
8 hours later and still no answer? We definitely have a focus problem here.
Further derailing an article about an otherwise interesting indy art project (self-mutilation! now thats avant-guardism right here in ole' buffalo!) ,
Is that Bunny dropping feces behind it! If so its public lewdness too!
That's nice graffiti! And for you small town hick provincials in backwater Buffalo, the crap the kids were doing is called tagging... it's where they scribble their initials on any flat surface they can find, preferal your flat foreheads the next time.
Whatever Powerpuff Girl. Is it really called tagging? No duh, f...tard. Please save the high and mighty drivel for your mother.
this graffitti issue is obviously not as black and white as those "new" buffalonians want everyone to think.
Dave, I don't remember "new" buffalo taking a stance against graffiti. It's tagging that is destroying the neighborhoods. It's the taggers who are getting busted. It's the taggers who give graffiti artists a bad name.That's black and white enough for me.
okay - never for a moment did I intend to RE-spark the grafitti debate when I went recruiting for this post. I also have never considered BRO as the ones leading the 'anti-grafitti' charge...that strikes me as something more "Forever Elmwood/West Side subgroup contingent-esque". I consider this site to be, instead, the best facilitator for developing the conversation and evaluation of B-town issues.
I distinquish between tagging and grafitti, and personally, love the bunny visual. I haven't yet heard if the owner of the building has a problem with it, and if so, I will immediately re-evaluate my position.
And back to the artist community topic, which I am far more interested in at the moment: John's referred to a variety of issues with his story...and the grafitt conversation seems to be a micro version of something similar.
My problems are with mindless 'feel good' acts of destruction and 'frothing-at-the-mouth' community members who'd rather lynch a prepetuator than consider and resolve the larger issues at play.
We have a significant community of youth and artists who are at various stages of development - I'd like to see a conversation about Bunnytown develop and contribute to that, rather than lambast it for not being what you think it should be.
I want the chemistry of Bunnytown! I want art creating critical mass that contributes to economic development! I want art and politics and emotion communicated!
Unfortunately I think Buffalo is too closed minded today for a real art scene to develop. Buffalo is not yet equipped for difference. The kind of art that kids are producing today aren't going to fly with the people who are downtown or moving downtown... yups. One thing to consider... would all this housing boom be taking place if the yups didn't catch on to the idea of urban living and design from watching HGTV from their West Seneca cul-de-sac?
1. Can anyone answer Mollie's question in between graffiti rants?
2. Can we get back on topic as Arete suggests?
3. The last 3 people in know of that moved into buffalo last year had a COMBINED income of 75k. Not exactly yups. Their plan is to save a bit and buy a 3/3 double. Simple, modest, and lets them live where they want. That type of person is needed in the city just as much as the yups.
still curious...
i am beginning to think this bunnytown never really existed.
Bunnytown was in operation for a year from 4/03 thru 4/04
thank you very much john.
assuming you are the same john who wrote this post, would you be interested in coming to talk with us about bunnytown on an ARTiculate podcast sometime? -mollie
i like the drawing, which is the term I would apply to it.
Mollie, there is another neat warehouse space being used by artists that you may have heard of. It's called Kitchen Distribution and it's at the end of Ferry. They have had a few installations, exhibitions, and performances there and I have heard very good things. They may also be looking for artists to have studios there--not sure. I did a search of this blog and didn't find any posts on it.
Buffalo has a history of artists using raw space or out-of-the-way space to do not-so-maintream types of projects. Sometimes, spaces like 810 Elmwood, great though it is, are not always the right place.
There was also Kamikaze, on Ellicott, and Formula in the Great Arrow building, both no longer in existence. They don't always last. And that's not even so bad--it's the nature of this type of space.
Pauladub: there is a 3/3 double on Carolina Street behind the Herman Badillo School with a sign that is asking $35K cash.
Applause should go to my good friend John McKendry, who is an avid supporter of young artists (myself included). He is out there looking for ways to make Buffalo viable for "emerging artists."
Bunnytown was everything the Neighborhood Collective and most of the current galleries in Buffalo are not. Bunnytown and the "artist run spaces" Elizabeth mentioned are THE UNDERGROUND. There is no screening, there is no submitting to funders for support. It is not about selling a pretty picture. It is about exploring the world we live in. It is all about mucky, ugly, and occasionally beautiful art. Not nicely framed pictures, but performance, acts of rebellion. The stuff that makes you uncomforatble.
This is where spaces like hallwalls and Big Orbit started too by the way, before they started courting funds from the State and people with big pockets. Nothing against these spaces, but actions at Bunnytown and the like are in a whole different world.
Mr. McKendry took a leap of faith. And, while there aren't any grandmothers living anywhere close to this warehouse, there were businesses, and boundaries were not respected.
The bunny drawing, by the way - is awesome. It helps to tell the story of what could have been.
And the cobblestone district is ripe with opportunity for artistic use of space.
Applause should go to my good friend John McKendry, who is an avid supporter of young artists (myself included). He is out there looking for ways to make Buffalo viable for "emerging artists."
Bunnytown was everything the Neighborhood Collective and most of the current galleries in Buffalo are not. Bunnytown and the "artist run spaces" Elizabeth mentioned are THE UNDERGROUND. There is no screening, there is no submitting to funders for support. It is not about selling a pretty picture. It is about exploring the world we live in. It is all about mucky, ugly, and occasionally beautiful art. Not nicely framed pictures, but performance, acts of rebellion. The stuff that makes you uncomforatble.
This is where spaces like hallwalls and Big Orbit started too by the way, before they started courting funds from the State and people with big pockets. Nothing against these spaces, but actions at Bunnytown and the like are in a whole different world.
Mr. McKendry took a leap of faith. And, while there aren't any grandmothers living anywhere close to this warehouse, there were businesses, and boundaries were not respected.
The bunny drawing, by the way - is awesome. It helps to tell the story of what could have been.
And the cobblestone district is ripe with opportunity for artistic use of space.
Marilyn - If my kid had 35k for the house, that means he could have paid me back by now. He has his long term goals, which not only include a home in buffalo, but a small business as well. It may take him a while, but I have no doubt he will succeed.
Bunnytown....and there isnt a restaurant in Buffalo that serves Rabbit!
As bugs would say....its Duck Season in Buffalo not Rabbit Season!
LOL
Rue Franklin serves rabbit.