Buffalo Rising Online

Feb 28th, 2:05pm By queenseyes

While taking a tour of the Pierce Arrow the other day, I was introduced to Aimee Buyea, a local multi-media aficionado who told me that she is trying to establish a permanent home for her art collective. When I spoke with her earlier, she told me that the ball was already rolling and that she and her collective were focusing on 'bringing down' the art community to a level that was open to a younger crowd of diversified artists. When I asked Aimee what sort of plan she had in mind, she had this to say:

"We started toying with the concept last year... I went to UB for media studies and I found that the local art scene was somewhat limiting for younger artists. I would go to Hallwalls, Squeaky Wheel and the Albright-Knox and there was always an older crowd there, which was fine. But there were not many young people at these shows. It was then that I decided to host a variety show in the attic of my UB South home. We organized six of these events... and we were getting over 100 people in attendance.

“I left town for six months to learn about the art world in Massachusetts. When I came back to Buffalo, people wanted to know if I was going to start up the attic shows again. So I did… but the shows were not open to the public due to being in a private house. There is a big underground moment taking place in Buffalo in younger people’s homes… many of them are hosted by the younger artists (for young people who appreciate art). Ever since Kitchen Distribution closed on the West Side, there has been nothing to take venue’s place. Kamikaze was another one that ended. And Access on Main Street closed too. These were all places that would attract the younger people… these places open for a year and then disappear.

“I've been researching a ton of art-related groups, ideas, and models. I've been making a lot of connections here and around the country. I'm trying to develop a model that works for Buffalo. We met with SCORE to find out what we need to do this legally and with permits. We're involved with Soundlab and other local organizations. We have a big community meeting this Friday... we need to get a lot of people involved. Instead of complaining that there are not enough things to do, we need to create spaces and activities for young people. Friday’s potluck is a DIT (Do It Together) meeting (with a presentation, a survey and a facilitated talkback). We have some money and we’re moving this idea forward.

There will also be benefit show in March (we'll keep you posted). This is about creating an ‘inclusionary’ art scene... sometimes the art scene can be intimidating for younger people. We're going to set a precedent for what art can be... and who can be involved. We are looking for a permanent space right now (hello Prish?)... we have some leads and contacts, but we're looking for more. The energy is already awesome and we don't even have a tangible space yet."

If you would like to get in touch with Aimee about a space or getting involved with her collective, you can email her here.