Those of us living in Buffalo and the Western New York region are privileged to always have an abundance of cultural venues at our fingertips. We all know (or at least we should) of Shea’s Performing Arts and the world-renowned Albright-Knox Art Gallery. These two Buffalo institutions continue to serve our community and broaden the perspectives of all who patronize them. But there are other less high profile venues – perhaps even unknown to many who call Buffalo home – that deserve our attention. We of Youth Leadership Erie County chose to visit these places and learn more about them on December 11th.
Off to the side of the Albright-Knox, sits a piece of Buffalo’s prideful past. The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (BECHS) is housed within the last vestige of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, which drew 8 million into Buffalo over six months, and was the largest display of electrical power of its time.
In 1902 this building, the Pan-American Building, was given to the Historical Society to serve as its primary headquarters. Today, over 100 years later, BECHS serves as an excellent way to connect the past of Buffalo to its present and future. With over 100,000 items, its collection is guaranteed to teach something new about the region in which we live.
A short drive down Elmwood Avenue will lead you to Ujima Company…if you don’t drive right past it. Inconspicuously located in TheatreLoft, Ujima has been locally owned and operated for 30 years. Lorna C. Hill, the company’s founder and artistic director, is an inspirational woman, who will tell anyone who will listen that her theatre is as genuine and single-focused as the day it began. She and some of the company’s longer tenured members will joke that they began with no money and still have no money three decades later. But what they lack in monetary richness is more than made up for by the richness of their mission. Since the day it began, Ujima has tried to supply Western New York with diverse theatre experiences they might not otherwise have available to them.
The word Ujima is Swahili for “collective work and responsibility” and that is truly what this theatre company has demonstrated for 30 years. Lorna says that she feels a sense of indebtedness to those who gave her an opportunity, and that is why she is willing to share her space and resources with other companies in the region that may otherwise never get a chance. The Ujima Company derives its purpose not from the money it makes, but rather from the impact it makes on all who witness its brilliance and uncompromising vision.
There are still more cultural gems in the city. Buffalo is blessed to have its own Theatre of Youth, which has entertained children with age-appropriate theatrical performances for 37 years. And the newly constructed Burchfield-Penney Art Center on Buffalo State College’s Campus opened to great fanfare in November. The first new gallery of its caliber in decades, the Burchfield-Penny houses artwork from area artists. All of these places make Buffalo the culturally rich city it is known to be…and, we are told, there are far more world-class artistic venues around the region that haven’t even been mentioned. It’s up to you to go and find them. Enjoy!
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