Comic, tragic, saccharine, and sour, 464 Gallery opens “Romance” on Friday, February 12th, 6-11PM, with works from local artists that celebrate love in all of its varied forms.
464 owner Marcus L. Wise opened the gallery doors on Friday the 13th, February ’09 with their premiere art event “Bad Love”. Even with an inauspicious start date, 464 has found much success over the past year, and has much to celebrate on their upcoming first year anniversary.
The gallery has proven to be a valuable fixture in the community. In the past eleven months 464 Gallery has hosted more 40 events including member shows, UB & Buff State student shows, and outdoor art fairs, many of which drew crowds upward of 200 visitors each time. They created and hosted the a Town Hall meeting on the Arts that brought Mayoral candidates Byron Brown and Mickey Kearns together for their first face to face event.
In addition to an ongoing schedule of art openings, happy hours and social networking events, 464 co-hosts an open mic poetry and prose event, Tangential Readings, every last Wednesday of the month. They also offer a growing variety of classes, custom framing provided by gallery partner Framed & Cornered, and tutoring opportunities.
The new show will include works from the following artists: Caroline Bronckers, Scott Carr, Jackie Daunce, Alana Fajemisin, John Farallo, Kayla Marie Fritz, Lynda Gates, T.J. Griffin, Patti Harris, Joelle LoDestro, Ingrid Luongo, Nickel City Girls Design, Beth Pascucci, Destiny Rogowski, Tara Sasiadek, Kristen Szramkowski, Chuck Tingley Marcus L. Wise and many more. And as usual, the work of 40+ member artists will be on display and available for purchase. There will also be a Jewelry sale featuring the work of Talulah, Crocus Bay, Jeannie Foster, and Tara Nova, and live music from classical guitarist Ray Lorigo.
You can preview the work of many of the gallery’s member artists, along with the gallery’s events calendar and much more on their website that preceded the gallery by two years, and continues to grow its membership each year.
“Romance” will be reprising their interactive arts installation- “What’s in your heart” from their grand opening, where each visitor gets to get creative and cut out a heart and write what they love on it. Each heart is then hung in the display windows of the gallery for the three week duration of the show. It was a success last year, not to mention adding a little love in the air for the Amherst street neighborhood who got to see it every day as they passed by.
Additionally, there will be a silent auction to benefit the gallery over the coming year, featuring great items and services including custom painted portraits, painting courses, guitar lessons and much more.
“I am excited to be at the heart of the emerging arts district that Amherst Street is becoming. Even in economically challenging times, it has been a great year, and I wanted to take this opportunity to throw a thank you party for our members, our friends and fans. I also hope it will bring more, much deserved attention to the great things happening on our street,” says 464 Gallery owner Marcus L. Wise.
Enjoy complimentary beer, wine and food until it runs out. The show will run through February 28th. 464 Gallery is not just a great place to view great local art from emerging creatives, but they are also open six days a week with a lot of great, locally made art prints and gifts starting at prices as low as $5: Tues-Fri 12-6, Sat 11-6 and Sun11-5.