By: Kristen Becker
For the sake
of transparency, let me tell you that I first met Brian Wantuch when I was five years old. Don’t worry that I can’t be
impartial. I wasn’t allowed to actually hang out with him until I was
24.
As kids, we lived across the
street from one another. Twenty years later, after we had both moved out
of state and returned to Buffalo, we ended up across the street from
each other again, but this time we were kids playing grown up (and still
are). Brian came up to me and said, “Hey, I
know you.” I tell you this because
that is who Brian Wantuch is, the guy no one knows they know.
In the last twenty years, Brian has composed music for live theater
(Theater of Youth, New Phoenix and Irish Classical Theatre Company) and
was the owner of Wasteland Music on Elmwood Avenue (the first incarnation of which sat at the foot of Lancaster
Avenue). He has taught at Buffalo Academy of Visual Performing Arts,
has been a member of IATSE Local 10 for the last decade, had done
countless studio and live recordings, formed the band Elevation, had a
radio show, worked at Kleinhans–and that’s only a portion of his
accomplishments. I literally cannot list all that he has done here
because it just goes on and on. Suffice to say, this guy is woven into
the thread of Buffalo arts.
Most recently, Brian is the man behind
Wasteland Studios, Buffalo’s newest downtown art mecca. If you haven’t heard of it, let me give you a rundown. A few
years ago, 700 Main Street–a 50,000 square foot building–lost a large
percentage of its tenants, along with its neighbor, Studio Arena
Theater. Brian approached the building owner with an idea to create a
communal space, a home to artists in every genre and medium. “When you walk in and hear a guy practicing, it makes you want to
practice,” Brian says. “The people here produce, and we feed off each
other.”
There are
currently eleven bands renting practice/studio space at Wasteland, and
the development of larger business opportunities are taking shape.
Beyond Divine Machine Tattoo has opened a tattoo parlor on the first
floor, offering yoga and massage; they’ve expanded both their services
and their client base. The Vault, an art gallery that I would describe
as an intersection of art, is neighbor to the tattoo shop. There
is a floor for artists and a floor for photographers. The dance studio
is being rented for rehearsals and a dance company is forming. There is
no way to say this without sounding like a hippie, but, the energy just
feels really good in this building, man.
Brian’s long term vision
consists of a one stop shop for the arts, able to function within itself
and thereby giving birth to countless combinations of collaborations. I
met eight different artists on my visit, and when we needed a picture
for this article, lo and behold, Amanda Giczkowski,
curator of The Vault and a brilliant photographer in her
own right, happened to show up with her camera. That’s how things work
here.
Another part of Brian’s long
term vision is the creation of the executive suites. The creativity
felt throughout the building will be encouraged in the offices as well.
Artist in residence, Jeff Vincent, is painting a mural of sky and trees
on Brian’s ceiling, transforming the ceiling into a giant skylight.
“It’s bringing the outdoors in, and it gives a local artist the
opportunity to create something like a ceiling mural, which is very
difficult to do,” Brian told me. While I was there, he was in the
basement cutting tile into cobblestone shapes. Why? What else can you
make a cobblestone hallway out of? The executive hallway is designed in
the style of a European alley, lamp posts and all.
All this fun stuff is great, but
can Wasteland be successful? The building’s owner referred to Brian as a
“visionary” and told me that Wasteland “is doing better than I
expected”. Together they are working with UB to incorporate green
initiatives for the future.
There is so much going on in this space, it would take 4,000
words to detail every phenomenal artist who is creating here. In
addition to those I’ve mentioned, bands such as
Baby Blue Bird and Purgatory Kings have rehearsal/studio space here,
photographer Cheryl Gorski is here, as well as the Arts Council and
offices for IATSE Local 10.
Wasteland is a great space for professional artists. Brian is
currently looking for music teachers and artists for the spaces that
will be completed by the end of this month; only a couple of live music
rehearsal spaces remain open. For information about joining the
Wasteland community, contact them via email.
Wasteland Studios
700 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
—————-
Kristen
Becker is a comedian who started
her comedy career in Toronto 8 years ago, and since then has traveled
the continent performing and producing shows. She has opened for
national acts such as Doug Stanhope, Josh Blue (Winner of Last Comic
Standing), and Ani DiFranco. Additionally, Kristen beat out 60
contestants (all men) to win the 2006 Queen City Comedy Competition.
Becker was recently named “One of America’s Funniest Lesbians” by CURVE
Magazine, in a tie for #8 with Lily Tomlin. Locally, Becker has been
producing/hosting the Doin’ Time Stand-Up Comedy Showcase at Nietzsche’s
every Tuesday in Buffalo for the last 4 years.
Photo credit: Amanda Giczkowski