After taking a quick Monday afternoon walk with Mark Goldman, it was decided that there were some dead spaces on Allen Street that needed some touch ups in the form of public art. Mark suggested that a series of windows on the Licata Plumbing building would be the perfect place to start. After calling the owner of the building to ensure that the project was legit, Mark made a phone call to the featured artist at Allentown Hardware, Sarah Myers. If you have not seen Sarah’s work at the Allentown bistro, then please make it a point to stop in and see her series of paintings. Her pieces are whimsical, colorful and vibrant and will surely add to the Bohemian landscape of the street.
There are three arched windows at Licata’s Plumbing that Sarah will be working on over the course of a couple of weeks – if you’re familiar with the building (former ice cream shop 20 years ago), then you know it is the epitome of dull and boring. The first of the triptych will be a portrait (photo), while the consecutive two are still up in the air, but will correlate to the first. Thanks to Mark Goldman for purchasing the paint and to Sarah for donating her time and talents to spruce up Allentown. I will be keeping tabs on the artwork as it progresses. We have identified a couple of walls on Allen Street that are also in need of public art and are willing to raise money for art supplies (within reason). Sculptor Doug Sargent has already told us that he is willing to create an eight foot sculpture for Buffalo if we can come up with a high profile public space to put it (stay tuned). If there are any other artists who would like to get see their work shown in the city, please send me an email with a link to some completed pieces.