Casey William Milbrand, is an architectural artist, designer and urbanist based in Brooklyn. For the past few years he has been reconnecting with his hometown of Buffalo through pen and ink artwork of area landmarks. After exploring Buffalo’s forgotten places he found himself overwhelmed by its regrets of the past, codependent with its current obstacles, and excited by its future possibilities.
After years of hiding hearts in his Buffalo illustrations he now has the opportunity to expose his heart for the first time at an event called City of Night on August 17th. Fifty artists will be taking over Buffalo’s Silo City for an entire night of art installations, community art projects, music and food trucks. Casey’s proposal for CityHEART was accepted and will make its debut at this event that highlights the amazing architecture of the grain silo.
CityHEART is an interactive sculpture that Casey is building in Buffalo. It is an interactive heart-shaped sculpture made from twenty five interconnected bicycle wheels that move in tandem.
Asks Casey, “What better way is there to represent the way ‘Buffalo Moves Me’ than using something that moves?”
When two Buffalo lovers sit on the heart shaped seats, their love for Buffalo will put the wheels in motion. One person will mirror their partner and pedal backwards while the other pedals forward. This moves the wheels on the entire sculpture, creating a new “Beautiful Buffalo” memory.
Milbrand says his mission is to engage the community in new ways, allowing Buffalonians to create memories with the places we love. He’s created an indiegogo page to help create his vision. CityHEART is accepting donations through Labor Day Sept. 2nd to raise funding for the project.
The second annual City of Night event is organized by Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo (ELAB) as a celebration of all the things that make Buffalo great. It is being held at Silo City, 200 Childs Street, on August 17 from 4 pm until 2 am. The event is free.