Every first Friday of the month, the community is invited to attend a special day at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, filled with all sorts of interactive art events and activities. There’s something for everyone, including kids. The line-up includes tours, art exhibits, classes, live music, talks, hands-on activities, food and drink, and lots of surprises along the way. Many of the activities and tours are free (see below). The next M&T First Fridays at The Gallery takes place on October 4, from 10am to 10pm. Also, see current exhibits.
Drop-In Art Activity
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 10 am – 12 pm
FREE
Education Classrooms
Artists of all ages are invited to participate in a free artmaking activity inspired by works on view in the museum.
Family Fun Tour
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 11 am – 11:45 am
FREE
Meet at the Information Desk
This family-oriented tour of works in the 1962 Building will explore a different theme each month.
Registration: Space is limited to 20 participants. To reserve your spot, please register online, call 716.270.8292, or sign up at the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.
Studio Art Class for Adults: Still Life Drawing
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 1 pm – 3 pm
$15 general admission
$5 for Members
Education Classrooms
Adults of all levels of experience are invited to sign up for Studio Art Classes for Adults on the first Friday of every month. This month’s topic is still life drawing.
Space is limited; registration and pre-payment are required. Please register online, call 716.270.8292, or sign up at the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.
Public Tour
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 1:30 pm – 2 pm
FREE
Meet at the Information Desk
Public tours are led by Albright-Knox–trained docents and are free on the first Friday of each month as part of M&T FIRST FRIDAYS. This tour will focus on Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light.
ArtCart—Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light (lead image | Photograph by Tom Loonan)
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 4 pm – 5:30 pm
FREE with Pay What You Wish admission
FREE for Members
1905 Building
Come and explore the mobile ArtCart with interactive art activities for kids and families in Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light. Filling the entirety of the museum’s 1905 Building, Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light features five of the artist’s immersive solid-light installations among other works.
“What’s Your Vision?” Tour
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
FREE
Meet at the Information Desk
This one-hour tour led by an Albright-Knox–trained docent encourages participants to “read” four works of art from their own perspectives.
Drop-In Art Activity
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 5 pm – 7 pm
FREE
Education Classrooms
Artists of all ages are invited to participate in a free artmaking activity inspired by works on view in the museum.
Jazz and Happy Hour
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
AK Café
Enjoy drink specials and live jazz music by Somos La Gente in the artful setting of AK Café.
Gallery Talk—Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 6 pm – 6:30 pm
FREE with Pay What You Wish admission
FREE for Members
1905 Building
Join The AK for a discussion of the special exhibition Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light. Filling the entirety of the museum’s 1905 Building, Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light features five of the artist’s immersive solid-light installations among other works.
Gallery Talk—Spanish Language Tour of Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 6:30 pm – 7 pm
FREE with Pay What You Wish admission
FREE for Members
1905 Building
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, please join Education Coordinator Samantha Serrano for a Spanish-speaking tour of the special exhibition Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light. Filling the entirety of the museum’s 1905 Building, Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light features five of the artist’s immersive solid-light installations among other works.
Gallery Talk—Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 7 pm – 7:30 pm
FREE with Pay What You Wish admission
FREE for Members
1905 Building
Join The AK for a discussion of the special exhibition Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light. Filling the entirety of the museum’s 1905 Building, Anthony McCall: Dark Rooms, Solid Light features five of the artist’s immersive solid-light installations among other works.
Performance: Son BoriKua
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 7:30 pm
FREE
Auditorium
Join The AK for a free performance by Son BoriKua, who plays music in the tradition of Afro Cuban–Puerto Rican musical heritage, while incorporating their own influences. They will bring a tropical Caribbean groove from the guitars and rhythms backed by a chorus and, at times, a whaling trumpet. As leader Manny Perez will tell you, “the mission of Son BoriKua is simple: to make you dance and leave you without a worry.”
Studio Art Class for Adults: Still Life Drawing
Friday, October 4, 2019 ● 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
$15 general admission
$5 for Members
Education Classrooms
Adults of all levels of experience are invited to sign up for our Studio Art Classes for Adults on the first Friday of every month. This month’s class will focus on still life drawing.
Space is limited; registration and pre-payment are required. Please register online, call 716.270.8292, or sign up at the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.
Poetry Reading: En Las Sombras / In The Shadows
FREE
1962 Building
This Hispanic Heritage Month, five Buffalo Latin writers will escape the shadow of the world and find themselves where they never were before.
About the Readers
Rachel Robles Saeger is a Brooklyn native and a longtime resident of Buffalo. She is a former youth counselor with a degree in psychology and a certification in creative writing from the University at Buffalo. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry: Canciones de Asilo (Songs of Asylum), Invocaciones (Invocations), and Hero’s Departure. She is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets prize, 2017; the Scribbler’s Prize; and the Albert Cook, Mack Hammond, and John Logan Prizes for poetry. Her most recent publications can be found in The Buffalo News, The Iconoclast, Ghost City Press, and the anthology My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry.
Rosa Fernandez lives in Buffalo with her husband and two children. She is an associate member of the Dramatist Guild and a two-time participant of the Emmanuel Fried New Play Workshop facilitated by Road Less Traveled Productions. She attended Brooklyn College for a BFA in Theater. Her play Curse of the Puerto Ricans was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and runner up in the MetLife Nuestras Voces Playreading Series for Repertorio Español.
Ollie Wiggins is a Buffalo-based poet studying English at Buffalo State. They were introduced to poetry at a young age but didn’t start writing it seriously until high school. Since then, they have read at multiple events, school-sponsored and otherwise, and have won writing contests all throughout high school. They write mostly about gender, sexuality, and racial identity along with mental health. They’re Puerto Rican, Dominican, and African American and so grateful to be part of this event celebrating their culture. They perform biweekly at Caffe Aroma and twice a month at Gypsy Parlor.
Julio Montalvo Valentín (they/them) is the author of two chapbooks, Don’t Give up the Ship and Ship Lost, with a forthcoming chapbook this month with NightBallet Press called Those Who Pray To Rice. No longer an editor and publisher, you can find them working on their next project: converting a school bus into a poetry caravan.
Matthew Bosque is pursuing a Master’s in English and Innovative Writing at the University at Buffalo and is a creative writer for Los Artistas del Barrio: Buffalo. A proud Buffalo-raised Puerto Rican, Bosque searches for textures of home and history everywhere he looks and likes to find comfort in the weirdness of things. His work can be found in My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry Anthology, the Pretty Cool Poetry Thing, and the Boricua en la Luna Anthology releasing this fall. His hobbies include comic books, beating other poets in Super Smash Brothers, and Hugo from the hit early 2000s TV show Lost.
To learn more, visit The AK.
M&T First Fridays @ The Gallery – On the first Friday of every month, from 10 am to 10 pm, admission to part of the museum and select events are free for everyone. Certain events and special exhibitions are available for a fee. Admission to special exhibitions is Pay What You Wish.
Become a Member during M&T FIRST FRIDAYS and receive a 20% discount!
Albright-Knox Art Gallery | 1285 Elmwood Avenue | Buffalo, NY 14222
Please note: The Albright-Knox’s Elmwood Avenue campus will be temporarily closed for construction starting November 4, 2019. Albright-Knox Northland, a new project space at 612 Northland Avenue, will open on January 16, 2020. The new Buffalo AKG Art Museum is expected to open in early 2022 on the Elmwood Avenue campus.