Now that patios are considered an invaluable aspect of the restaurant dining experience, due to COVID-19, more restaurateurs are looking at ways to spruce up their properties, while expanding their outdoor footprints. Over in Black Rock, a young artist by the name of Nick Bonvissuto has been enlisted to create a number of works on two buildings situated along The Phoenix Restaurant’s parking lot, part of which has been converted to additional outdoor seating.
Bonvissuto told me that this is the first mural project that he has even embarked upon. His father, who owns one of the buildings, enlisted him to create the works. While the mural located on the Phoenix’s patio is floral in nature, Bonvissuto decided that the opposing wall would be perfect for a series of side-by-side murals. He started off with a buffalo, then a phoenix. From there he will paint an abstract African mask, inspired by a set of earrings that he made for “grandma” and his sister. After that he plans on painting a psychedelic mouth “with lady bugs and butterflies flying out.” The natural aesthetic elements (flowers and bugs) play off the floral additions that have been added to the Phoenix’s two patios.
Bonvissuto hopes that these colorful works of art inspire the customers who come to dine at The Phoenix. He told me that the exposure should generate some leads for other mural jobs. “I want to go to college for art,” he said. “This is the direction that I want to go. I’m inspired by the other works of art that I am seeing in Buffalo, and will hopefully get a chance to paint with some other muralists. This was my first project – this is what I want to do.”
The Phoenix | 269 Amherst Street | Buffalo, New York 14207 | (716) 259-9271