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If Elmwood is the movie star of Buffalo neighborhoods, then Allentown is the artist. Wall-size murals flank the district’s many live music bars, neighborhood galleries, restaurants and shops. Beautiful brick buildings and characters like the “bubble man,” who blows bubbles out of his apartment window at the corner of Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue, give the neighborhood a creative energy unlike anywhere else in the city.
K Art
K Art is unique! It is one of the only Native American-owned commercial art galleries with a primary and robust focus on the works of established and emerging Native American, First Nations and Indigenous contemporary artists.
Historically, museums have been the primary platform for Native artists, but the number of exhibitions dedicated to contemporary Native art is small and the number of artists featured in such shows is even smaller. K Art focuses on exhibiting these artists and their work, whose stories have not previously been told in the way they deserve to be.
K Art’s physical gallery space opened in December 2020 beginning a cycle of four exhibitions a year. The first was a survey of the work of nationally recognized Native and First Nations artists.
K Art is owned by Dave Kimelberg, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians (Bear clan). His great uncle was President of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the 1950s. Dave’s mother was an art teacher, and a founding teacher in the Head Start program on Seneca territory. His brother was a Seneca contemporary artist and worked for the Seneca Nation for many years. Dave returned to the Seneca territories 15 years ago to serve the Seneca Nation in various capacities, and has been involved in Native economic and community development projects for decades.
Currently on exhibit is “Ga’nigöi:yoh: G. Peter Jemison”, a retrospective that surveyed his triumphs and tragedies from 1964 to the present day, all portrayed through paintings, parasols, and paper bags. Also “Brought to Light: The Epidemic of Violence Against Indigenous Women” by Natalie Ball, Luzene Hill, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, and Julia Rose Southerland. In different ways, their works address the trauma and violence resulting from systemic racism, sexism, and the ingrained history of colonialism in North America. These artists seek to bring an epidemic out of the shadows and into mainstream consciousness; and, in doing so, create new spaces of discourse and understanding about indigeneity. Ultimately, they demand change.
If you have an art lover in your life, take them to K Art. Pieces are available for purchase!
808 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14202 | 716-768-3633
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Assembly House 150
Assembly House 150 brings together a wide array of stakeholders: tradespeople, artists, designers, architects, artisans, planners, preservationists, students, apprentices and others—to work together on impactful, community projects that integrate art and design into the built environment and empower people through creative action. AH150 is led by visionary artist Dennis Maher. The programs, workshops, exhibitions and other initiatives of AH150 facilitate a vision to create environments as art.
Guided by Maher’s creative direction, the AH150 team transforms spaces and the people who build and experience them. The artworks realized by Dennis Maher/AH150 include interiors, exteriors, furnishings and other decorative objects, as well as transformations of entire buildings and landscapes.
The project team includes aspiring builders who learn construction and design skills through AH150 programs. By creating artworks while also sharing skills, we bring together art and life and work towards a more artful and equitable city.
If you have someone in your life who loves art, consider getting them one of the tours that AH150 offers. They offer public tours, Assembled City Tours, which is a multi-site experience that includes a guided tour of Assembly House, as well as visits to their project sites and to the Fargo House, as well as a private artist-led tour. We recommend checking out Assembly House 150 in the new year!
150 Edward St., Buffalo, NY 14202 | 716-560-8170
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The Allen Street Dress Shop
It’s not often that you find a women’s shop that truly has something for every age and body type. The Allen Street Dress Shop and The Dress Shop, located at 712 Main Street, East Aurora, NY, have been styling WNY women of all ages for over 35 years.
Business owner, Danielle Webb, thinks it has something to do with the timeless style of the clothing, “We pride ourselves on providing high quality and highly unique, creative clothing. Women will walk into my store, and I’ll recognize a dress they are wearing that we carried years ago. It still looks just as modern today, as it did then.” There’s something to be said for accumulating classically cut pieces that are crafted with quality.
They stock a wide range of clothing, in fabrics such as wool, linen, silk, cotton, and other lovely natural materials, that are beautifully brocaded, embroidered, and knit. Over a third of the clothing is made in the U.S. and the majority of the fashion lines, which are personally and painstakingly researched by Danielle, are from small independent manufacturers who are committed to be as environmentally sustainable as possible – that goes from product to packaging.
Great care is taken to curate a beautiful collection and there is impeccable attention to detail from the fashion lines, to the mannequin arrangements, to even the store front windows. Danielle believes that there is “energy in the visual quality of windows, it is something that adds to everybody’s life, every day.” She says this as she’s carefully folding origami envelope to send to friends.
In addition to beautiful dresses, they also have jewelry, hats, coats, skirts, sweaters, and jackets. The Allen Street Dress Shop has everything the modern, urban woman needs to look stylish and be comfortable. The key to their success is in “finding the most interesting, creative and fabulous clothing, for the oh-so-interesting people that come into the shops.” They also take the Shop 716 Gift card!
89 Allen St., Buffalo, NY 14203 | 716-883-0871
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Antique Man
The Antique Man is a wonderful, haunting store filled with surprises of all kinds. For a little more than three dollars you can buy an old long playing record. I‘ve bought everything from Walter Gieseking to Dakota Staton here. You can also buy all kinds of light fixtures: Tiffany-style sconces, Victorian ceiling lamps and Art Deco stand-up lamps. Antique Man is owned by John Sheppard who has operated a store in Allentown for almost ten years. Three years ago he bought the fabulous, late 19th century brick building on the corner of Allen and College. He has restored it beautifully: there are high ceilings, large plate glass windows and polished wooden floors. There are two more stories in the building and John is working on plans to bring these online too. The Antique Man is a great place to shop and John can tell you all that ‘s going on in the neighborhood.
243 Allen St., Buffalo, NY 14201 | 716-883-2121
Lace & Day
This is your home for the great fit, for the fun shopping experience. This is where there are women to make you look and feel fabulous and find you the perfect bra, the one that will make you stand up straight, throw your shoulders back and take on the world. This is your home for the warm, cozy pajamas, for the flirty little nighty, for the deliciously soft robe. This is the place of the problem-solving panty and the cheeky little hipster. You will find the perfect swimsuit that makes you feel like a million bucks, whether you are at your backyard pool or exotic shores afar.
Lace & Day is owned and operated by sisters Emily Constantine Doren and Holly Constantine Ortman. They’re two down-to-earth Buffalonians who traded serious careers for the chance to get more girls feeling great in their skivvies!
Emily had a career working in marine science in Antarctica and environmental consulting all over the U.S., and ended up spending several years working as a bra fitter and buyer at a Denver-based lingerie powerhouse. When she moved back to Buffalo, inevitably every girls night or cocktail party involved doing impromptu bra fittings in the ladies room! Girls would always ask, “Where can I buy a bra like yours?” Her response? “Nowhere around here!” She knew she could change that.
Holly was introduced to bra fitting for the first time in her late 20s when she visited Emily at her bra-fitting gig. It was life-changing – she had never had a properly fitting bra from the time she “blossomed” in her early teens. Through her career as an urban planner specializing in economic development, there was always the entrepreneurial spark that made her want to go out and do her own thing.
In 2015 Emily and Holly did what their hearts and heads had been quietly urging for years – they pooled their energy, resources, talents, and genuine sense of unbridled fun, quit their jobs, and opened Lace & Day, Buffalo’s premier lingerie and sleepwear boutique. Now they’ve both found their perfect fit, and can’t wait to help you find yours.
Whether you are looking for a gift or something for yourself – be sure to check out Lace and Day. They take the Shop 716 gift card.
445 Franklin St., Buffalo, NY 14202 | 716-884-1580
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Visit Buffalo Niagara
Have you picked up your Shop 716 eGift Card yet? Gift cards are still available while supplies last! Promotional gift cards must be used by December 30,2021. Support local – buy yours today and view the full list of participating businesses here: https://amherst.org/shop716/
Support your local restaurants, retailers and attractions. Keep your hard earned money, right here where you live. By doing so, you keep your friends and family employed and create more local jobs. Shopping local conserves energy and resources and is better for the environment!
WNY is our home & we can show the #Buffalove we have by shopping and supporting our local businesses. The Shop 716 initiative is to be a champion of all business, supporting the shop/support local themes; to develop business unity and camaraderie to uplift our entire region.