“Meal prep is not just a tool for weight loss or maintaining a healthy diet, but it is also a powerful tool for taking control of your life and achieving your goals.”
As a way to properly acknowledge and pay respects to Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. and the Wilson Foundation’s $11 million+ donations to the Buffalo AKG Capital Campaign, the Museum has named its new 6,000 square-foot community gathering space Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Town Square. The Town Square – enclosed by a kaleidoscopic sculpture called Common Sky by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann of Studio Other Spaces – will be a year round space of gathering, in what was previously the open-air courtyard of the Seymour H. Knox Building. While the open-air courtyard, designed by Gordon Bunshaft, was a beloved component of the Museum, it was limited by inclement weather. Now it will be a year round sanctuary for community engagement, and for learning and creativity programming.
Upon the museum’s opening on June 12, 2023, the entirety of the Knox Building will be free of admission charges year-round.
Museum funding from the Wilson Foundation is broken down as follows:
- In 2016, in response to Jeffrey Gundlach’s first matching challenge, the Wilson Foundation contributed $6 million.
- In 2018, the Wilson Foundation awarded the museum a $90,000 grant to facilitate a comprehensive, inclusive, and community-focused planning process.
- In 2021, after the completion of this process, the Wilson Foundation awarded the Buffalo AKG $5 million to build and program the space, bringing the Wilson Foundation’s total campaign contribution to $11 million.
- This total does not include the $500,000 in annual operating funds committed to the Buffalo AKG in 2021 through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Arts & Culture Initiative at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
“It is difficult to overstate the impact that the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has had on the Buffalo AKG and the entire Western New York region,” said Janne Sirén, Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director. “The Foundation has continued Mr. Wilson’s legacy of community-oriented philanthropy in a way that is genuine, impactful, and, for the citizens of Buffalo and Detroit, transformative and unprecedented. To put it bluntly, the committed and forward-thinking individuals at the Wilson Foundation don’t just talk the talk—they walk the walk. On behalf of the Buffalo AKG and the many thousands of individuals from all walks of life who will experience and enjoy the Ralph Wilson Town Square, we are honored and humbled that this unique new space will bear Mr. Wilson’s name.”
As the centerpiece of the Knox Building, the Ralph Wilson Town Square is adjacent to Cornelia, the museum’s new restaurant*.
The new Town Square was dreamt up an ad hoc Town Square Taskforce that engaged more than 100 community members who attended a public meeting and ideation session. 440 distinct ideas were shared at the meeting , while an additional 400 people shared their ideas via an online survey. The group also looked at twelve cold-climate cities around the world, to see the types of community spaces were popular with communities. The exercise was made possible thanks to a planning grant from the Wilson Foundation.
The culmination of the planning process was the identification of eight key features that will all be realized in the Ralph Wilson Town Square:
- No charge for admission
- Collaborative programs presented with local partner organizations
- Space and infrastructure for members of the community to explore ideas and connect with each other
- Health and wellness programs
- Artmaking and educational activities for all ages
- Performing arts, including music and dance
- Digital and interactive artwork and sculpture
- Amenities like Wi-Fi, comfortable seating, and a café
“Having Ralph’s name on the new Town Square at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum is an incredible honor and very fitting,” said Mary Wilson, Life Trustee, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. “This free and vibrant indoor gathering place will be accessible for everyone in the community to gather and connect with one another. I am grateful to the members of the Town Square Taskforce and to the hundreds of community members, both young and old, that took part in the community engagement process and shared their visions and wishes for this new, year-round public space. I recently toured the Ralph Wilson Town Square and was blown away by the beauty of the Common Sky work of art that creates an indoor space that brings all the sights and feelings of outdoors all around you. I look forward to this becoming a new cultural landmark in the city of Buffalo, bringing people together from all walks of life, just as Ralph did throughout his life!”
When the Buffalo AKG opens on June 12, visitors will be able to enter the Knox Building through either the west vestibule, which was constructed in 1962, or the new east vestibule, which opens the museum’s campus to Delaware Park and Hoyt Lake.
*Ralph Wilson Town Square is also adjacent to the 350-seat Stanford and Judith Lipsey Auditorium; and five new, state-of-the-art classroom studios. On the lower level of the Knox Building, beneath the Lipsey Auditorium, is the M&T Bank Gallery, a 2,000 square-foot gallery space that will be programmed with input from community partners and the museum’s new Community Advisory Council, a group of twenty leaders from a variety of regional organizations and backgrounds that guides the Buffalo AKG’s programming related to Learning & Creativity, exhibitions, public art, and the Ralph Wilson Town Square. On the north side of the Ralph Wilson Town Square, visitors will find Creative Commons, a multigenerational learning and play space that illuminates art and art history in accessible, meaningful, and joyful ways.
Lead image: Rendering of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Town Square, including ‘Common Sky’ (2022), by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann of Studio Other Spaces. Image courtesy Studio Other Spaces.