When it comes to the Five Points Neighborhood, it seems as if everyone is contributing to its full potential these days. Whether it’s the restaurants and cafés conducting placemaking exercises, or residential neighbors fixing up their houses, there’s always something of significance taking place in and around this intersection fortified with dedicated small businesses.
Most recently, a cast of artistic collaborators came together to as “Agents of Change.” The contributors to the project are Lafayette International High School students, Torn Space Theater, Just Buffalo, and artist Max Collins.
The result is a semi-permanent public installation wheatpaste mural, spotlighting a number of Buffalo leaders. The unveiling of the mural is in tandem with a kickoff event at Torn Space theater, where students will read their interviews conducted with chosen leaders.
Agents of Change provides the community access to the arts, highlights local community members, and activates businesses and architectural assets in Buffalo neighborhoods.
This is the second time that we’ve seen East and West Buffalo coming together to affect positive change as of late. Hopefully this is the beginning of a movement that will see more collaborative efforts of this nature.
Aside from bridging East and West sides of the city, the Agents of Change initiative is also a way to help promote education, community involvement, performance, public art, and storytelling.
“Torn Space Theater is launching a new season of original works designed for outdoor experiences in 2021 focusing on community, our Broadway Fillmore neighborhood and Silo City. Works developed within this series will bring audiences to performance spaces in our newly-renovated home at the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, the surrounding lots, Artpark, and back to Silo City with artists collaborating to explore new forms of contemporary performance and creative placemaking.” – Torn Space
The 2021 season includes:
- A Public Art and Social Justice Research Project with Lafayette International High School, Agents of Change (running throughout the summer with a public performance event on June 5)
- Intersection/Prototype (June 18, 20, July 16-18), a prototype performance installation
- The world premiere of the postponed music and video experience by Kenneth Collins of Temporary Distortion titled Five Songs for Fillmore Avenue (July 16-18)
- Torn Space’s newest site-specific work for Silo City, and the sun sets in golden circles (August 6-22)
Mural – Brayton St. + W. Utica in Buffalo’s Five Points district
Kick-off event – Public readings of the student interviews will take place at Torn Space Theater, 612 Fillmore Ave. in Buffalo, on June 5, 2021 3-5 PM.
The actual portraits will be displayed at Torn Space for the performance installation, which is open to the public free of charge
All performances will conform to NYS health and safety guidelines with respect to COVID-19
More information on the project: www.tornspacetheater.com/home/agentsofchange