Partly pushed by the recent pandemic, but starting before the onslaught of COVID-19, the group has retooled and transformed many of the ways it is reaching constituents in Western New York and beyond. This transformation actually started five years ago, when the group established itself as a 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization. Long committed to three regular exhibitions a year, the realities of this past year meant exhibits that were virtual. Although online exhibits limit the wonderful spontaneity of meeting artists at gallery openings, chatting with people in different mediums to discuss their works and philosophies, this year’s virtual gatherings offered an easy-to-access platform and provided that desperately needed connection between artists and their audience. While virtual events are offered by most groups these days, the Buffalo Society of Artists is reaching further, taking the love and wonder of the art world to people and places that are sometimes deprived of beautiful art works and art processes.

One of these initiatives is “Art Chats,” a monthly Zoom event that offers many young artists a chance to talk to the veterans about getting started in an art career. The conversations focus on challenges and pitfalls connected with securing a foothold in the art world. Established artists offer their own life experiences and helpful tips, along with the numerous resources the BSA has to offer along the way. “Emphasis is on art-making, career building, exhibitions,” claims Frani Evedon, current BSA president. Existential questions, such as “Why do I produce art? What’s the point?” are discussed openly and honestly.  The original plan called for hosting Art Chats quarterly, but the response was so positive that they have now become a monthly staple.

The Education Committee of the Buffalo Society of Artists has also launched a unique program with Buffalo’s Native American Academy, called “Sketchbooking for Young Artists.” Karen Tashjian, Education Committee Chair, is working with Catherine Shuman Miller and Mary Wyrick to supervise the project. The group recently secureda Decentralization (DEC) grant administered through Arts Services, Inc., and 14 middle school students enrolled in the program. Mentors meet virtually, asking students to upload their sketches. Most of the students are from Buffalo’s immigrant population and everyone appears to be excited about this opportunity for the students and its potential for the future.

One of these initiatives is “Art Chats,” a monthly Zoom event that offers many young artists a chance to talk to the veterans about getting started in an art career. The conversations focus on challenges and pitfalls connected with securing a foothold in the art world. Established artists offer their own life experiences and helpful tips, along with the numerous resources the BSA has to offer along the way. “Emphasis is on art-making, career building, exhibitions,” claims Frani Evedon, current BSA president. Existential questions, such as “Why do I produce art? What’s the point?” are discussed openly and honestly.  The original plan called for hosting Art Chats quarterly, but the response was so positive that they have now become a monthly staple.

The Education Committee of the Buffalo Society of Artists has also launched a unique program with Buffalo’s Native American Academy, called “Sketchbooking for Young Artists.” Karen Tashjian, Education Committee Chair, is working with Catherine Shuman Miller and Mary Wyrick to supervise the project. The group recently secureda Decentralization (DEC) grant administered through Arts Services, Inc., and 14 middle school students enrolled in the program. Mentors meet virtually, asking students to upload their sketches. Most of the students are from Buffalo’s immigrant population and everyone appears to be excited about this opportunity for the students and its potential for the future.

In addition, the BSA seeks to encourage young artists by sponsoring annual monetary awards for high school students participating in the Daemen College All-High Art Exhibition and the Kenan Center's All-High Photography Show. Inspiring young people is one of the keys to keeping cultural groups such as the BSA thriving.

Recently, the Buffalo Society of Artists was presented with an opportunity to connect with young people in a different way. The John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital was looking for artists to work with children who are long-term patients. Known as “frequent-fliers,” the children still need outlets for their creativity and inner curiosity, and they especially love drawing. More than a dozen artists have volunteered to work with the hospital in this unique mentoring program.

Another favorite program that targets all ages is the ‘Paint Out’ program, which coincides with the annual Buffalo Garden Walk. Thus far, the artists have focused on the Vermont Street Community Garden on 17th Street, but plans are underway to expand the program to other areas of the city, especially Buffalo’s inner-city areas. This is a very interactive opportunity, allowing visitors to casually stroll through the area and meet the artists themselves—or even join in the painting fun! It isn’t often that you can meet a celebrated local artist, someone who may well be exhibiting in museums and galleries around the country, while they are working at their craft.

The art that the group is producing as a whole has changed dramatically since its founding 130 years ago. The work of James Francis Brown, the artist credited with starting the group, was almost exclusively oil painting. Brown focused on portraits and scenes of family life, often featuring mothers and children in their parlors. Today, while Marc Duquette may paint in the style of the Old Masters (think da Vinci, Dürer, Caravaggio or Rembrandt), he uses contemporary themes, as exhibited in his work, Cheating at Solitaire.  This painting was featured in the “Figuratively Speaking” show at the prestigious Galleries of Salmagundi in New York City. Formed in 1871, its fourth president Thomas Moran dubbed it “the most artistic association in the whole country.” Today, one also sees a wide variety of mediums—some pushing new technologies. Images like those produced by Frani Evedon are frequently made using microscopes and archival pigment printing. Evedon uses images from MRIs and X-rays, which are manipulated, augmented and translated into gum bichromate and transparency prints. The resulting images are layered, compound photographs, morphing the source images into psychological landscapes that process questions of physical impermanence and consciousness. For Evedon, the act of looking through the body becomes a way to see beyond it.

The importance of bridging the past with the future has not been lost as the BSA grows and evolves. The “Video Archive Project” is a series of videos—conversations with local artists—showing them in their workspaces. This series is shared through videos at the Burchfield Penney Art Center and posted on the Buffalo Society of Artists website. As one hears the artists speak about the spark that ignited their creativity and their passion for art, one is drawn close to the subject. They seem to be a friend, chatting over a cup of coffee in your living room. Beth Pederson has fronted this ongoing endeavor and it is one of the society’s most popular features. Many of the subjects are no longer with us,like Norine Sperling, primarily a watercolor artist, who served as president of the Buffalo Society of Artists. It is a video legacy of their work and inspiration.

As the Buffalo Society of Artists reaches toward the future, its history will not be forgotten. Len Kagelmacher, photographer and BSA member, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Western New York artists, channeling his extensive research into the history of the group into a book focused on the organization. Kagelmacher gave the public a sneak peek at the publication during a June 19, 2021 presentation at the Carnegie Art Center in conjunction with artist, curator and art writer Jerry Mead’s presentation of past BSA presidents. The publication is due to be released in 2022.

The Buffalo Society of Artists, while proud of its past, is looking to the future. "The BSA has a new vision and a new mission and is moving forward to meet it. Building on a legacy since 1891, we embrace visual exploration as critical to the voice of our time,” observes BSA Treasurer and Resource Development Chair, Gary L. Wolfe. “Offering relevant resources to assist local visual artists in their exploration and helping them become an important part of the community and cultural conversation are the renewed BSA's priorities.”

Nancy Sanders is a television news veteran, working at all three Buffalo television stations and Bridges News for 45 years, most of that in news management positions.  Newly retired, Nancy is now serving on boards for the Buffalo Broadcasters Association, the Buffalo Society of Artists and the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association.  In her position with the Buffalo Society of Artists she directs the Communications committee for the group.