Carnegie Art Center to host art exhibition featuring WNY-Urban Arts Collective

On view in May

The Carnegie Art Center will host a new exhibition in its historical building that will be on view during the month of May and will showcase the WNY-Urban Arts Collective in both galleries.

In partnership with the Carnegie Art Center, the WNY-UAC will host an opening reception for the exhibition from 5-9 p.m. Thursday May 6. They will host an interactive artist panel discussion at the venue at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15, in addition to an art class for children at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 22.

All of the events are free to attend and will partly take place outside, weather-permitting.

A press release explained, “The WNY-Urban Arts Collective was originally established as a direct result of local Black artists and concerned citizens being fed up with the historical inequity of process and opportunity in the implementation of public art projects. The collective was organized to create a platform to address the need to recognize, develop, educate, support and promote the professional development for visual artists. WNY-UAC has participated in dozens of exhibitions and local events in the past two years, creating opportunities for local black artists and to positively represent their communities.”

The exhibition that will be on view at the Carnegie Art Center, titled “MY Colours OUR TRUTH,” will be a collection of artworks serving as visual representations of each artist’s own lived experience.

“The exhibition will consist of creative interpretative images of society that have a message or tell a story,” said John Baker, WNY-Urban Arts Collective president and curator of the exhibition. “They reflect social commentary issues, conditions, culture, COVID-19, diversity and equal justice. Artwork will include visual messages artists want to share – good, bad or indifferent.”

“We are hopeful that this exhibition and accompanying events will unite various communities in Western NY through the shared experience of art,” said Natalie Brown, program coordinator at the Carnegie Art Center.

This exhibition is partly funded by the Buffalo Institute of Contemporary Art, and by Travis Keller, an individual artist working in Buffalo and Ohio. It can be viewed during the center’s gallery hours: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and noon to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is free. 

Carnegie Art Center is located at 240 Goundry St., North Tonawanda. For more information, call 716-694-4400 or visit www.carnegieartcenter.org.