Arts Services Initiative welcomes Alana Kelley

Arts Services Initiative of Western New York welcomed Alana Kelley as its new arts access program coordinator.

The arts access program, which is in its sixth year of operation, seeks to make the arts accessible to everyone by partnering with local organizations to provide low-income members of the Western New York community with free and affordable arts and cultural opportunities.

Born and raised in Buffalo, Kelley strives to maintain the longstanding, essential relationship between residents of Western New York and the arts organizations that seek to connect with them. ASI said, “Her experience in the arts has been outstanding and consistent, and involves positions of arts management, exhibition delegation, event organization, youth program coordination, and teaching. She has worked with several Buffalo-based organizations, including CEPA Gallery, Big Orbit Gallery, Sugar City, and Eleven Twenty Projects.”

Kelley’s professional background includes an array of human services that collectively utilizes her skills in community outreach, education and social engagement. She previously worked as a psychiatric technician with youth and young adults in crisis care and services, acting as an advocate for at-risk youth, and as a care coordinator between youth populations and their care providers.

In addition to her professional work, Kelley is a visual artist and poet. Her poetry has been published in print and online, as well as anthologized in several local publications such as Peach Mag: Season 1 Yearbook (Peach Mag, 2017) and My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry (BlazeVOX, 2017). She holds a B.A. in English with a visual studies minor from the University at Buffalo, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in mental health counseling. Kelley’s creative work experiments with interdisciplinary poetics, often combining modern writing styles with contemporary subject matter to produce alternative literary and visual pieces. She focuses on exploring new methods for alternative romanticism and the relationship between the physical body, the psychical body, and its environments.

ASI is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to promote the arts and culture sector's vital role in the community and economic development through capacity building, collaboration, and advocacy. ASI serves as a resource and opportunity center for artists and arts organizations in Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties. Learn about ASI’s grants, programs, and services at asiwny.org.