The Daily Bulletin Archive

Buffalo State will embrace the arts next month with a number of special events across campus. But the Art on Campus Committee promotes artistic endeavors and supports the college’s collection of public artwork year-round.

For the sixth straight year, Buffalo State will join the nation in observing Arts and Humanities Month. Throughout October, the campus community will recognize and celebrate the positive impact the arts bring to our schools and communities.

Events include exhibitions, theatrical productions, musical ensembles and recitals, an Art Conservation Department Open House, Philosophy and Humanities colloquia, and more. A number of notable concerts also are slated during the month, including Spanish guitar virtuoso Esteban and the influential British ska band the English Beat.

“The fullness of Buffalo State’s participation in Arts and Humanities Month helps to establish the college’s position of leadership in creative expression throughout our region and the state,” said Benjamin Christy, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities.

But love for the arts on campus extends well beyond the month of October. Buffalo State has one of the largest, most comprehensive visual arts programs in the SUNY system and recently received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. And the campus is filled with intriguing sculptures, like Billie Lawless’s Cock-a-Doodle Do, outside Upton Hall, and Alice Aycock’s Universe Wheel, between Bacon and Cleveland halls.

The School of Arts and Humanities' Art on Campus Committee makes recommendations about the acquisition and placement of artwork on campus and also provides support and oversight in the maintenance of the college’s collection. Members include representatives of the five visual arts departments—Art Conservation, Art Education, Design, Interior Design, and Fine Arts—Campus Services, and the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Carolyn Fusco, executive assistant to the dean of the School of the Arts and Humanities, and Mary Wyrick, professor and chair of the Art Education Department, co-chair the committee.

In existence for more than 20 years, the committee has used its annual budget to add to the college’s permanent collection, mainly in the acquisition of outdoor sculptures. The committee also promotes art events, sponsors visiting artists, and hires a sculptor to maintain existing placements of art on campus. This sculptor compiles a yearly report with recommendations for needed upgrades and suggestions for additional sculptures.

Accomplishments in recent years include:

• The placement of the Peter Sheremeta sculpture located in the lobby of the Paul Bulger Communication Center—a gift from SUNY Distinguished Service Professor E. O. Smith.
• Support for major campus initiatives such asNew York Collects.
• Support for temporary outdoor sculpture shows in Upton Quad, and occasional sponsorship of exhibitions and visiting artists.

A once-familiar sculpture to Buffalo State, made possible by the committee, will soon return to Upton Quad. Five bronze dachshunds cast in 2002 by Hanna Vihriala (now Hanna Jaanisoo), a visiting artist from Finland, were stolen—but the Fine Arts Department kept the original mold. The new dogs from the Marking the Landscapecollection will soon be unleashed, possibly by this summer, and reinstalled with burglar-proof bases.

Also coming to campus this spring is a new arch sculpture in front of the Clinton Center. Constructed by Buffalo State alumnus William Hoffman, ’05, recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the sculpture uses four cast-iron molds of boots from past Campus Services workers. Topped with copper and resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the structure is designed to celebrate the dignity of labor and will serve as a welcoming path for visitors to the center.

“It’s a very textural piece. You can touch it, and even read the manufacturer names on some of the boots,” said Terry Harding, director of Campus Services. “The arch is meant to commemorate the lives of those who came before us. It’s a testament to the many ‘invisible’ employees who have worked behind the scenes to make the college ‘tick.’”