The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Burchfield-Penney Art Center’s annual gala and art auction will take place Friday, October 26, in the Mary Seaton Room at Kleinhans Music Hall. The theme of the event is Building Excitement, in celebration of the new Burchfield-Penney museum, scheduled to open in summer 2008.

Burchfield-Penney Council members Joan Bukowski and Nelson Montgomery will chair the event. “Building Excitement will be a terrific evening celebrating the arts in Western New York,” said Bukowski. “Join us at one of our area’s architectural masterpieces, Kleinhans Music Hall, as we prepare to open our area’s next architectural masterpiece, the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center.”

The 2007 event honors William J. Magavern II and his wife, Linda, for their leadership, vision, and generosity. Magavern initiated the new Burchfield-Penney in 1999 with a gift of $1 million. Today, he co-chairs the new museum project with Buffalo State College President Muriel A. Howard and remains active in all aspects of planning for the new museum.

“This is the most exciting time in the 40-year history of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center as we prepare for the move into our new museum building,” said Ted Pietrzak, director of the Burchfield-Penney. “The museum’s success depends on the support and generosity of our many volunteers, members, and the Western New York community. Our annual gala and auction highlights the excitement that surrounds this organization.”

The 2007 auction—the museum’s major annual fundraising event—features 12 works in the live auction and 45 pieces of art in the silent auction. Media include pencil drawing, watercolor, mixed media, steel sculpture, ceramic, gouache, acrylic, pastel, monotype, oil, collage, wood engraving, linocut, photography, serigraph, enamel, and earthenware. Artists who have generously donated work for this event include Nancy Belfer, Patricia Carter, Valeria Cray-Dihaan, AJ Fries, Carrianne Hendrickson, Joyce Hill, Ani Hoover, Scott Losi, Robert Masak, Gail McCarthy, Coni Minneci, Lynn Northrop, Joseph Orffeo, George Palmer, Joseph Piccillo, Walter Prochownik, Milton Rogovin, Sylvia L. Rosen, Andy Russell, Deborah Stewart, and Joseph Whalen.

Each year, Rita Argen Auerbach, watercolor artist and great friend of the Burchfield-Penney, tutors a special guest artist in the creation of a watercolor painting for this event. The 2007 “celebrity” artist is Stanley Kardonsky, vice president for finance and management (pictured). Previous celebrity artists have included JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Howard Zemsky, area business and philanthropic leader and Buffalo State College Council member; and President Muriel A. Howard. The painting will be one of the works auctioned at the gala.

Gala committee members are David Buck, Robert C. Drake, Edwin M. Johnston III, William H. Pearce Jr., Calvin Rand, William Rupp, Jill Sessa, Victor Shanchuk Jr., Jennifer Bernacki Smith, Jeannie M. Wolf, and Matt Wolfe. For tickets and information, contact Wolf, event coordinator for the gala, at Event Elements: (716) 636-5797 or jwolf@eventelements.net. A complete auction preview will be available at www.burchfield-penney.org.