POLITICS HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION PUBLIC SPACE CULTURE WAR HISTORY PROGRESS EQUALITY THE FUTURE FACILITATE CONTRIBUTE

EXPERIMENT RESOLVE INSPIRE BEAUTIFY MOTIVATE ENGAGE CONVENE EMPOWER ORGANIZE SHARE CREATE
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 ISSUE NO. 21 C O M P L I M E N TA R Y B L O C K C L U B O N L I N E . C O M

ART

EQUALS
BY B ANN EN SIE G MA RIE EL & AW AD

CHANGE

FIVE CITIES. NINE STORIES. ONE GOAL.

LEARN HOW ART IS BEING USED TO HELP CHANGE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, SMALL BUSINESS, AND RACE RELATIONS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, AND RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.

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THE 24-HOUR TRANSFORMATION

BY ANN MARIE AWAD
The large unfinished painting on the side of an abandoned building at the corner of Grant and Amherst Streets is a way to tie up a loose end or two. It may not seem so right now, because its still in its early rough stages, but Marcus Wise and Marissa Lehner are hoping to plant something that will remind Black Rock residents of their neighborhoods history. Wise and Lehner met through Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo, the local chapter of the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders network, which seeks to create connections between artists, arts managers and arts patrons. The two began to brainstorm a public arts project to reflect the revival that the neighborhood is going through. New businesses are slated to open on Amherst Street this year, adding to the neighborhoods already busy roster of galleries, recording spaces, eateries and photo studios. Wise owns 464 Gallery and is also a member of the Grant-Amherst Business Association. Were really working on turning this neighborhood around, Wise says. Our mural has turned a major intersection that was a major blight in our neighborhood into a focal point for progress. p.22 Lehner is a K-12 arts educator who took the reigns. She and Wise collaborated on the idea of a public piece of art, and after he showed her the vacant wall, ideas flowed. She helped develop the design with the GrantAmherst Business Association, held open meetings to incorporate members of the community and began laying down the base of the mural herself. The mural so far is a rough sketch of a tree with formidable roots reaching down into layers of foundation, the thickest layer being black rock itself. The outcropping of black limestone that the area was named for was blasted away in the 1820s to make room for the terminus of the Erie Canal. Eventually it was decided that the canal would be built in Buffalo, which was at the time a separate municipality from Black Rock. Theres so much history in the area and I wanted to think of a way to kind of metaphorically represent that. I didnt want it to be really literal, says Lehner. Black Rock is looking somewhat grey today. While it still retains several well-preserved buildings that hearken back to glory days, many store fronts are closed, empty lots are a common sight and many main streets are in need of repair. Even as new businesses prepare to move in, theyre sticking to the Amherst Street thoroughfare while other central streets in the neighborhood still consist of rows of businesses closed long ago.

photos by steve soroka

OUR MURAL HAS TURNED A MAJOR INTERSECTION THAT WAS A BLIGHT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD INTO A FOCAL POINT FOR PROGRESS.
Public art turns our city into a work of art, explains Wise. It is especially important in areas that have traditionally been run down or not so well thought of; it helps raise them from grim, unkempt areas to places that house surprising beauty. At 9 p.m. on July 30, a small crowd gathered in t-shirts and jeans, surrounded by news cameras and supporters. Painters cracked open cans of paint, climbed scaffolding and got to work as Channel 4 and Sam Hoyt looked on. In 24 hours, the mission was to complete the top of the mural. The next morning, two small boys around the ages of five or six were adding details to the foundation along with their mother; an elderly man in a wide-brimmed sun hat propped up on his arm painted in patterns in the limestone, and a woman in an old t-shirt stretched to add detail to the topmost layer of cobblestone, along with a handful of others spread out around the lower edge of the mural. Branches reached up and out to the top edges of the mural, a proud display of a mission accomplished. The image was clearer, more defined, much like the future of the building and the lot as a public space. I want people to feel like they have a little bit of ownership over this as well, [and] protect it in years to come, says Lehner. Im thinking a little bit ahead and theres this huge empty lot and I think that if we could make it happen, it would lend itself really well to a community garden project, explains Wise. The project has received generous support from Assemblyperson Sam Hoyt and Council Member Joe Golombek, as well as donations of food from Wegmans, Applebees and Spars Sausages. Neimeks Builders Supply has not only provided financial support, but has donated large wooden leavespart of the next phase of the projectto be painted by members of the community. Participant Jim Siniscalchi was out to paint for the first time when the project kicked off at 9 PM. We always joke that its the city of no illusions because everybodys a little beat up here after years of economic problems and everything else, said Siniscalchi. So when you start contributing to a community, its really cool to watch the shift in perspective.

GR AN AM H S ER T ST . T ST .
SC A JA Q U A D A E X P Y.

464 GALLERY 464 AMHERST ST. BUFFALO, NY 14207 716.983.2112 MINDWEB.US/464.HTML ALSO SEARCH FOR GROUP ON FACEBOOK p.23

ARTISTIC SERVICES
BY ANN MARIE AWAD
Neil Sanders had works of art on display at Artspace in August. They were large, colorful and they reflected whats important to Sanders: television. They incorporated walls of colorful text, quotes from Ted Mallie, former WWOR-TV host, stenciled carefully and colored in vibrantly with oil pastels. Sanders is 29 years old and autistic, and was given the opportunity to do these pieces through the Arts Works for Autistic Services program, a division of Autistic Services, an agency that strives to integrate autistic individuals into society using occupational, recreational and art therapies. A noted characteristic of autism is something called restricted behavior, which causes one to fixate on a specific activity, game, or in Sanderss case, a television channel. Even the measured tone of his voice as he speaks carries the careful inflection of a television announcer. If you look at their pieces, you know right away who they are because their art is a reflection of their autism. Whatever they fixate on, whatever their special interests are, says Veronica Federiconi, executive director of Autistic Services. If theyre into toilets, thats what youre going to see. Historically, the response to an individuals art about toilets would have been to dismiss it. The approach would be We have to get rid of that, tell them not to talk about it. You cant do it, Federiconi says. Shes referring to one artist in particular who liked to take Polaroid pictures, mostly of toilets. But there is a new school of thought on the ways art should be used to aid the communication skills of an autistic person, and people are noticing the change. People appreciate it. It becomes a piece of art. Its a celebration for them versus trying to hold them back and change them and get them to do things that they feel the typical population would do, says Federiconi. Their most recent opening reception in August at Artspace kicked off with a concert, and was packed with visitors. Some of the instructors were there as well, including Ben Kavanaugh. Instructors in the program

ITS PRETTY GREAT FACILITATING SOMEBODY ELSES CREATIVITY.

are referred to as teaching artists because they are not certified as art therapists, but are artists in their own right who want to share their talent. Kavanaugh works in collage and mixed media. Its pretty great facilitating somebody elses creativity especially when you cant communicate with them in a direct manner. You just kind of have to stand back and pay attention, he says. He currently has about 40 students in his class. Richard Nesbitt, one of Kavanaughs students, won a solo show at CEPA gallery last year. Nesbitt, who has limited communication skills, did not respond to the Arts Works program at first. He gradually came into the art room more and more, until he was creating massive oil pastel pieces, some of which he worked into photos. He always carried these plastic animals in his pockets and [would] take them out and communicate with them, so hes in his own world almost literally, Kavanaugh says. He would draw a circle with oil pastels and then just fill it in and then hed be done. Gradually we gave him larger paper. We have some drawings of his that are 40 feet. We were able, after a while, to bring in his animals and then photography. To see him reacting to that progression and to see him be excited by it was fantastic. Nesbitt reportedly wore an ear-to-ear grin throughout his solo show, where his mother and sister were present. Families joining the artists at the exhibits are a new trend that Federiconi has been thrilled to take note of. They have something to celebrate with their children, she says. Thats so rewarding to our families because theyve worked hard with these people all their lives. AUTISTIC SERVICES 4444 BRYANT STRATTON WAY WILLIAMSVILLE, NY 14222 716.631.5777 AUTISTICSERVICES.ORG ALSO STARLIGHT STUDIO AND GALLERY 716.842.1525 STARLIGHTSTUDIOS.ORG p.35

ADDRESSING THE CASUALTIES OF WAR

BY ANN MARIE AWAD
The upstate New York Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Integrated Service Network, referred to as VISN 2, services Buffalo, Batavia, Bath, Syracuse and Albany, where main medical treatment facilities are located. Smaller outpatient clinics in Rochester, Ithaca and Binghamton bridge the gaps. In all of VISN 2s expanse, there is only one creative art therapy program, with only one creative art therapist by the name of Ralph Sirianni. Ralph works at the Buffalo VA, offering therapy options not yet available anywhere else in the upstate network. Sirianni, who is a veteran himself, has worked with the Buffalo VA since 1977 and has been a creative art therapist there for 10 years. He works with veterans to help them express their feelings through art, facilitating the clinical treatment process by providing a voice to those who are not otherwise able to articulate the effects of war. Theres a feeling thats coming off of the pieces that these people do because theyre all dealing with some pretty strong illnesses and their emotions are just there on the paper, Sirianni says. They dont hold anything back once it all starts coming out. It comes out to be pretty powerful stuff. In 1968, Sirianni was deployed to Vietnam as a part of the US Marine Corps Infantry. Then when I came back I dealt with that dark time, the drugs, the alcohol, a lot of the seclusion, anger and everything that came back with a lot of us, Sirianni says. So when I sit down with my patients at the VA, they feel it as well, that we have a lot in common. Outside of the VA, he also deals with another kind of therapy. As a police sketch artist, Sirianni has aided in many arrests, and was even asked by Americas Most Wanted to sketch Altemio Sanchez, the so-called bike path rapist who was convicted in 2007 of rape and murder. I interview rape victims mostly and thats terrible, he says. But working with those who have been on the other end of the law, those who have been the victims p.40 O.P. FRISCO RALPH SIRIANNI OIL 1998

of crimes, or who have been to war, bears its own weight in the therapeutic process. There [are] people that have experienced or witnessed things that have been very traumatic to them and theyre having a tough time dealing with it for however long its been. Prior to becoming the VAs creative arts therapist, Sirianni was involved in recreational therapy with veterans. Recreational therapy is a broad field of treatment that tends to vary greatly from patient to patient, and is often described as a mind/body/soul form of treatment. As opposed to physical and occupational therapy, recreational therapy focuses more on healing a patients personal and social wounds. As the name suggests, sports can also be a part of recreational therapy, as well as arts and crafts, animal-assisted therapy, and even cooking. Sirianni had always included art as a part of his recreational therapy program. A means for them to express themselves and to get them to start talking about it is very important in the clinical field because that information is in turn relayed to the doctors and the staff that are more trained to take that and incorporate it into their recovery plan. Whether youre a veteran or not, art therapy is extremely important in that rehabilitation.

SIRIANNIART.COM