The largest public art project to date, sponsored by Erie County, is going up in downtown Buffalo. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Shea's Performing Arts Center are collaborating on a new mural on the wall of 710 Main Theatre, along West Tupper Street. Albright-Knox Director Janne Siren says the artist team known as "Jessie and Katey" transform public spaces into playful and vibrant experiences.
"This highly visible wall, over 7,000 square feet, which is passed by nearly 14,000 cars each day, provides a monumental opportunity for the Public Art Initiative and Buffalo's famed Theatre District," Siren said.
"We're not simply painting a wall. We are making this great city and more vivid and engaging place to live, work and grow."
The artists' dynamic paintings, in bold color combinations, often curve around corners and spill onto the ground. Albright-Knox curator Aaron Ott says the work will be "artist driven."
"Because this is in the Theatre District and there's so much going on, we wanted something that was, from a conceptual standpoint, very vibrant that suggested movement, that suggested color and activity," Ott said.
The duo is expected to begin working in about two weeks and complete the mural's installation by the middle of June.