BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Nearing completion of a full-building renovation, downtown Buffalo’s Brisbane Building includes a street-level art gallery for Western New Yorkers to appreciate, with a mission of continuing the growth of the burgeoning Buffalo art scene.
The C. Stuart and Jane H. Hunt Art Gallery opened its doors in April 2022, offering exhibitions and events to the public, as well as studio space to artists in residence.
Founded by HUNT Real Estate chairman and CEO Peter Hunt, the gallery was created to support Western New York artists and enhance their reputations in the art world. Hunt serves as the gallery’s executive director.
Hunt said the gallery was conceived of during the pandemic, as every gallery in Buffalo closed, and revenue streams and workspaces for artists were limited due to these closures.
“We saw an opportunity to start something, get it going perhaps in advance of the reopening of the rest of the community,” Hunt said. “And also to provide a place for artists to work, which we know to be unique [to the Hunt Gallery], and to showcase local artists.”
Hunt Gallery executive director Peter Hunt converses at a gallery showing. (Photo: Spicy Creative)
Hunt added that in the past, local collectors have often paid more attention to artists from outside Western New York than artists from the area itself. With the addition of this gallery to the community, local artists have a spot to showcase their work in a way that can attract more collectors.
“We’re very pleased and humbled, really, to showcase local artists,” he said. “Not just accomplished artists in our gallery, but emerging artists in our residencies in the lower level of the space.”
Refurbishing the Brisbane Building
The Brisbane Building was constructed in 1895 and has been owned by the Hunt family since the mid-1980s. Hunt is now working to refurbish the building as a hub for both creativity and business in Buffalo’s central business district.
Hunt said when the refurbishment began, he and others working on the building’s development toyed with the idea of rethinking the traditional concept of an office building. They ultimately realized that an office building with an art gallery housed on the main floor would be a unique addition to the area.
The gallery was named after Hunt’s parents, and Hunt established the space as someone who both appreciates the arts and believes in the future of Buffalo’s thriving art community.
Hunt has even been collecting art from artists who have been exhibited at the gallery, as well as artists in residence, so when the Brisbane Building’s renovation is complete, that art can be put on display in the lobby, which is being designed to extend the elegance, fun and inspiration of the gallery.
Recently, Hunt had a baby grand piano installed in the lobby, which is on pace to be completed soon.
The building also has an event space for business gatherings, conferences parties, and more, known as “Beebe’s at The Gallery.”
Beebe’s and event-hosting
As an extension of the gallery, Beebe’s provides more display space for art by Western New Yorkers. In addition to being an event space and restaurant, it is an area to appreciate the various types art Buffalo has to offer.
“What we’re trying to do is bring people together with a common interest — comedy, jazz, art itself,” Hunt said. “Or for their own particular interests — a company event, for example, we’ve had several of those.”
Beebe’s at the Gallery (Photo: Spicy Creative)
Through Beebe’s, Hunt is hoping to draw in people who are less aware of the local art community. In addition to physical art, Hunt is working to get local musicians to play at the space.
“The purpose of Beebe’s is for people to come down and interact with the building and the art on a level that’s — they don’t necessarily need to know about art,” gallery manager Christina Buscarino said. “Non-artists can enjoy the space by renting it for their events or conferences or parties.”
Beebe’s also allows space for more eyes on the Hunt Gallery. Though the gallery itself holds about a hundred people, the extension of Beebe’s gives the building more space for larger parties and events, fitting a few hundred people across the contiguous space.
“There are so many venues all over Western New York — from groves out in the country to parts of hotels, and that kind of thing,” Hunt said. “But we don’t think there’s another venue like ours anywhere and we’re very excited to bring that new feeling to the central business district.”
Gallery management
Hunt consulted with the Buffalo Society of Artists to help establish the gallery, which recommended bringing in a gallery manager to help develop a structure and schedule for the gallery, as well as to maintain and grow the gallery.
Buscarino, a 2017 graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, started a few months before the gallery officially opened.
Gallery director Christina Buscarino (right) speaks with two resident artists at the Hunt Art Gallery. (Photo: Spicy Creative)
“Christina is relatively new to this particular role, and certainly, I’m very new to this and it’s been a learning experience for me, but it’s been fun,” Hunt said. “And hopefully we can bring some of that fun and engagement to lots of others.”
Buscarino has a degree in marketing and advertising communications from FIT, with a minor in art history. A photographer and artist herself, Buscarino has a professional background in marketing and content creation, having managed creative choices for several agencies and brands.
Buscarino said she found it difficult being the only creative hire at some of the previous jobs at which she had worked, and thus began freelancing and managing herself as an artist. Shortly thereafter, she moved back to Buffalo and secured an internship at Buffalo Arts Studio to get more experience with fine arts.
“When Hunt Gallery opened and I found this position here, I took what I learned about managing myself and kind of geared that toward the artists, especially the emerging artists, that I work with, teaching them how to manage themselves and run their art as a business,” she said.
Artists in residence
Just as important as celebrating established artists in Buffalo, is ensuring artists continue to thrive here, which is why the Hunt Gallery and residencies opened “hand-in-hand.” The Hunt Gallery’s residency opportunities were designed with up-and-coming artists in mind.
Residencies tend to last around five to six months, and because the residencies are a 501c3 program, the space comes at no cost to the residents.
“We’ve showcased a whole bunch [of resident artists] over the past two years and we’ve hopefully provided them with a marketplace to sell their work, but also the opportunity to be exposed to a broader audience,” Hunt said. “Our ultimate goal throughout this whole project is to create a larger collector community locally and to foster interaction among artists in a healthy and vibrant setting.”
Artists interested in applying for a residency can do so on the gallery’s website, where they will be asked to submit a résumé, a letter expressing interest in the residency and a body of work for consideration.
Buscarino said when choosing residents, she tends to look for people who have drive and desire to be working artists. She then uses her experience to teach residents to find exhibitions elsewhere in the city, as well as opportunities outside of Buffalo, to help grow the reputation of the Queen City as an art hub and fulfill the gallery’s mission.
“I feel like Buffalo has a lot of eyes on its art right now,” she said. “I tell people that right now is the best time to be an artist in Buffalo. I don’t know if that’s just because I live here now and that’s just how I see it — maybe it was always like this — but I do think that the arts in Buffalo are thriving.”
Buscarino said once she became immersed in the Buffalo arts scene, she began to realize just how big it is, and part of Hunt’s mission putting a gallery in such a prominent location downtown is to grow recognition of the scene.
Last year, the Hunt Gallery attended an exhibition in New York City, to which it brought a local artist. Buscarino said the gallery has other plans in the works to help local artists get recognition on a larger scale, but nothing she can talk about just yet.
Growth and culture
Hunt said that these past two years have just been the beginning for the gallery and for the Brisbane Building.
“We want to bring some vibrancy into downtown, we want to take advantage of our location — which is unique — right on Lafayette Square,” Hunt said. “And we also want to create some energy and have some fun.”
He used the term ‘coolness factor’ to define the subjective qualities that help create a rebirth in old cities — most notably arts — crediting the creative community for this rebirth both in U.S.
“We have a great creative class in Buffalo, but it’s kind of been fragmented,” he said. “So what we’re trying to do is to bring some of that together.”
Art on display at the Hunt Art Gallery in downtown Buffalo (Photo: Spicy Creative)
Buscarino also referenced the ‘coolness factor,’ and why the arts are so important to metropolitan areas, saying that the arts are what grows a city on a cultural level.
“If you go to another city, the first thing you notice are the arts — you see their murals, you see their galleries when you’re walking down the street,” she said. “Bringing that to Buffalo and supporting the artists here is so important.”
Hunt said a recent visitor to the gallery pulled him aside to tell him how cool the gallery is.
“To hear someone else say that, rather than just trying to claim it ourselves, is validation,” he said. “We’re very pleased with the way the community is seeing us and the way we are contributing to the emergence and the growing of the creative class in Western New York.”