As a prelude to its scheduled opening next year, the Buffalo Arts & Technology Center — in conjunction with the Buffalo City School District — is using a student art show to offer a glimpse into how the center will showcase students’ talents.
The center, beginning tonight, will show art works from 25 different students, ranging from those in elementary grades to high schoolers. The art show comes just a few weeks before the Buffalo Arts & Technology Center begins the build out of its 15,000-square-foot, first-floor space in the Artspace building at 1219 Main St. The center, when it opens next year, will offer after-school art classes for at-risk high school students, as well as health industry vocational training programs for unemployed and under-employed adults.
The show will run until Jan. 4 and will also include works from Artspace’s resident artists. The show has been dubbed “Window Wonderland on Main Street.”
The center is being funded by the John R. Oishei Foundation, First Niagara Financial Group, Empire State Development Corp. and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, which collectively have provided $4 million in seed money for the program.
Buffalo’s former interim school superintendent, Amber Dixon, has been named the center’s executive director. The program is modeled after one operated by Manchester Bidwell Corp. in Pittsburgh.
