Buffalo Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Buffalo museums supplies classes your area

Over the next few minutes we will be breaking down everything we know about art in Buffalo in full detail and our first section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, local sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

You can jump straight to any section that interests you most by using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Buffalo art map with all of the spots we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

You can read more of our posts on cities around the Northeast here.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Buffalo

If you want to visit the best art galleries and museums in Buffalo you can go to:

The Burchfield Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to Charles E. Burchfield’s art and vision as well as the work of notable artists from the Western New York region. They encourage learning and celebrate a wonderfully creative and varied community by partnering with SUNY.

Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center was created by a group of young visual artists on the West Side in late 1974 and today the development and presentation of new work in the visual, media, performing, and literary arts is supported by Hallwalls.

Open Wednesday through Saturday CEPA Gallery is located in the historic Market Arcade Complex and is a modern photography and visual arts facility with a national and local influence. CEPA establishes a lively presence in the center of downtown with three galleries of rotating exhibits and events, multimedia public art projects, education initiatives, and an open-access darkroom and digital photo lab.

Buffalo Arts Studio was founded in 1991 with the goal of providing inexpensive studio space and significant exposure for visual artists as well as arts education and meaningful access for the whole community. Located on the east side it has brought vibrant and engaging arts programs, educational opportunities, and community activities to a historically under served region.

The University of Buffalo is fortunate to have two art galleries committed to community outreach as The UB Anderson Gallery houses the University’s permanent art collection which includes the David K. Anderson Collection of over 1,200 pieces of modern and contemporary art along with more than 1,800 ethnographic and modern and contemporary artifacts from hundreds of countries. Head over from 11am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday to see all that they have to offer.

Mr. Siuta is the creator and director of Art Dialogue Gallery which is open from 11am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday and 11am to 3pm on Saturday and that he founded in 1984 and he was also a founding member of the Western New York Artists Group.

The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (BICA) was established in June 2018 with the goal of bridging the gap between the art world and the rest of the globe and improving people’s lives via practical interactions with contemporary works.

Eleven Twenty Projects is open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Friday and was founded in 2013 as a modern and contemporary arts organization with an autonomous vision that focuses on art, history, and material culture via diversified programming. On historic Main Street it was built in 1928 as a REO Automobile dealership that has been transformed into a world-class art project area.

For a professionally supervised nonprofit visual arts organization committed to the display of modern work by disadvantaged artists as well as cultural programming that connects different communities via the arts and humanities contact El Museo which is open from noon to 4pm Thursday through Saturday.

Since its inception in 2016 Revolution Gallery has presented dozens of art exhibitions, live music concerts, and cultural events. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday and also has a wine bar and is a hot spot for pop surrealist art and cutting-edge music attracting a varied clientele.

Indigo Art is a small independent gallery in the ever expanding local community that opens at noon Wednesday through Sunday. In one-person and group exhibits both established and rising artists are featured and they have shown the work of over 120 regional artists to date.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm every day but Monday and is the sixth oldest public art institution in the United States and one of the oldest museums dedicated to contemporary works. Former President Millard Fillmore was among the founders when it launched back in December 1862.

Materials & Supplies Near You

These local art stores are good places to buy new supplies or materials:

For more than 60 years Hyatt’s All Things Creative has catered to the requirements of those who are aesthetically creative while providing over 50,000 distinct goods to let individuals express themselves visually.

The Bead Gallery is a locally owned and operated bead shop where you will find supplies, jewelry, seminars, and in-store and off-site activities.

We doubt they need to tell you what the chain stores like Michaels, Dollar Tree, and Hobby Lobby are all about.

Of course Dollar Tree is a great option if you just want to quickly buy cheap art supplies near you.

Shows & Events

These art shows, festivals, and events in your area are certainly worth checking out:

During the second weekend in June the Allentown Art Festival takes place in the Allentown Historic Preservation District. The festival has been running since 1958 and is one of the most well-known and recognized art exhibits in the country.

Helping to encourage growth in and awareness of western New York’s artistic and cultural assets is the goal of The Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts as well as improving the fabric of their distinctive urban environment with over 170 artists and craftspeople selling work in 16 various mediums. The festival is located on Elmwood Avenue between West 57th and West 58th Streets.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

Art dealers and appraisers near you are places to find new unique pieces or learn the value of something you already own:

America Arts is a fine art studio in your area and a wholesale distributor of excellent oil paintings and giclee canvas art.

Walking Tours

When the weather is nice walk around outside and see unique local art on one of these tours:

On Washington Street some of the murals are picturesque like “Wildflowers for Buffalo” while others are geometric such as “Optichromie.” On this downtown walking tour you’ll learn about the city’s history and culture.

Public Art of Downtown allows you to concentrate on public displays as you take a stroll through downtown to see and appreciate the diverse media seen in sculptures, monuments, building decoration, advertising, and street art.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Buffalo lessons near you studios
Another fun thing to do on a sunny day would be to check out some of these statues and sculptures in your area:

  • Statue of David at 84 Parkside Ave
  • Shark Girl at 44 Prime St
  • Millard Fillmore at 65 Niagara Sq
  • George Washington Monument at 92 Franklin St
  • Flatman Sculpture at Greenway Nature Trail
  • Indian Hunter Statue at Meadow Dr

Delaware Park is home to the Statue of David.

Artist Casey Riordan’s bizarre, funny, and tragic work is Shark Girl.

Millard Filmore was sculpted in 1930 using bronze material by Sculptor Bryant Baker and unveiled on July 1, 1932.

The George Washington Monument was created in 1976 by Joseph Turkalj.

Flatman is a 25-foot-tall steel sculpture that has been sitting in a field at Griffis Sculpture Park in East Otto since the mid-1960’s.

The Indian Hunter by John Q. A. Ward was given to the city by Ella Spencer Darr in memory of her husband Marcus M. Darr.

Buffalo Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults some of the best Buffalo art schools can be found at:

Free lesson plans are available for students and instructors at the Burchfield Penney Art Center as the BPAC is dedicated to providing educators with tools that expose kids to art and support classroom benchmarks particularly in the visual arts and ELA.

Through hands-on instruction in the visual arts and the cultivation of a lifetime aesthetic awareness Queen City Fine Arts stimulates the creative process inherent in each individual.

Come unwind, relax, and have fun at Paint the Town where you’ll be guided step by step through the process of creating your masterpiece.

Terra Clay Studio’s core series lessons are continuous and based on the interests of the students while being appropriate for beginners, experienced students, and even those who have taken the course before. Wheel tossing, handbuilding, utilitarian, and sculptural works are all possibilities.

Locust Street Art offers free or low-cost art workshops in your area to local residents.

Because you get to paint and drink Painting with a Twist can be fun for many occasions as there is no requirement for painting expertise and you are welcome to bring any type of beverage including alcohol to enjoy while you make your creation. It is fair to say these lessons might be a little more laid back than some of the others on the list.

Studios For Rent Near You

These local art studios might have workspace available:

Artspace Buffalo Lofts now has 60 affordable housing apartments for artists and their families with 36 in the former factory and 24 in six freshly constructed fourplexes on unoccupied property behind the factory. The local Center for Arts and Technology provides after-school visual arts programs for at-risk urban high school students and health sciences vocational training for underemployed and unemployed adults is also part of the project.

Wasteland Recording Studios will probably be best for theatre, toys, video games, and radio or television commercials in the area.

Don’t forget about Buffalo Arts Studio from their initial best galleries near you list either.

Framing

When you need to find Buffalo art framing head to:

The Main Frame began as a modest retail frame store and manufacturing facility for Vern Stein Art and Frame in 1988. Since then they’ve expanded to approximately 6,000 square feet which includes their in-stock moulding inventory and on-site custom framing business.

Custom picture framing, frame and artifact repair, and photo restoration are all services provided by State of the Art which was founded in 1982 and whose owner has over 50 years of frame expertise as a Certified Picture Framer.

The custom framing at Genesee Picture Frame Co is a one-of-a-kind craft that combines art and design with complexity and perfection in construction.

You can also get framing at America Arts.

In case you might be interested we have also written guides about:

Have Fun Enjoying The Buffalo Art Scene

Well guys, we tried to cover the full art scene near you to the best of our abilities. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area.

If you are still here you probably are a really big fan of the local art scene. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if you noticed anything incorrect.

Have fun going to the galleries, museums, buying supplies, or doing anything that has to do with art in Buffalo!

Related Posts:

Author Avatar

This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

FacebookPinterest

Leave a Comment