Join Us for a Free Gallery Tour

Fall is a beautiful time to visit the rural countryside of Niagara County, especially with the wonderful produce stands, farms and wineries. Why not take a leisurely drive and make a stop at the Kenan Center on September 20where you can enjoy a free Talk and Tour with guest curator Gerald Mead of the current exhibit, Feasting Eyes: Artists Take On Food. The tour begins at 2:30 pm. The gallery is admission free, but for a $5 or more donation, you can get your hands on the limited edition color catalog--a real steal for any artophile, especially if you collect or just love Western New York artists. Also--remember to bring some non-perishable food items which will help out the YWCA of Niagara's Domestice Violence Safe Dwelling.

Check out what's in the exhibit on our early blog posts and slideshows, and also this week's Artvoice where you'll find a nice article by Lucy Yau. Go to Artvoice story.

Anneke Ieda Joins Us as String Instructor

The Music Arts Program is well on its way with the addition of string instructor Anneke Ieda. A native of Lancaster, PA, Anneke received her undergraduate degree in Music Education from Millersville University of Pennsylvania and went on to a Masters Degree in orchestral Conducting from SUNY Fredonia which is well noted for its music program. Anneke taught strings to grades 5-12 in Jamestown Public Schools and also Suzuki violin at Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna. We're thrilled to have Anneke join us!

Meet Our New Music Arts Program Coordinator

We couldn't be more excited about our new partnership with the Lockport City School District that will bring string instruction to elementary school students and an even more extensive summer program to the Kenan Center starting next summer!

Called the Music Arts Program, or MAP, the first component--in-school instruction--begins this month and coordinating all the details is Paul Monaco. Paul has plenty of experience for his new role! Paul's love of stringed instruments goes back to the wee age of five when he started playing violin. He later went on to play tuba and electric bass in the Army. After completing his BS in Educational Studies and MS in Education at Canisius College, Paul went on to teach in the Royalton-Hartland School District where he's currently employed full-time. Paul says he's really excited about being selected as the progam's first coordinator and believes in the philosophy that every student should have an opportunity to learn to play if there's an interest. We're looking forward to future recitals!

WNY Gallery/Artists Guide Available

Thanks to some intrepid artists collectively known as "Artists in Buffalo," there's a terrific FREE guide to the galleries and artists who call the Buffalo-Niagara region home. The full color booklet printed on nice quality glossy paper proves (again!) why Buffalo is the #1 art city in the country (according to us, of course, and American Style Magazine). The Kenan Center is always proud to be counted among the fabulous venues that showcase our regional artists, and help keep them here and thriving through sales of their work. You can pick up the guide at the Kenan Center as well as at local tourism centers and many art and cultural venues around town. Artists in Buffalo also has a website--http://www.artistsinbuffalo.org/--where you can find a directory of artists and their studios. Go see some art today!

The Show Opens!

Feasting Eyes opened on Friday (Aug 29) on a perfectly beautiful evening when summer finally graced our region. The exhibit brought many of our friends from across the county border including a number of artists--both those in the show and those who wanted to come out and support their colleagues. Curator Jerry Mead even brought along packages of Skittles for artist James Paulsen to sign. A public tour with Mead takes place Saturday, Sept. 20 at 2:30pm and it promises to be fascinating. You really want to get the low-down on the video inside the refrigerator and what the story is behind Courtney Grim's 6 foot long photo of bacon. And it's free--come and join us!