“Projects like Waterfront View exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”
“The NEA Grant for Arts Projects allows Buffalo Arts Studio to build ambitious programs that address contemporary issues that are especially relevant to our Western New York Community,” said Buffalo Arts Studio Visual Art Director Shirley Verrico. “This funding helps us pay the many artists, educators, and panelists who make Waterfront View possible.”
In partnership with grassroots activism and community empowerment organizations, Waterfront View is a series of exhibitions, workshops, and panel conversations that examine how late-stage capitalism has shifted the view of water and waterways from a resource of collective benefit to a commodity of individual interest and shareholder profit. Exhibiting artists include Léwuga Benson (Buffalo, NY), Joan Linder (Buffalo, NY), Stephanie Rothenberg (Buffalo, NY), Jay Carrier (Niagara Falls, NY), Paul Bartow (Watkins Glen, NY) Richard Metzgar (Fulton, NY) and David Werberig (Victor, NY). Partnering organizations include Mirabo Press, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, and the Lyceum at Silo City.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.