Niagara Reporter
Fox Run at Orchard Park is excited to announce a new art exhibit called The People’s Paintress is now open in their Community Art Gallery. The collection by artist Barbara L. Rickard of Buffalo, NY, includes colorful oil paintings and prints inspired by her “love affair with color” and the lifelong connection to her city.
Ten and 20 years ago, Rickard was called “The Painter Lady of the Chip Strip” because her work was everywhere in the Chippewa district. More recently, the artist was called something that resonated with her: “While painting a mural in a mall, a small child was being dragged past me by his mom,” Rickard remembers. “He kept looking back at me…”what are you, a Paintress or somethin’?” And I’m thinkin’, “yeah, kid, that’s exactly what I am.”
Rickard has been a self-employed Artist for the entirety of her career. With only $1,000 in her pocket, she opened her first studio/gallery in her hometown of Clarence, NY, renting the same space where Wilson Greatbatch got his start. She later moved to downtown Buffalo and began doing murals, and other creative projects for many establishments including McMonkey’s, Sky Bar, Crocodile, and Spot Coffee, to name a few.
“There was not a bar or restaurant in the Chippewa district that did not bare some mark of ‘BRick.’ My murals were big bold and colorful. Dance floors became jungles. Menu boards moved as flowing mobiles. Window treatments became soft sculptures all their own. Painted bar tops looked like exotic imports. If it was unconventional, it was up for discussion. It was creative thinking and execution of a sort unseen, more like… unleashed,” says Rickard.
Her work highlights so much of what is classic in Buffalo: from chicken wings to caricature-like renditions of Buffaloes, classic Buffalo brands, and historic Buffalo architecture, her work is bold and beautiful, eclectic and playful.
Rickard graduated from Fredonia State College where she was given the liberty of creating her own degree in Medical Illustration (combining Art and Biology). This pedigree continues to be present in her work as a source of inspiration. “The human body and its strength—especially that of women,” inspires Rickard, as does “the fragility and tenacity of nature and anything that takes me by surprise.”
In addition to her current show at Fox Run at Orchard Park, Rickard’s work can be found at River Gallery & Gifts (North Tonawanda, NY), Genesee Picture Framing (Buffalo, NY), Main Frame (Buffalo, NY), and Burchfield Penney Art Center (cards only, Buffalo, NY).
The People’s Paintress is on display and open to the public, December 1st through February 28th. The Community Art Gallery is open from 8:00am and 8:00pm, Monday through Saturday. Visitors are asked to enter through the Commons Building and sign-in at the reception desk.
Fox Run will hold an opening reception on Thursday, January 26th. Attendees can meet Barbara Rickard and hear a presentation about her work. Doors open at 6:00pm and the artist presentation begins at 6:30pm, sharp. This event is open to the WNY public and the Fox Run Community. Kindly make a reservation by calling Erin Long Loganathan in the Marketing Department at 716.662.5001 during normal business hours. Fox Run at Orchard Park is located at the corner of California Road and Route 20A. Enter the Commons Building. (One Fox Run Lane, Orchard Park, NY 14127).
