The Burchfield Penney Art Center, or just the Burchfield Penney, is an arts and educational institution part of Buffalo State College, located adjacent to the main campus in Buffalo, New York, United States. Dedicated to the art and vision of American painter Charles E. Burchfield, it was founded in 1966 as the Charles E. Burchfield Center. The center features a museum, library, and activity space for the arts. It maintains the world’s most extensive collection of Burchfield’s work and many other distinguished artists of Buffalo, Niagara, and Western New York. It is engaged with every aspect of Buffalo and the region’s rich cultural activity.
History
Originally named the Charles E. Burchfield Center, the museum held its official opening ceremonies on 9 December 1966 in Rockwell Hall, with Burchfield himself in attendance. Burchfield died just a month and a day after the museum’s inauguration. The museum moved to a new home on 4.9 acres (20,000 m2) of land at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Rockwell Road in Buffalo, New York, in November 2008. The Burchfield Penney opened in its new location on November 22, 2008, with a 31-hour, non-stop grand opening event. The new 84,000-square-foot (7,800 m2) museum is designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects.
Today, one of Burchfield Penney’s main goals is to be unique and inviting to the public. Its “Front Yard” exhibit features three tall steel projectors which project constantly-changing artwork onto the exterior of the building. According to Buffalo News critic Colin Dabkowski, “The Front Yard thwarts immediate judgment because it is always in a state of becoming something else.” (para. 16). The museum continually connects to educational institutions, specifically Buffalo State College.
Collection
The museum’s permanent collection spans the late 19th century through today. The collection includes the world’s most extensive collection of Burchfield’s works and a large archive of his drawings, notes, and journals. Although the museum focuses on the work of Burchfield, it is the only museum dedicated entirely to the art and artists of Buffalo and features more than 18 exhibitions each year. Bed Bug Exterminator Buffalo
Other components of the collection range from traditional mid-nineteenth-century work to contemporary media arts. Notable artists in the collection include Claire Shuttleworth, Virginia_Cuthbert, Charles Cary Rumsey, Steina Vasulka, Paul Sharits, and many others. It also includes work by Hallwalls founders: Charles Clough, Robert Longo, Diane Bertolo, Nancy Dwyer, Cindy Sherman, and Michael Zwack. The collection also contains one of the world’s largest collections of the documentary photographer Milton Rogovin, paintings and prints by J.J. Lankes (a native of Buffalo), and work by Arts and Craft artisans from Roycroft.
Address: 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY
Check out other attractions like Albright–Knox Art Gallery