Harvesting WNY Arts on the World Wide Web

Art and music lovers rejoice! Newcomers and those returning to Western New York this semester can be assured that local arts institutions are abundant and flourishing. Listings for these, along with their new crop of fall events, are readily accessible via the World Wide Web.

The Buffalo Free-Net list of art museums and galleries (http://freenet.buffalo.edu/arts/gal/) includes links to such prominent Western New York art sites as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Castellani Art Museum, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Allentown Art Festival, CEPA Gallery, and others. These sites contain news of upcoming exhibitions and events, images of work in their permanent collections, and history and backgrounds of these important Western New York art institutions.

Several of these sites include "virtual" exhibitions. The Castellani Art Gallery currently has a virtual display for its "Underground Railroad" exhibit (http://www.niagara.edu/~cam/ugr/ugr.html) containing photographs of the commemorative stations and excerpts from the cellar inscriptions in Underground Railroad locales in Niagara County.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has a virtual version of its exhibition, "Michel Verjux: Light Connection" (http://www.albrightknox.org/page47.html). When viewing the "Visuals" section, you will find stunning night photographs of the gallery itself as it becomes part of the artist's elaborate light installation.

By clicking on the "What's New" icon on the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Web site (http://www.bpo.org/), you may browse through the list of upcoming concerts for the internationally acclaimed orchestra's 61st season. The site also features historical overviews of the BPO and its home, the remarkable Kleinhans.

No less appealing are the varied musical offerings on the UB campus. Performers in the 1997-98 concert series listed on the Slee Hall homepage (http://www.slee.buffalo.edu) include faculty artists, student groups, and world-renowned artists and ensembles. Also, for a convenient way to access a complete list of concerts at Slee Hall and the UB Center of the Arts, and to purchase tickets online, point your browser to: (http://wings.buffalo.edu/news/#schedules) and click on Center for the Arts.

Not only does the Web allow you to view extraordinary cultural sites around the world, it also can be used to locate those in our own backyard. You will find that these are well worth a visit: both online and especially in person.

For assistance in connectng to the World Wide Web via UB computer accounts, contact the ASCIT Help Desk at 645-3542.

-Deborah Husted Koshinsky and Rick McRae, University Libraries