A New Chapter for Buffalo

UB's Arts Collaboratory is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts across campus, to build community, and, ultimately, to turn the Queen City into a thriving hub for artistic expression. Find out more.

Art’s never been just about art. It’s about telling stories and capturing moments. Using creativity to break down barriers, and, occasionally, spread a message - sometimes without us even knowing.

If we were to ask you about art capitals of the world, chances are you’d say Paris or Rome. New York. Maybe even Los Angeles or Miami. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to add Buffalo to that list. There’s an urban renaissance happening in Western New York, and the University at Buffalo is driving the charge.

Lack of talent has never been the issue for Buffalo. From the community itself to the students who come from across the country - the world - to study here, Buffalo has always been teeming with creativity. The problem’s been keeping it here. Especially for our art students. Our Arts Collaboratory, conceived out of the Dean’s Office at the UB College of Arts and Sciences, was designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts across campus, to build community, and, ultimately, to turn Queen City into a thriving hub for artistic expression.

In providing the right resources and making the right hires to turn Buffalo into an artist incubator,  Dean Robin G. Schulze recognized the potential for the Collaboratory to usher in a new chapter for Buffalo, creating opportunities for citizens and students alike, and revitalizing the city in the process.

Making and Living Our Art

Bronwyn Keenan, formerly of the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art and a namesake gallery in her own right, agreed that Buffalo had all the right ingredients. After signing onto the project, she devised the strategy and programming for the Collaboratory, which launched in Fall ‘19 and has since launched a student residency program.

With this new initiative, talent at the University at Buffalo is more closely connected with the City of Buffalo in a new way, and Buffalo’s residents would have the chance to interact with UB in ways they hadn’t before.

“The Arts Collaboratory is providing our students unprecedented opportunities to enter the world of the creative arts prepared, in all ways, to succeed on their own terms," Schulze said.

News from the College of Arts and Sciences

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