Campus News
Buffalo’s reputation as ‘City of Good Neighbors’ focus of art project
Saira Siddiqui grew up in Buffalo and has always had a creative spirit. After leaving the area and experiencing different parts of the world, the artist, dancer, musician, and urban planner moved back and began creating The Peace Dots Project, an art and data collection project that will visually represent the city of good neighbors. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
By VICTORIA SANTOS
Published August 24, 2022
The idea for the Peace Dots Project started when Saira Siddiqui made an observation during a community project.
“As an urban planner and community organizer, I’m always surrounded by the typical types of data, and more often than not, the data depicts negative things like health and wealth disparities,” Siddiqui says. “In February 2021, I was working on a very intensive neighborhood planning process and talking to the city of Buffalo about 311 data and crime statistics. At that time, I had this thought: Where are all the Peace Dots at?”
From that thought, Siddiqui, who is attending UB as part of her graduate studies, was determined to start collecting and sharing all the “good data” she could obtain from community members. She received funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, and along with support from professors, classmates and the Arts Services Initiative of Western New York, she set out to implement her vision.
Siddiqui developed a system of online and in-person submission sites where people can submit good deeds, positive interactions or unexpected kindness they have experienced or witnessed. The person making a submission selects a color to assign to their experience, and then Siddiqui enters those submissions and colors as dots on the map. These submissions will be used to build a body of artwork representing the peace dots of the city.
“This project intends to flip the idea of ‘crime dots’ to ‘peace dots,’ capturing moments of peace, random acts of kindness and thoughtful gestures seen around Buffalo and beyond,” Siddiqui explains.
As part of the project, artist Saira Siddiqui maps out the colorful submissions in hopes of introducing positive data points as part of Buffalo’s story instead of just negative ones. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
The path to UB
Before the Peace Dots Project became a reality, Siddiqui was looking for a graduate program that would encourage her as an artist and offer the opportunity to cultivate her ability to use art to address community development challenges.
“When I decided to go to grad school, I was very intentional about my classes and the professors I would work with. Before I applied, I interviewed several arts professors at both UB and Buffalo State to see if I could find the right fit,” Siddiqui says.
One of the faculty members Siddiqui spoke to was George Hughes, UB associate professor of art.
“In our initial conversation, I just felt like he understood what I was trying to do, and that he was very supportive of my vision,” Siddiqui says.
Hughes was impressed with Siddiqui’s approach and ideas.
“I thought it was very exciting and ingenious for Saira to combine her background as community organizer and facilitator with the arts,” he says. “She wanted to develop her practice as an artist in painting, installation and interactive/community art, and the Peace Dots Project is a manifestation of those goals.
“It has been a pleasure working with Saira,” Hughes says. “As a result of her hard work, passion, creativity and determination, she has accomplished so much — even during the pandemic.”
Siddiqui was able to blend UB’s fine arts courses with Buffalo State’s creative studies courses to design her own multidisciplinary MS program with a certificate in creativity and change leadership.
“(George’s) mentorship throughout the past several years has helped me a lot,” she says. “I have grown exponentially in my skill and practice as an oil painter technique-wise, but also, he pushed me to develop a project — a full body of work. And I’m super excited to share that the Peace Dots Project is my first, full-on project that will culminate in a body of artwork that I hope to share in the next year or two.
“Because of his guidance, it feels like my vision of being a professional artist are actually coming to fruition.”
Artist Saira Siddiqui developed a system of on-line and in-person submission sites that invites people to submit positive interactions, which she then maps out as part of The Peace Dots Project. This in-person submission site is located near the corner of Niagara and Breckenridge Streets at Stitch Buffalo. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
The next phase
To Siddiqui, the Peace Dots Project has been somewhat of an experiment in creating the types of communities she strives to build and enjoy. So far, she has received over 125 submissions — most are from the local area, as intended, but some are from other states and even other countries. She is hoping to keep the submissions coming and encourages everyone to share their positive experiences for the project — and for their community.
“My career, which started back in 2013, has always been focused on creating places and engaging community,” Siddiqui notes. “I have also always had a strong focus on how culture, creativity and good design weave their way into urban planning and neighborhood development. My goals are to merge all these elements together and be a public artist that engages neighborhoods and people in the process, from concept to creation.”
A recent submission to the project by a local senior who wanted to share their ongoing positive interaction with an unknown good neighbor.
The Peace Dots Project has been featured on local news — WKBW, WGRZ and Spectrum News — and on the popular website UpWorthy. Siddiqui recently announced a collaboration with local restauranteurs who are helping her promote her project by disseminating coasters to the public. Restaurant partners include the Beer Garden at Canalside, Duende Bar & Grill at Silo City, Breeze Burrito Bar, The Beer Keep at Elmwood and Bidwell, and Alchemy Wine & Beer in Hamburg.
According to Siddiqui, stories for The Peace Dots Project will continue to be accepted throughout 2022 and can be submitted through the website, Instagram, Facebook, and in physical locations throughout the community. Physical map sites are indoors at the Broadway Market, and outdoors next to Stitch Buffalo at 1215 Niagara St.
The Peace Dots Project will culminate in a body of artwork representing the peace dots of the city, and Siddiqui encourages everyone to submit their positive data to be “part of the art in the city of good neighbors.”