Past Presidents of the Buffalo Society of Artists Exhibitions
Past Presidents of the Buffalo Society of Artists:
An Invitational
The Buffalo Society of Artists, one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country, was founded in 1891 to promote and expand the awareness of Western New York artists, a mission that it maintains today. Throughout its history, a member artist has been regularly elected by the membership to serve as president of the Society, guiding the organization through three centuries spanning eras of growth, change and challenges. Organized as part of the Society’s 130th anniversary celebration, these two companion exhibitions celebrate the artistry of many of the 72 artists who have served as president of the Society since its founding.
All of the living past presidents were invited to provide a work that best represents their art practice, and those works will be displayed in the Rotunda Gallery.
Rotunda Gallery
Past Presidents of the Buffalo Society of Artists:
Works from the Gerald Mead Collection
This exhibition, organized to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Buffalo Society of Artists, consists of artworks in all media by 33 of the deceased artists who served as presidents of the Society since its founding in 1891. The artworks were selected from the extensive collection of BSA past president Gerald Mead. Included are works by many of the region’s most noteworthy historic and contemporary artists such as George Cary, Larry Griffis, Jr., Donald Haug, Lucius Hitchcock, Rixford Jennings, Shirley Kassman, Alexander Levy, Evelyn Rumsey Lord, Carlo Nisita and Frank Penfold.
Historically, the artworks range from an 1897 etching by Reginald Cleveland Coxe (BSA president, 1901-02) to a watercolor that Norine Spurling (BSA President 1976) painted in 2010. James Francis Brown, who served as the first president of the Society in 1891-92, is represented by an undated gouache figurative painting. Collectively the works in this exhibition acknowledge the rich visual heritage of the BSA and chronicle the multifarious artistic styles, approaches and subject matter that its leaders have explored over a period spanning three centuries.
The other artists represented in this survey are Edward Aherns, Frank Altamura, Florence Julia Bach, Larry Bell, Freda Cohen, Eugene Dyczkowski, Alice Glenny, Beverly Goldsman, Sherwin Greenberg, Arthur Kowalski, Genevieve Pierce Law, Arthur Lindberg, Grace McKendry, Joan Primerano, Willard Sauter, William Schwanekamp, Richard Sigafoos, Alma Slotkin, Frank Stockwell and John Quinn.
Gerald Mead is an award winning collage artist and educator and arts writer. A leading authority on WNY art, he is currently an independent curator who teaches in the Art & Design Department at Buffalo State College and serves on committees for several arts organizations. Since 1987 he has assembled a private collection of over 1,500 artworks by artists associated with WNY by birth or residency. Thematic exhibitions from his collection have been presented at numerous college galleries and other venues, most recently at the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University in 2020. He has also lent works from his collection for exhibitions at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Burchfield Penney Art Center, UB Art Galleries, CEPA Gallery and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, and frequently lectures on art and collecting.
East Gallery
