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Photo: Dave Pape, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Founded in 1974 on the West Side by a collective of visual artists that includes such future luminaries of the Buffalo arts scene as Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, and Robert Longo, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center has operated since 2006 in Babeville, the complex created by Ani DiFranco in the redeveloped Asbury United Methodist Church. With a mission of creating and making available to the public new works in a diversity of genres of contemporary art, Hallwalls operates a large exhibition gallery that features a permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions of works by local artists, as well as a screening room and performance space. As well, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is a dedicated advocate for local artists on issues such as funding for the arts and freedom of expression.
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is a non-profit art organization located in Buffalo, New York. Since 1974, Hallwalls has shown and shows the work of contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds who work in film, video, literature, music, performance, media and the visual arts. The ideology behind Hallwalls has always been: "Hallwalls provides direct access to developing ideas in Art for Western New York and Southern Ontario. This is accomplished through exhibitions, a visiting Artist/Critic program, and correspondence with other organizations involved with recent art in the United States, Canada and Europe.". “Hallwalls came into existence through a convergence of factors. Initiated by the ambitious friendship of (Charles) Clough and (Robert) Longo, fueled by new state funding to alternative spaces, and embraced by a hungry Buffalo arts community, it rapidly picked up speed and girth as it tumbled onto existence." Hallwalls describes its mission as supporting the creation and presentation of new work in visual, media, performing, and literary arts, while making this work available to the public.
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Ani DiFranco is the locally-based musician and record company honcho who was responsible for saving the historic Asbury United Methodist Church from demolition in 1996 and transforming it into "Babeville", a complex that encompasses the headquarters of her record label, Righteous Babe Records, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center's gallery and screening room, and the concert venue Asbury Hall. Located in the sanctuary of the former church, Asbury Hall is a 1,000-capacity venue that hosts live performances of music that trends heavily toward folky indie singer-songwriters, in many cases from Righteous Babe Records' stable of artists. Comedy, variety shows, and other events are also held regularly at Asbury Hall.
Located in the Theater District and operated by the Learning Disabilities Association of Western New York, Starlight Studio is a gallery and studio that showcases works by artists with disabilities. With a rotating collection on display of works by member artists, frequent temporary exhibitions, and display space available for rent to the community, the overarching goal of Starlight Studio is to support the creative expression and artistic development of adults with disabilities.
"Spare" room... get it? Dad jokes aside, 500 Pearl Street's onsite bowling alley is a thoroughly hipster-ed up affair with a retro-chic vibe: eight lanes furnished with midcentury-inspired seating and settees, an arcade with '80s- and '90s-era video machines, a bar where smart craft cocktails abound, and a dimly-lit, LED-imbued ambience more redolent of a chic nightclub than a bowling alley. You pay by the hour rather than per game, and there's one distinct downside that comes with that: regardless of how much time you pay for, the lights and scoring machines cut out after every hour and have to be turned back on manually, so time your games accordingly (or keep score on pencil and paper).
It's best known as a divey blue-collar watering hole, but the Tudor Lounge is also one of the best places in Buffalo to see local blues combos — including the house band, the Jony James Blues Band — strut their stuff. Bluesy alt-rock acts take the stage from time to time, as well. The Tudor Lounge also has karaoke on Friday nights starting at 11PM.
The Studio Arena Theatre was one of the oldest resident theatres in the United States and Buffalo's only professional regional theatre at the time of its closure in 2008 due to financial difficulties. It was reopened in 2012 by Shea's Performing Arts Center in partnership with a variety of other local, regional, and college theatre institutions. The 710 Theatre presents an assortment of productions. The theatre is also available for private and corporate events.
Located in a striking Art Moderne building in the heart of the Theater District that once housed Buffalo's Greyhound bus station, the Alleyway Theatre presents a full slate of plays and musicals year-round in a comfortable and intimate setting. Popular features of the Alleyway Theatre's annual schedule include "Buffalo Quickies" (a festival of one-act plays by local writers), the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition, and the theater's annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol each December. The Alleyway is also home to Theatre Plus, a troupe that puts on musicals, plays, dance performances, and other such fare, geared toward and performed by women.