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The Taste of Diversity has been held on Grant Street every summer since 2003 on varying dates, and has become the most popular street festival on the West Side, with almost 2,000 attendees gathering on the block between Lafayette and Auburn Avenues in the heart of the strip. As might be inferred from its title, what's celebrated at the Taste of Diversity are the delicious and vibrant cuisines of each of the West Side's vibrant ethnic communities. But don't mistake this for a clone of downtown's Taste of Buffalo: rather than the area's hoity-toitiest restaurants duking it out for prize money and publicity, the Taste of Diversity takes a decidedly more grassroots approach, where the food is prepared by smaller, more humble (but, it should be emphasized, equally delicious and arguably more authentic) neighborhood restaurants and food trucks, and where the goal is to celebrate the beauty of West Side's diversity — and perhaps more importantly, the fact that a united, cohesive community with an increasingly high quality of life has been forged out of these disparate elements. Festivities at the Taste of Diversity also comprise traditional music, dancing, and other events representing the full spectrum of the West Side's cultural rainbow.
The Black Rock Historical Society's small storefront exhibit space opened in 2015 in a building they share with the Black Rock Riverside Alliance, and its exhibits represent ten years of acquisition by museum curators from their personal collections and donations from neighborhood residents and businesses. Through a series of historic photographs, artifacts, and other exhibits, the 200-year story of the Black Rock, Riverside, Grant-Amherst, and West Hertel neighborhoods — one of the most historic areas of Buffalo — is recounted. The Black Rock Historical Society also offers brochures for several self-guided walking tours around the neighborhood, covering everything from historic sites from the War of 1812 to modern-day community gardens.
This delightful cottage on Edward Street is where Frances Folsom Cleveland, wife of President Grover Cleveland, lived from her birth in 1864 to her matriculation at Wells College about 1880. Frances' father Oscar Folsom, a prominent lawyer, died at a young age in a carriage accident, whereupon his friend and colleague, Grover Cleveland, took on the responsibility of caring for his widow and two daughters. Cleveland's relationship with Frances would blossom into a romance, culminating in their marriage in 1886, the first and still the only presidential wedding to ever take place at the White House. Folsom Cleveland was immensely popular — the public was struck by her beauty, poise and intelligence, and ladies of the day slavishly copied her fashion sense — and she's still the youngest First Lady in U.S. history. Though the house at 168 Edward Street is not open for tours, the city has placed an interpretive plaque in front of it with details on Folsom Cleveland's life, historical importance, and legacy. Architecture buffs will also take note of this fine example of the mid-19th century red brick Italianates that remain popular on the Lower West Side.
The brainchild of California real estate magnate David Karpeles, the Karpeles Manuscript Library is the world's largest privately-owned collection of historic documents and manuscripts. The library consists of twelve branches nationwide, including two in Buffalo: Porter Hall, located in Prospect Hill at the beautifully restored former home of the Plymouth Methodist Church, and North Hall in Allentown. In addition to the travelling exhibits that rotate among all twelve branches of the library, Porter Hall houses the permanent collection of the Buffalo branch of the Karpeles Manuscript Library, including the William McKinley Room where original documents concerning the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition are displayed.
Operated by the same team of folks behind the Eleven Twenty Projects gallery on Main Street in Midtown, Black Rock's Argus Gallery launched in spring 2017 with a focus on supporting and nurturing emerging artists who come from communities that are underrepresented in the art world, through the exhibition of contemporary works in a variety of media that explore thought-provoking and sometimes controversial themes.
A pioneering institution in the now-burgeoning art scene in Grant-Amherst, Artsphere Studio opened in 2003, across the street from its current building. This bright, airy, and spacious gallery features the work of its owner Doreen Boyer DeBoth, a painter, photographer and jewelrymaker; her husband, noted potter Douglas DeBoth, whose works are available for sale at the gallery; and other local artists working in a diverse variety of media. As well, temporary exhibitions are frequently held whose themes are often related to the rich history and unique identity of Black Rock and Grant-Amherst: Boyer DeBoth is a founding member of the Black Rock Historical Society and spearheaded the Black Rock Historic Photo Project whose constituent works can be seen on the exterior walls of several Amherst Street buildings. As well, a modest selection of books on local history and art are available for sale.
Located at the former St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in the heart of historic Black Rock, the mission of the Buffalo Religious Arts Center is to salvage and display some of the works of religious art contained in the many churches and other places of worship (particularly on the East Side) that have closed their doors in the wake of Buffalo's half-century of population loss. In addition to the priceless works from other churches that curator Mary Holland has collected, such as statuary from St. Mary of Sorrows, icons from SS. Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Church, and various items from Temple Beth El, St. Francis Xavier itself is a magnificent old building full of beautiful and uplifting art which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was a longtime cornerstone of the Black Rock community.