Tri-County Arts Council Showcases Barbara Fox's 'An Artistic Journey' Through Aug. 30
The Tri-County Arts Council's Peg Bothner Gallery in Olean is hosting "An Artistic Journey, From Watercolors to Oils and Back Again," a solo exhibition by artist Barbara Fox running through Aug. 30. The show traces Fox's shifts between watercolor and oil painting over the years, pairing finished works with notes and sketches that document her process. Fox works across graphite, charcoal, watercolor and oil, and her pieces have been exhibited and collected internationally. The gallery, located at 110 West State Street, is open to the public during the council's regular hours for the remainder of the exhibit's run.
Griffis Sculpture Park to Host Evening Printmaking Workshops Aug. 11-12
Griffis Sculpture Park is partnering with Pisa Creative Workshops for two evenings of printmaking classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 11-12, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the park's Gate House on Mill Valley Road. The sessions are designed for beginners, walking participants step by step from a blank idea through a finished print without requiring any prior art experience. Instructor James Pisaturo, who runs Pisa Creative Workshops and has more than two decades of art-teaching experience, leads the guided classes amid the park's outdoor sculpture grounds. The workshops add to Griffis's ongoing summer lineup of hands-on art programming alongside its permanent outdoor sculpture collection.
St. Bonaventure's Quick Center Unveils 2026-27 Performing Arts Season
St. Bonaventure University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts has announced its 2026-2027 performing arts season along with a new lineup of fall gallery exhibitions. The season opens September 20 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and continues with the Ailey II dance company in October, a holiday concert from the Harmonia Chamber Singers in December, a Valentine's Day performance by the Southern Tier Symphony, a March show titled "The Company We Keep" featuring Justin Moniz and James Harrington, and an Emerging Artist Series piano recital next April. The center also plans to open all five of its galleries this fall with new visual art exhibitions. Tickets for the full season are now on sale.
Griffis Sculpture Park to Hold 14th Annual Summer Festival Aug. 16
Griffis Sculpture Park in East Otto will host its 14th Annual Summer Festival on Sunday, August 16, from noon to 6 p.m., combining live music with the park's outdoor art installations. The 450-acre park, home to more than 250 large-scale sculptures spread across miles of hiking trails since the early 1960s, uses the festival as its major annual fundraiser for the nonprofit Ashford Hollow Foundation, which operates the site. The summer lineup also included a guided evening walk in June built around Cattaraugus County folklore and storytelling. Considered one of the largest sculpture parks in the country, Griffis draws visitors from across Western New York to see works by founder Larry Griffis Jr. and other contributing artists set directly into the woods and fields.
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum to Reopen in September with Two New Exhibitions
The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum on the Alfred University campus closed its summer shows on July 19 and will remain shut through early September while staff install its next round of exhibitions. When it reopens on September 10, the museum will debut "Paula Murray: Resilience," a survey of the Canadian ceramic artist's vessel-based work exploring breaking, healing and transformation, alongside "Figure Out: Catastrophe or Regeneration," an installation of slip-cast figures by Paolo Porelli. Both shows open with a joint public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Both exhibits run through December 20. The museum, housed at Main and Pine streets on the Alfred University campus, holds nearly 8,000 ceramic objects and is closely tied to the university's internationally known ceramic art program.
Little Gem Gallery Showcases Renowned Alfred Station Sculptor Glenn Zweygardt
The Little Gem Gallery on Main Street in Wellsville has put sculptures by Glenn Zweygardt front and center in its storefront windows. Zweygardt, an emeritus sculpture professor at Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics, works from his studio in nearby Alfred Station using steel, bronze, cast glass and stone, and has built an international reputation over more than four decades of exhibiting. The gallery sits between the Texas Hot restaurant and the Wellsville Creative Arts Center, and organizers say the display gives downtown visitors a rare close-up look at work from an artist normally seen in major sculpture gardens. Those interested in visiting can reach the gallery through its Facebook page or by calling the Wellsville Creative Arts Center.
Seneca-Iroquois National Museum Marks 49th Anniversary Aug. 4
The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum at the Onohsagwe:de' Cultural Center in Salamanca will celebrate its 49th anniversary with a milestone event on August 4. The museum's permanent galleries, including "They Work" and "On the Mother's Side," showcase traditional Seneca craftsmanship, clan structure and cultural history alongside a preserved, reassembled log cabin. Earlier this year the museum also put out a call for artists for a 2026 exhibit addressing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Persons, following a community walk and dinner held at the center in May. The anniversary celebration highlights the museum's long-running role as a home for both historical exhibits and contemporary Seneca artists in Cattaraugus County.
Longhaus of Lone Opens on Main Street With Native American Art and Quilting Supplies
Artist Faye Lone has opened Longhaus of Lone, a new Main Street business in Salamanca specializing in authentic Native American art, designs and high-quality quilting supplies. Lone, whose own work has been featured through the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum's artist program, stocks the shop with pieces from Native artists across the region alongside her own creations. The opening adds another storefront to Salamanca's small arts and retail corridor, not far from the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum. It gives local residents and visitors a dedicated local outlet for Haudenosaunee-made art and craft supplies.
Cuba Library Gallery Hosts Student Art From Buffalo's Locust Street Art
The community room gallery at Cuba Circulating Library is currently displaying work by students and instructors from Locust Street Art, a free community studio program based in Buffalo. The exhibit brings paintings, drawings and other pieces created in the organization's tuition-free classes for children, teens and seniors to Allegany County, extending the reach of a program built around the motto "Where Art is for Everyone." The library has hosted rotating art displays in its community room gallery since 2007, drawing on both regional artists and outside groups like Locust Street Art. Locust Street Art's own offerings include drawing, painting, hand-built ceramics, and black-and-white photography classes back at its Buffalo studio.
15-Year-Old Maggie Bai Wins MostArts Festival's Young Pianist Competition in Alfred
The MostArts Festival at Alfred University wrapped its tenth season with a Grand Finale Concert on July 18, where 15-year-old Maggie Bai of Newton, Massachusetts took first prize in the Young Pianist Competition. Bai's win comes with a $10,000 award, an invitation to perform at the festival's 2027 season opener, and eligibility to become a Young Steinway Artist. Second and third prizes went to William Feng of Seattle and a tie between Daniel Beal of Moscow, Idaho and Jeremy Liu of Naperville, Illinois. The finale concert, led by guest conductor Kathleen Horvath and the International MostArts Festival Orchestra, also featured the world premiere of composer Gabriel Jenks' "As Luck" alongside works by Morton Gould and Chopin.
Olean Library Gallery Showcases Nature Paintings by John Macroy
The Olean Public Library's gallery space is currently featuring "Nature's Cacophony of Color," an exhibit by local artist John Macroy. The show pairs Macroy's paintings of the natural world with displays of actual butterflies and bird photography, aiming to spotlight the vibrancy of color found in nature. The exhibit is part of the library's ongoing rotating gallery program, which regularly turns its public space over to area artists at no cost to visitors. Library staff have promoted the show alongside other summer programming, including the branch's monthly zine of community creative writing.
Atlantic Brass Quintet Wraps Free Summer Seminar at St. Bonaventure
The Atlantic Brass Quintet closed out its 33rd annual summer seminar at St. Bonaventure University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in early July. Over the two-week program, the professional ensemble led masterclasses and rehearsals with student brass players inside the Rigas Family Theater, opening the sessions to the public free of charge. The quintet performed public recitals on July 2 and July 9, with the visiting students presenting their own quintet concerts on July 3 and July 10. The seminar has become a fixture of the Quick Center's summer programming, drawing young brass musicians from around the country to the Allegany County campus.
Fillmore Central's "Hadestown" Wins Bronze at Shea's Wonder Awards
Fillmore Central School's production of "Hadestown: Teen Edition" took home a bronze prize for Outstanding Production of a Musical at the 2026 Shea's Wonder Awards, Buffalo's high school musical theater honors program. The show also won Outstanding Collective Ensemble Performance and picked up additional recognition for music direction, leading performances, and collective vocal performance. Shea's Performing Arts Center awarded the program a total of $1,500 to support its musical theater work. More than 1,600 students from 25 Western New York schools took part in the awards event, held May 16 at Shea's in Buffalo.
West Clarksville Sculptor's Snow Art Draws Bills Legends Kelly and Reed
West Clarksville artist Eric Jones, a Food Network "Outrageous Pumpkins" champion known for snow, sand, and pumpkin sculpture, spent 80 hours carving three snow sculptures outside Highmark Stadium for the Buffalo Bills' final home game of the regular season. Jones worked through wind gusts up to 79 mph and was so worn out afterward that he slept through the game itself. He woke to find that Bills Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Andre Reed, childhood heroes of his, had stopped to pose with his sculptures. Beyond stadium sculpture work, Jones runs a caricature business dating to 2005 and has appeared on multiple Food Network competition shows.
