Fixing Buffalo:
Click here to read more about fixing BuffaloAn on-going discussion of what's gone wrong with our city–
and how to make it better.
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Illustration by Jean-Pierre Thimot.
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In planning this second group of articles, I was struck by two things—the City of Buffalo’s recent decision to stop cultural funding and the fact that the cultural institutions of our region are probably among the best things we’ve got going for us (as the preceding article on the Albright-Knox Art Gallery eloquently demonstrates). It seemed logical that the leaders of these institutions might have constructive opinions to offer.
Spree will be continuing this series of discussions between writers and community members—for as long as we think our readers can benefit from a public airing of issues so vital to Buffalo’s survival and possible regeneration.
-Elizabeth Licata, Editor
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Our politicians pit us against each other:
White versus Black, North versus South, City versus Suburbs, Rich versus Poor, and on and on. It gets so numbingly dumb that too many good people just sit on the sidelines.
-Bruce Eaton, “Our Rudy”
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What we need is a paradigm shift, Ryan says. The community as a whole has to realize that education begins at birth and that education can go a long way in helping Buffalo out of its slump.
-Donna Evans, “Advice from Buffalo’s Not-for-Profit Leaders”
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Cardoni sees the Tri-Main as a metaphor for the changing Buffalo economy. No longer able to rely on heavy industry, the local economy must tap into the productive contributions of “creatives” of all persuasions—which would include writers, visual artists, architects, graphic designers, advertising gurus, and even human service innovators like the people at United Cerebral Palsy.
-Gwen Ito, “Buffalo, City of Arts”
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Fixing Buffalo:
Ed Cardoni & Hal Payne on Buffalo, City of Arts
by Gwen Ito
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Home is where the arts are Ed Cardoni, executive director of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, had never planned to stay in Buffalo. Cardoni came here in 1981 to pursue a doctoral degree in English at the University at Buffalo; he was drawn to icons within the UB faculty, which included writer Leslie Fiedler and poet Robert Creeley. Cardoni originally intended to complete his Ph.D. and then “go off somewhere else” to get a teaching position. But during his tenure as a graduate student, he began a part-time stint at Hallwalls directing the center’s literature program—an extracurricular activity that became a “labor of love” and taught him an interdisciplinary, multimedia approach to the arts. He expanded his part-time role at Hallwalls into a full-time job. Cardoni started putting his literary talents to good use by writing grant applications; eventually, he picked up critical administrative skills and became the organization’s executive director. During Hallwalls’ fiscal crisis in the early nineties, Cardoni, members of his staff, and a “board that took responsibility and had expertise I didn’t have” worked together to save the organization from collapse. He credits Hallwalls’ continuing success to staff and board members’ unflinching dedication to a common mission.
Although Ed Cardoni describes his on-the-job learning opportunities at Hallwalls as more appealing than the gristmill of academia, he remains grateful for the opportunities he gained as a UB student. That’s one reason why he strongly encourages collaboration between area arts organizations and academic institutions such as UB. “We don’t think of ourselves as a major college town. But I think that’s one of the things Buffalo is,” Cardoni explains.
Hal Payne, president of the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations and vice chair for the Erie County Cultural Resources Advisory Board, would undoubtedly be one of the first to agree with Cardoni on that point. He, too, characterizes metro Buffalo as an academic center with strong potential. In fact, Payne cites the Buffalo area’s many private and public colleges and universities as one of the region’s clear strengths; educational institutions are “uniquely influential forces that can impact cultural and economic development in this area.”
The Ohio native moved from Washington D.C., to Buffalo a little over a decade ago to assume a high-level administrative position with Buffalo State College, where he currently serves as vice president for student affairs. Since his move to Buffalo, Payne has been active in many community leadership groups, including the boards of the Buffalo Zoo and Just Buffalo Literary Center.
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According to Ed Cardoni, Buffalo is on par with major urban centers—Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and “all the cities you can name”—when it comes to a vibrant arts culture. “We have arts organizations that are part of networks within their fields that have access to the national scene,” he points out. Hallwalls, Buffalo Arts Studio, and CEPA Gallery are among the prestigious arts spaces Cardoni is quick to promote. Hal Payne’s long list of urban arts and cultural treasures includes the Burchfield-Penney Center, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the St. Paul’s Men and Boys Choir.
Just how influential can the arts be in a city undergoing economic transition? According to Payne, “Arts and cultural organizations can be on the cutting edge of moving this region forward.” Architectural landmarks such as the Frank Lloyd Wright homes and Olmsted Parks can serve as consummate tourist attractions.
Not only can cultural institutions and arts organizations serve the larger community, but they can provide the network and resources to help emerging artists succeed in their particular medium. Cardoni urges artists to use the myriad resources Buffalo has to offer — high-caliber educational institutions, local arts organizations with national connections, and the affordable cost of living and work space—to realize their personal and professional dreams.
Hal Payne echoes the advantages of being an artist in the Western New York area, saying how “Buffalo is fertile ground for emerging artistic talent.” Both men point to the success of contemporary artist Cindy Sherman, the 1977 Buffalo State graduate who is now one of the world’s most well-known contemporary artists.
In promoting the Buffalo area as a supportive environment for struggling artists, Cardoni goes a step further: “A creative person can live here, maybe teach, can work, and have a career of national stature.” He proves his point by explaining how poet Carl Dennis has remained committed to the Buffalo community while “quietly putting together a career that led him to a Pulitzer.”
Tri-Main: not just art for art’s sake
When Trico Products moved its manufacturing operations out of Buffalo, the former windshield wiper factory at 2495 Main Street could have easily ended up as just another eyesore on the industrial landscape of urban decline. Instead, it has become a revitalized space with an impressive 99-percent occupancy rate. Both Hal Payne and Ed Cardoni see the Tri-Main Building as the perfect embodiment of what’s being done right in Buffalo.
Cardoni sites the Tri-Main as a metaphor for the changing Buffalo economy. No longer able to rely on heavy industry, the local economy must tap into the productive contributions of “creatives” of all persuasions—which would include writers, visual artists, architects, graphic designers, advertising gurus, and even human service innovators like the people at United Cerebral Palsy.
What needs to be fixed?
“The worst thing that Buffalo can do, obviously—or that the state can do in terms of Buffalo—is to take away resources from either the arts and cultural sector, or from academic institutions.” Ed Cardoni’s gaze intensifies as he drives home this warning. If state and local politicians recognize the value of supporting education and the arts, he reasons, then “a lot of business and entrepreneurial activity can be spun off from that.”
He laments Albany’s recent decisions to decrease financial assistance for area schools. According to Cardoni, George Pataki is on the wrong track with respect to education. “I really disagree with the cuts he’s made in higher education,” the outspoken advocate says. “We need to create opportunities so that people can come here and stay here.”
The college vice president—intimately familiar with a racially and ethnically mixed public campus—believes that Buffalo’s rich diversity offers both rewards and challenges. “Multiculturalism is a work in progress in Buffalo,” Payne comments. And unfortunately, when it comes to political and economic situations, “creating opportunities for people across class, racial, and ethnic lines is a goal more often than it is a reality.” It’s the divisions that get in the way, Payne asserts—whether they are city versus county, the East Side versus the South Side, or some other self-defeating rivalry. Putting the spotlight on politicians, he says: “There is a need in Buffalo for leaders who are willing to take risks — and for institutions and political groups that are willing to support them.”
Local heroes and hopes for the future
So who, in Ed Cardoni’s and Hal Payne’s eyes, are the real heroes of Buffalo?
Payne applauds Robert Wilmers of M & T Bank for his support of a revitalization of the Buffalo Zoo and Bill Magavern of Magavern, Magavern & Grimm for his generous grant to the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Muriel Howard, president of Buffalo State College, garners his admiration for being an “African American woman who can exercise effective leadership.” And he has steadfast respect for retiring assemblyman Arthur O. Eve, whose “ability to advance the cause of education opportunities” for public school students has been a vivid example of what’s good about government.
For Ed Cardoni, the question of heroes is a tough one. His understanding of the word “hero” has always emphasized elders who can inspire their protégés. Accordingly, former UB mentors Creeley and Fiedler top his list.
Reflecting some more on the subject, Cardoni admits that the true heroes are “my colleagues who are running smaller organizations on a shoestring under a great deal of pressure, and maintaining the integrity of their organizations’ missions and surviving despite all odds.” Artist Joanna Angie, founder of the Buffalo Arts Studio, is among those colleagues.
As a lifelong advocate of arts and education, Hal Payne has taken a special interest in talented youth who might not realize their potential without the support of private and public institutions. Certainly he, too, would reaffirm Ed Cardoni’s sense of awe and respect for the local arts and cultural groups that struggle each day to make sure the best and brightest are able to live in—and contribute to—our City of the Arts.
Gwen Ito is a freelance writer living in Buffalo.
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