These Walls Can Talk: Hallwalls Celebrates 50 Years in Buffalo
Buffalo’s AKG Art Museum has spent considerable time in the news since its reopening in June 2023. And justifiably so — it’s home to one of the great collections of modern and contemporary art in North America. Its spectacular new addition and reimagined galleries and campus have garnered the attention of not only the media, but art lovers and cultural tourists who have made their way to Buffalo from around the world.
But for serious art buffs and culture vultures there has always been – well, for the last fifty years, anyway – another compelling reason to consider Buffalo a must-see art destination: Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center. Since its inception in 1974, Hallwalls has been at the forefront of contemporary art, offering artists and art lovers a community of like-minded individuals where pushing boundaries is nurtured and creative exploration celebrated. With eclectic programming that includes films, concerts, artist talks and, of course, exhibits, Hallwalls has been a pillar of Buffalo’s cultural scene since its founding as well as a presence on the national scene, in part because several of its founding generation went on to great acclaim, including Charles Clough, Robert Longo and Cindy Sherman. Hallwalls has been making waves pretty much since the first works of art were placed on the walls of the hallway that would in short order become Hallwalls.
This storied history, from its magical founding in a former icehouse on Buffalo’s West Side through successive generations of artists, curators and administrators turning their talents to thousands of exhibits and events is featured in a brilliantly curated exhibit at the Buffalo History Museum. Entitled “10 x 5: Fifty Years of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 1975-2025,” the exhibit offers the attentive visitor an engaging look back over a very eventful five decades of artistic ferment. Clearly, Hallwalls has been diligent in documenting its own history along the way, leaving Hallwalls Executive Director Ed Cardoni with ample opportunity to tell a fascinating, multifaceted story. Cardoni uses everything from handwritten letters, posters, postcards, pamphlets, books, videos, and a couple of truly memorable pieces of original art to bring Hallwalls’ now lengthy history to life. This is cultural history done right.
Like Hallwalls this retrospective punches way above its weight class. A handwritten note from Cindy Sherman wishing Charlie Clough a happy birthday is a sweet and sentimental reminder that Hallwalls founders were just kids, several of them still attending classes at Buff State at the time the gallery was getting started. It’s fascinating to see how deep and comprehensive the arts coverage of the Buffalo News once was in several articles scattered throughout the show. Band names near and dear to Buffalonians of a certain age will bring a pang of nostalgia for Buffalo’s punk glory days (The Vores! The Jumpers!) and the posters promoting exhibits over the years show what a roster of both homegrown and nationally renowned artists and musicians made their way through Hallwalls over the years.
For Buffalonians pining for the now sadly gone Old Pink, Joan Linder’s blue ballpoint pen rendering of the legendary drinking hole’s bar will bring back many wistful memories. And the story behind Jackie Felix’s “Mural for Hallwalls,” which once adorned the walls of Hallwalls Tri-Main Center location and is now happily installed at the History Museum, could make for its own mini-series. Fortunately, it’s a tale with a happy ending.
The amazing thing in retracing Hallwalls five decades of history is how it’s never faltered, never lost the urgency of its founders’ vision. By-laws, boards, the stipulations of government and foundation grants and the often-irresistible forces of gravity and entropy could have derailed the youthful zeal and innocent ambitions of 1975. It would not have been surprising that when the founders moved on their hopes and dreams left with them. That they did not is cause for celebration. As is the occasion of this engrossing and entertaining exhibit.
“10 X 5: Fifty Years of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center” is on exhibit at the Buffalo History Museum through May 2025.
