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Celebrating 150 Years

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2012. Since its founding as The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1862, through today, the Gallery has taken risks in collecting and exhibiting the art of its time, giving rise to an extraordinary collection of art. The Gallery’s 150th year will be particularly exciting, with major exhibitions exploring its history and future and special events celebrating its founding, its role in the Western New York community, and its collecting activity throughout the years.

Special Projects

 
Project Universals 150
150 People | 1 Work of Art | Celebrating 150 Years
The Albright-Knox has commissioned the artists Eric and Heather ChanSchatz to create a work in honor of the Gallery’s 150th anniversary. Learn More

Special Exhibitions


The Long Curve:
150 Years of Visionary Collecting at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery
November 4, 2011–March 4, 2012
This exhibition highlights the history of the Albright-Knox’s extraordinary Collection by focusing on the pioneering benefactors and museum professionals who made it possible, including A. Conger Goodyear, Seymour H. Knox, Jr., Martha Jackson, Natalie and Irving Forman, and Giuseppe Panza di Biumo.

Wish You Were Here: The Buffalo Avant-garde in the 1970s
March 30–July 8, 2012
Organized by Curator Heather Pesanti, this exhibition presents a unique survey of a creative ecology that flourished in Buffalo in the 1970s. This important decade featured collaborative, loosely organized, cross-cultural pockets of artistic communities spanning the visual arts, film, video, performance, literature, and music. It illuminates one of the most creative periods in Buffalo’s history and will include first-time recreations of seminal works by Paul Sharits, Cindy Sherman, and Tony Conrad, as well as works by many others.

DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012
August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013
This major exhibition will explore the Albright-Knox’s recent collecting history, featuring key acquisitions from the past ten years and highlighting the continuing growth and dynamism of the Gallery’s Collection of contemporary and modern art.

Special Events

 
Wish You Were Here Symposium
Saturday, April 14–Sunday, April 15, 2012
In collaboration with the University at Buffalo

Wish You Were Here Celebration
Friday, May 4, 2012, 12:30–10 pm
Part of M&T FIRST FRIDAYS @ THE GALLERY
Celebrate this special exhibition with film screenings and performances.

Collision: A Massive Summer Celebration
Thursday, June 21, 7–11 pm

Related Gallery News

 
Limited Edition Print by Jim Isermann Honors Gallery's 150th Anniversary 

Gallery’s 1962 Knox Building Turns 50

Related PRESS

 
Celebrating Knox legacy on golden anniversary for art (The Buffalo News)

A space uniquely designed for art (The Buffalo News)

150 years later, Albright-Knox is still hungry for the new (The Buffalo News)

Go big or go home: 150 years of visionary at the Albright-Knox (Buffalo Spree)