Celebrating 150 Years > History > About The Albright-Knox

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
Special Exhibitions
Special Events
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Special Projects

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

Special Exhibitions

DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012
August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013
This major exhibition explores 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.

Beauty, Life, and Spirit: A Celebration of Greek Culture
July 20, 2012–April 21, 2013
This exhibition—presented in celebration of the Gallery's 150th anniversary—is the third in a series organized in partnership with the Buffalo Museum of Science that incorporates work from both museums’ collections.

Wish You Were Here: The Buffalo Avant-garde in the 1970s
March 30–July 8, 2012
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.

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.

Special Events

Universals Albright-Knox 150 Celebration
Friday, December 7, 2012, 7 pm
Part of M&T FIRST FRIDAYS @ THE GALLERY

Founders' Week
Tuesday, December 4–Friday, December 7, 2012
Featuring free admission, extended hours, and special events.

Celebrate DECADE Gala
Saturday, October 27, 2012, 6:30 pm

DECADE Symposium and Performance by John Bock
Friday, October 26–Saturday, October 27, 2012

Illuminate AK
Friday, October 5, 2012, 7–9:30 pm
Witness the 1905 Albright Building come alive with color and light in the first large-scale 3D video projection mapping project presented in Western New York.

Collision
A Massive Summer Celebration
Thursday, June 21, 2012, 7–11 pm
View photos from the event

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