The Appeal of Buffalo Art Galleries

If it’s one thing that Buffalo is known for besides its wings, are the beautiful artsy neighborhoods that it is bustling with. Buffalo is home to many art galleries that are known locally as well as nationwide. Art galleries are a great way that locals or even travelers can get their creative work out to the public. Artists have begun to look at themselves as a brand and galleries are beginning to notice that. By getting in contact with local art galleries, these artists have began the process of promoting their exhibitions through the PR teams and tasks at the chosen galleries.

The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationship between organizations and their publics.” Three art galleries, all in the Buffalo area, two smaller than most and one that has been around since 1967, all find that public relations is something that is beneficial for the organization they work for as well as the public that they serve. Though some might have a crew dedicated to doing solely public relations work, others may just be a one man show that is behind the scenes for everything.

Renata Toney, the Public Relations strategist for the Burchfield Penney located right across from Buffalo State says that social media plays a large role in gaining audience for shows held at the Penney. “Primarily what I do is lots of media relations work; which is really trying to build excitement about our programs and products to get people to come through our doors.” At the Burchfield Penney, posting at least four times a day on all social media handles whether it be Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram is made a necessity. To Toney, providing the public or media with visuals is an element of PR that cannot be forgotten. “What do I need to do to get people to show up”, is a question she likes to ask before making decisions as to which route of promoting will be taken.   

Across the way in the middle of the Black Rock neighborhood located on Amherst Street are two other well known art galleries. Artsphere Studio and Gallery is a small gallery owned by Doreen Deboth. Since it is so small, as owner, Doreen takes care of everything that has to do with art gallery. When it comes to promoting gallery, Doreen says that she keeps it simple by doing what she has always done. “I get most of my audience through sending out press releases, or writing for artvoice. The artists fine me and I help them find eyes.” For the Golden Mystique, which is an annual botanical show held at Artspehere, she keeps it rather simple by sending out her hand painted postcards or sending invites through her email list. “I find that most the audience I cater to does not really use social media, so I stick to what I know will work.” says Deboth. In that case, the claims that social media is absolutely needed to gain an audience are not 1oo percent true.

Lastly, located right across the street just a few doors down is the 464 Art Gallery which is owned by Marcus Wise. Established in 2009, Wise believes that most of his audience is through word of mouth. Wise takes the role of public relations specialist by himself or sometimes hands it over when the occasional intern comes through the door. “I do not see the need to pay to advertise anywhere.” said Wise. “All of the advertising I currently use has been working just fine for me and as a small gallery; it is not in the budget.” Through the use of the app “Hootsuite”, Wise allows his social media presence to be manually taken care of. Hootsuite is an app that links all media handles together to post events inputted on a regular basis. Taken from the app’s website, “Hootsuite lets you promote your brand, generate quality leads and increase traffic to your website – all in one place.”

There is a common denominator in regards to all three of these art galleries and that is social media versus plain old journalism. Though social media can definitely help build the presence of a company, sticking to the basics meaning press and or news releases, or emails and postcards seem to have more of a bearing in gaining the audience. Through the use of all of the mentioned tactics like Renata Toney said, “As long as you have a visual, the people will come. It’s a matter of making sure that when they leave they will come back.”

The True Meaning of the word ‘Ankobia’

 Sankofa, an Akan word from the Ghanaian language that means “to go back and get it", is the message the Pan African Students Organization (PASO) uses as its mission.

Last weekend, PASO held its annual Mr. & Mrs. Ankobia pageant on SUNY Buffalo State’s campus in the Campbell Student Union.

While most pageants are all about beauty and glamour, this one is a bit 

different. The Mr. & Mrs Ankobia pageant encourages all contestants to go back into the roots of any chosen country of the African diaspora, while visually and orally exposing it to the audience. 

This year’s theme of the pageant was “Mr. & Mrs. Ankobia: Battle of the Royal Kingdoms”, in which contestants were partnered up according to their chosen countries and compete and win the title and crown together. The countries that were represented this year were Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Jamaica, Ghana, and Guinea.

Because this pageant allows for both female and male contestants, each couple that was partnered up was asked to represent their chosen countries (Royal Kingdoms) as 

kings and queens - hence the title, “Battle of the Royal Kingdoms.”

Throughout the duration of the pageant, there are four scenes that the contestants must 

complete in order to be judged accordingly, along with certain criteria. The scenes are labeled as Introduction, Creativity, Beauty and Talent scenes.

Shontay Morgan is, a former Ankobia contestant , who now holds the title of Public Relations of PASO. “When I ran for Ankobia, I had so much fun,” Morgan said. “I represented Ghana even though I am actually Jamaican, and I learned so much! It was truly a great experience.”

She broke down the scenes, saying, “Each scene has its specifics. The introduction is where we meet the contestants; one by one, they give a one-minute speech where they tell us about themselves and why they deserve to win the pageant; the creativity scene asks the pair to pick an object that comes from their country and tell the audience why it is significant to that country; after this  comes the beauty scene/informational part where contestants tell us what makes their country beautiful. Afterwards is the talent portion, where they obviously show us a talent, something that makes them unique. The last part is the Q&A, where the judges ask the contestants questions in regards to PASO and its mission.”

This year’s pageant was filled with creativity - from the contestants as well as the scheduled intermissions. Every couple stood out in a particular way. From Ivory Coast speaking fluent French, to Nigeria’s beautiful native outfits, taking a trip to Jamaica and experiencing their creative way of connecting their well-known island to Ghana, landing in Ghana where the couple expressed the beauty of their land poetically, and ending in Guinea who had a story line throughout their scenes, the hard work and dedication of each couple showed throughout the show.

“The one thing that people don’t know about winning the Ankobia title is that is tied to so many things that PASO does in the future,” said Jamal Richards, PASO president. “The winners host another annual event called Toast for Change where we get together along with members and other guests to try to find solutions to specific problems in Africa. Winning Ankobia means becoming the face of our organization.

Every pair that stepped foot on that stage brought something completely different to the table. 

Kaitlyn Lowe, who represented Ghana that evening, gave the audience a large taste of Ghana even though she is American. Alongside her partner, Evans Akosah, they acted out a scene that people who may have grown up in an African household may have experienced when bringing a significant other to meet the parents. Their beauty scene had her acting as Mother Nature and revolved around the Ghanaian man and how his existence and dedication to the land is what makes Ghana beautiful. 

Each couple gave the judges a run for their money, but in the end only one couple can be crowned Mr. & Mrs. Ankobia.

In the end, the couple representing Guinea, Souadou Balde and Craig Pruitt,  were crowned as winners of the evening. 

“It was a really good show” said Bangali Doumbia, 2012 winner of the Ankobia pageant. “It was way better than last year’s, Guinea deserved to win.”

Contestants faces on stage as the judges deliberate.

The winning couple, Craig Pruitt and Souadou Balde representing Guinea.

Incoming Class Causes Overcrowding Concerns

Interim President Howard Cohen had a master plan: During his term as President he was ambitious enough to tackle a few of the problems that were plaguing Buffalo State College; the first being enrollment issues. Enrollment growth was one of the main priorities during his short term at the college. The beginning of the Fall 2014 semester alone brought in 3000 first year and transfer students.  That number increased the overall average of undergraduate students to 10,000.  With the entry of new President Dr. Katherine Conway – Turner, it seems as though she has taken this project under her wings instead of leaving it altogether.

The admittance of freshman alone has begun to be an eye sore for students on campus. “The lines in retail have become unbearable, I don’t even want to eat anymore by the time its my turn.”, says Katherine Middleton a senior at the college. This has left many students wondering what is going on. The answer is plain and simple: profit. Even though schools are here to educate, money is needed in order to do so. Salaries have to be paid and buildings have to be taken care of.

The biggest issue with the number of students arriving is the overcrowding in the residence halls.  Every freshmen hall on campus is now a triple room, which means the average dorm room, has three people in it as opposed to the standard two. “This hall is filled with triples but it’s not as hectic as you would think,” says Bruna Lima, a Residential Assistant in Neumann Hall on campus. “The only real problem we have here are how fast the bathrooms get dirty and the lack of toilet paper.” Bruna is a 3^rd year student from Brazil; this is her 2^nd year as a Residential Assistant.

                

  Michael Bryan, a freshman who lives in Porter Hall says, “I don’t really mind having a triple, it’s more crowded but I meet more people because of it.” Dean J. Reinhart, the Associate Director of Admissions jokes that even if students are not getting along, they sure have an experience to bond over.

According to Reinhart, there has not been much worry over the wave of students that entered the school this year. Surprisingly, the student teacher ratio has not changed drastically neither has the ease of registration for students.

Buffalo State College has plans to expand its campus in the next 5 years. According to Reinhart “The President will set the direction of the campus.”