BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo History Museum is getting ready to paint the town, with local artwork inspired by its collection of artifacts.
"Paint the Town is our local art auction that we've been doing for 22 years," Director of Development Megan Hahin said. "This year we did it a little bit differently, so there's a little twist where we've used our collection as inspiration."
Artists were invited to the History Museum's resource center on Forest Avenue, to find inspiration based in the collected artifacts.
"I think it just is fun to see artist's takes on just kind of our collection and then paint the town over all is all about interpreting our city and all of the great iconic structures as well," Hahin said.
John Salmeri III created a replica of the 1901 Exposition Poster, featuring Niagara Falls, called "Still Accepting Tickets."
"I have been over the last three years taking care of the building so I've developed a relationship with it and I've been looking at this painting for about three years ago, and it just inspired me," he said. "I've been in the show for twenty years now and this is the first time seeing it in the portico."
Andy Krzyrstek was inspired by a manmade structure from the Pan Am days made it back to the museum decades later.
"It was one of the first buildings at the Pan-Am," he said. "It was a souvenier shack. Afterwards, it was sold. It ended in the suburbs as somebody's shed-flash-play place."
The homeowner's daughter later found out where it came from and contacted the history museum.
"It found its way back to the history museum's collection, and that's the inspiration of it." the Krzyrstek said.
Patti Thomas, aka The Ghost, decided to share a little bit of her personal history with "Picass-her."
"It kind of represents the beginning of my art journey which was not too long ago," she said. "It means a lot to me because it was kind of a discovery phase, trying to figure out who I was wanting to become and experimenting being inspired by different artists."
Paint the Town takes place Thursday, May 16th from 5:30 - 9 p.m. at the Buffalo History Museum.
The exhibit will be open during regular museum hours leading up to the event.
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