BUFFALO, N.Y. — Iris Kirkwood of Buffalo is an experienced artist, but this is the first time her work has ever been displayed on anything this huge.
"It's like a big ego moment, to see something I spent time drawing in my studio pop up on the big billboard where everybody can see it," she said.
Her piece wound up on the billboard on Delaware and Chippewa when it won a contest through the Momentum Project to bring awareness to the FeedMore Western New York's capital campaign to build a new headquarters.
"I really wasn't sure that this was a good fit for it, because it didn't have people that were hungry and it didn't have people needy," Kirkwood said. "These little girls are happy and they're having fun and I just thought try it you know, just try it send it in, so that's what I did."
"We loved a lot of works that we got, but Iris' really rose to the top because it created a really positive message about the challenges of food insecurity in Western New York," Innovation Philanthropist Alice Jacobs said, who launched the Momentum Project in 2022.
"If we meet the goals for FeedMore of having this distribution center, ultimately we will have young people who are glowing and growing, as the billboard says," she continued.
The billboard belongs to Delaware North, and up until now they've used it as more of a conversation starter.
"The billboard has gained such traction. I think when Delaware North started putting things up there, they didn't realize how much of a thing it was going to become, and people were kind of waiting to see what was going to be on there next," Jacobs said. "To use it for the first time to help a community organization is different and really special."
The goal is of course to inspire people to contribute to the FeedMore, and also share the work and perspective of local artists like Kirkwood.
"We are so grateful the original artwork is being donated to FeedMore Western New York," public relations manager Catherine Shick said. "It just such a beautiful piece and we are so grateful to be able to celebrate Iris in this way. She's just an incredible artist and we are just so fortunate to have this amazing donation."
"I mean how else can you feel," Kirkwood said. "You do something, you put it to the side, you do other things, you bring it out, and people love it? They like it, they think enough of it to put it on this huge billboard, where hundreds of people thousands of people that drive by every day that walk by that take the bus will see it? It's great, I mean what else can you ask for?"
To check out more of Iris Kirkwood's art, click here.
To donate to FeedMore Western New York's capital campaign, click here.
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