DERBY, N.Y. — The Buffalo AKG is partnering with the Graycliff estate to bring a public art exhibit to the grounds, for the first time ever.
"This is an excellent opportunity for us to engage people with these spaces in a different way," said Anna Kaplan, Executive Director at Graycliff.
The exhibit, "Sarah Braman: Finding Room," will open to the public on Saturday, July 30 and run through March of 2023.
"We actually drove around Western New York one day," said Andrea Alvarez, Assistant Curator at Buffalo AKG. "We went around the city, around the county, and I think in our hearts we always knew it was Graycliff."
The exhibit features the work of artist Sarah Braman, a Tonawanda native now living in Massachusetts.
"I definitely am drawn to using found objects, I've always been a junk collector," Braman said. "I'm drawn to, I guess objects from around the house or things that other people discard."
For the exhibit, staff at the Graycliff and Buffalo AKG curators removed all the furniture from the newly remodeled main house of the estate. The living room, which Darwin Martin and his family once called their summer home, overlooks Lake Erie and is now filled with intricate works of wood and glass.
The lawn of the estate is adorned with concrete monoliths and colored glass.
"When we landed on Graycliff, the first thing that we did was really explore the site and how we could possibly include these large-scale works," said Zack Boehler, Public Art Project Coordinator for Buffalo AKG. "Some of these large works weigh upwards of 20,000 pounds."
Tickets for the exhibit can be purchased on the Graycliff website. There are specific tours for the exhibit, but you can see them on the regular tour as well.