another Hertel Alley building

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Mary C

with walls covered with street art murals

below: Bugs and balls – Ladybugs and spiders, billiard balls and eye balls, all on a bright green background, mural by Markenzy Cesar

below: A sweet mural with donuts and cupcakes, by Sakygrinu, aka Teouria Morris

below: The next three go together, a long mural by Jordan Weaver (aka Coconut Curry) with red dots, faces, a dragon, and many pink flowers

part of a large mural by coconut curry, pink flowers on grey background

below: Jumping for joy and leaping towards the sun on a bright blue sky day, in a mural by Courtney Haeick

below: These walls are bananas!

below: Keshanta Cleveland painted these colourful fish with the wonderful fins and tails.

mural in an alley, on brick building, two fish with fluffy long flowing fins and tail, a bit like angel fish, one is peach coloured and the othr is pink and maroon

Photos taken April 2025

Link to prior Hertel Alley post – the answer is love

For more information on all things Hertel Walls, check out their website!

famous people on Hertel

Posted on May 25, 2025 by Mary C

This is the second post about the murals found in the Hertel Ave area of Buffalo NY; it is a follow up to the previous post, “the answer is love“.

There are two large murals on Hertel Ave that feature well known people. The first is the Buffalo NY based rock band Goo Goo Dolls and the other shows author Mark Twain in conversation with John T. Lewis.

The Goo Goo Dolls were painted by Philip Burke whose illustrations have appeared in many magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone. John Rzeznik the band’s is the lead vocalist and guitar player while Robby Takac is the bassist as well as another vocalist (there have been other rotating members as well). Goo Goo Dolls appeared on the rock scene in the mid 1980s.

goo goo dolls, the rock band, mural by Philip Burke on Hertel Ave in Buffalo, on side of 2 storey brick building, large faces

Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) and John T. Lewis were painted by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra in his now well-known coloured shapes such as stripes or diamonds. Both Twain and Lewis were born in 1835, Lewis as a free Black in Maryland, Twain in Missouri. Lewis eventually settled in Elmira NY which is where Twain’s wife was from and where the lives of the two men first crossed.

mural by Kobra, Mark Twain and John T. Lewis

Photos taken April 2025

I’ve just learned that I missed murals of Jerry Garcia and of the ‘Rat Pack’ (with Frank Sinatra). If you are in the area, don’t forget to keep an eye open for them!

the answer is love

Posted on May 24, 2025 by Mary C

… and that answer is found in an alley behind Hertel Avenue in Buffalo NY

below: An intriguing orange and black image of a lion’s face by Jay Hawkins (aka Revolutionary Strokes)

large orange and black lion face, in a mural by Jay Hawkins

below: Vibrant flowers by Chuck Tingley

below: Hertel Alley Gallery – the “gallery” encompasses three blocks of Hertel Alley (runs parallel to Hertel Ave between Traymore and Colvin). It is the scene of the Hertel Alley Street Art Festival, first started in 2019. At present there are more than 20 murals. I haven’t presented all of them here, instead I have featured the ones on this building. The others will follow in subsequent postings.

building in an alley with street art murals on it, with sign that says Hertel Alley Gallery

below: Buffalo Strong by Nick Bonvissuto

below: Another Chuck Tingley painting, this time it’s a Covid theme… a thanks to those who worked through the pandemic.

murals on the side of a black building in an alley in buffalo new yor, alley is behind hertel avenue, one of the mural is a large image of a lion's head in orange and black

below: We’re Talking Proud, by The Left-Handed bandit

we're talking proud mural in an alley buffalo, balloons on strings being pulled, by left handed bandit

below: Cheerful mural by Flour Pail Kids

mural by flour pail kids in an alley in buffalo new york, yellow background, a young person is using a camera to take pictures of brightly coloured shapes and flowers, stylized

Photos taken April 2025

Cobblestone Commons

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Mary C

Along a stretch of wall in the Cobblestone District, next to the Buffalo River, in Buffalo NY, there is a series of large paintings …

below: by Detour303 aka Thomas Evans

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Cyrielle Tremblay

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Jason Brammer, a framed view of the ocean

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Ellen Rutt, a collage of shapes, colours, and textures

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

These images are presented by Albright-Knox Gallery and they date from Covid times, 2020-21. From the words on the wall: “The commons are what belong to all of us. In the nineteenth century, this area, so close to the Erie and Hamburg Canals and the Buffalo River and Harbor, was the site of a jostling mix of brick layers and dock workers, deckhands and lock tenders, machinists and millwrights. Producers of all kinds walked down cobble streets alive with the energy and pleasure of other people’s company. The commons are the exciting site of diverse perspectives and unexpected communions, shared together.

copy of the words on the wall for the Albright Knox Gallery series Cobblestone Commons, a grouping of 12 large outdoor artworks

below: A patchwork couple standing together, by Lauren Mckenzie-Pearce aka Lady Noel

a coupe with white hair, dressed in patchwork clothes, white woman, black man, man has a beard and mustache.

below: Obsidian Bellis, human? floral?

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Karle Norman

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons, by Karle Norman,

below: by Monet Alyssa Kifner

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: A jumble of houses and other buildings, by Miriam Singer

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: “Be happy” by James Moffitt

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Colourful cyclists by Morgan Blair

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Rough and tumbling pastel people by Bradd Young

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons, in pastel colours,

The Albright Knox Gallery sponsored another set of artworks during Covid that still hand the wall in a downtown Buffalo lane. You can see them at “Locked Down but Still at Work”

Photos taken April 2025

Locked Down but Still at Work

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Mary C

Sixteen paintings lined up on a wall in a downtown Buffalo alley…. a series presented by the Albright Knox Gallery. It is titled “Works, from Home” and it represents the thoughts and feelings of sixteen artists on their experiences with lockdowns during the Covid pandemic of 2020. Presented here in no particular order (with the artist’s name underneath) –

a row of paintings, part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery

Ashley Johnson

Chris Piontkowski

Adam Weekley

Obsidian Bellis

Rachel Shelton

Jon Mirro

Julia Bottoms

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by J.P. Hawkins Sr

left: Karle Norman
right: Jay P. Hawkins Sr.

Tricia Butski

M.J. Myers

Jason Seeley

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery

Jennifer Ryan

Fotini Galanes

Photos taken April 2025

weathered & faded

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Mary C

Older downtown Buffalo murals

Main Street in Buffalo in Theatre District, two older brick buildings with faded murals on them

below: It’s hard to read now, but the word is “Entertainment” that runs across the top of the mural.

below: Older Buffaloes in Buffalo, titled: “Buffalo Roam”

below: Semi-circular, “Shooting Stars”

two trucks parked in front of an older mural with semi circle, shooting stars, musical notes

close up of shooting stars in mural, peeling paint in places, revealing red brick beneath the paint

below: It’s not a street art mural but it’s located on the same building as “Entertainment” and across the parking lot from “Buffalo Roam”. Buffalo is full of old ghost signs like this. Albert’s Interior Decorators and Willett & Draper Furriers are both long gone. “Storage vaults on premises” – a throwback to when fur coats were popular. Fox & Staniland Opticians apparently still exist, but at a different address.

old advertising sign on the side of a brick building, Main street, Buffalo

Photos taken April 2025

Joe’s Deli

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Mary C

Joe’s Deli is on the corner of Hertel and Colvin in Buffalo (north of downtown). Two sides of the building are covered with large colourful murals.

below: On the Colvin Street side the mural consists of a lot of stylized flowers mostly in blues and purples.

mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background, on the side of Joe's Deli in Buffalo

part of mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background

below: The other side of the building has a second mural. It too has a turquoise background and some of the same floral motifs as the first mural. Both murals were painted by Bunnie Reiss.

large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss

the head of a buffalo in a large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss

part of a mural, large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss

below: The old blue sign on the building says Mastmans Kosher Restaurant. Mastmans deli and restaurant closed in 2005 after 60 years in the business.

Photos taken April 2025

meating place and others

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Mary C

More Buffalo NY street art

below: On the side of Lorigo’s Meating Place on Grant Street, a large mural featuring many people that was installed in 2013. This is “Grant Street Global Voices”; it was created by muralist Augustina Droze with help from students at International School 45 and Lafayette High School. Eighty panels were put together to form the mural – and unfortunately a couple of them seem to have fallen down.

5 storey brick building on Grant St in Buffalo, with green trim around the windows and a small parking lot beside, sign on the side of the building says Meating Place. There is a large mural on the side of the building featuring realistic portraits of many people, including two trumpet players, a girl in a red head scarf, and other men and women,

below: Also on Grant Street is another community mural… The PUSH mural by Max Collins and others, named for the fact that it is over the entrance to PUSH (People United for Sustainable Housing) center.

mural over the entranceway to a building. Two sets of clasped hands, all with different skin tones. Scenes of children playing in the background.

below: A large octopus swims close by on this door.
A supersized creature for a supersized door.

blue mural on an industrial building door, blue marine scene feathuring a large close up of an octopus eye and part of its body, along with some yellow fish, some lily pads and a water lily flower

below: Unicorn! But behind a fence.

mural of a unicorn with a rainbow coloured horn, jumping, behind a wood fence

below: It was the interesting architectural detail over the door that first caught my eye. Then I notice the words, “diez anos como un roble cayendo” Ten years like an oak falling?

blog_como_un_roble_cayendo

below: A flute player plays to a parking meter. A Buffalo parking meter of a type that is long gone from Toronto streets.

black and white photo of a man playing the flute, pasted onto a woodedn fence beside a sidewalk, next to a book store, a parking meter nearby, on a street in Buffalo

below: Sweetness cafe is the scene of at least three pieces of street art, starting with this woman who smiles at those of us who look up from the sidewalk. I also like the white mugs hanging from the awning.
a large, life sized or larger, paste up of a drawing of the head and shoulders of a black middle aged woman, smiling, above the awning for the Sweetness cafe. 6 white mugs hang from hooks through holes along the lower edge of the awning

below: The door next door has been re-done but that involved removing the face of this paste-up. A facelift gone awry.

blog_new_door_old_pasteup

below: But this painting is still on the wall of the Sweetness Cafe.

blog_street_art_painting_sweetness

below: And we’ll end with the trash. He’s looks happy to take care of your garbage.
Added note, Sonder is a band from Buffalo

part of the side of a green metal container for recycling bins on a Buffalo sidewalk, relief sculpture of a man on the side, to which someone has added to sticker, one is a happy face sticker on the head and another is a parody of wonder bread that says sonder.

Allentown (Buffalo) street art

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Mary C

The Allentown area of Buffalo is now home to some interesting murals. If you walk around the neighbourhood of Allen Street and College Street, this is what you might see:

below: ‘Voyage’ by Chuck Tingley, 2014. Commissioned by MyBuffaloPride and Loop Magazine and dedicated to Buffalo’s LGBT community and its allies. “In a world of scrutiny, we have the power to embrace our differences and use our inner light to guide us through the darkest of times.”

a mural called Voyage painted by Chuck Tingley on the side of a building in Buffalo, a large multicoloured boy is sitting in a small boat and holding on to a yellow paddle. The sky is rainbow colours.

below: The corner of Allen Street and Wadsworth Street.

intersection in Buffalo with old two storey square front storefronts. wet road, rainy day, liquor store on the corner that is now empty but the sign only half works - only half the letters in the word liquor are lit.

below: Nietzsche (German composer and philosopher) with the quote “Without music life would be a mistake”. When I googled to make sure that that was an actual quote, I found a quote from a letter that he wrote in 1888: “Music … frees me from myself, it sobers me up from myself, as though I survey the scene from a great distance … It is very strange. It is as though I had bathed in some natural element. Life without music is simply an error, exhausting, an exile.” The picture is on the side of a Nietzsche Bar.

street art picture of Nietzsche head and shoulders in black and white along with a quote that says Without music life would be a mistake.

below: It’s About Time, with three red fists on the upper part of the Allen Street Hardware Cafe. One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can. The third fist is in the background and is holding either tools or paint brushes or markers? Painted by the Allen Street Street Art Collective (ASSA).

a brick two storey store with a mural on the upper part in red, yellow and black, with the words It's about time. The picture in the mural is three red fists. One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can. Another mural is in the background, a car parked on the wet street, a pedestrian on the sidewalk

below: ‘Tribute to Spain Rodriguez’ by Ian DeBeer. Rodriguez was a comic artist who was born in Buffalo and the piece is largely about a fight that he got into in the bar across the street (once the Jamestown, now the Nietzsche).

long horizontal mural drawn like a comic book strip, dedicated to the memory of Spain Rodriguez and painted by Ian DeBeers in 2013, a large woman's face with bright red lips, the word 'she; painted in red, a motorcylce, a man wearing a hat,

a motorcycle, part of a larger mural

below: When this mural was first completed, the grey parts were black. The large picture of the man that stands between the windows on the left and those in the middle, was quite distinct. Now, you might have missed him when you first looked at the picture.

the front of a building is covered with black and white poster sized pictures of people.

below: The pink stripes in the background of the finger-like portions of this mural have also faded considerably since the mural was painted in 2013. “The work we do is not for the faint of heart”.

a mural on the side of a building. On the left is a purple and black drawing of what looks like fingers. on the right are yellow and turquoise stripes with the words, the work we do is not for the faint of heart

blog_the_work_mural_closer

below: The last ASSA mural features an iron fireman. It’s a long horizontal mural with the words Iron and Fireman written in large letters over shapes that resemble flames.

word Iron written in large letters, part of a mural

below: Between the two words is a painting of a black ‘iron fireman’, a robot-like creature shovelling coal to feed the fire. This was the logo for the Iron Fireman, a coal stoker first developed in the 1920’s by Thomas Harry Banfield and Cyrus Jury Parker. A coal stoker mechanically feeds coal into a furnace or boiler – the Iron Fireman was a commercial success in the days when coal was a commonly used fuel.

picture of a black robot figure shovelling coal

word fireman written on large letters in a mural, brick buildings (apartments) behind, cars parked in front.

below: One of the other interesting things about Buffalo is how the architecture is different here, or at least different from what I am used to in Toronto. The building with the green details on the front is the Puritan Building, built in 1893. It has recently been renovated with the Billy Club restaurant on the ground level and three storeys of apartments above. And yes, that is a purple house on the right. Many of the houses in the area are painted in bright and cheerful colours.

mural in the middle gound, two low rise buildings in the background, one is the Puritan building with green details around the windows in the front of the building.

below: She’s almost disappeared.

very faded street art piece of crouched young girl with a pony tail - although it is faded enough that I might be wrong.

below: But he’s as vibrant as ever.

a painting of a man has been mounted in an arched window, covers the window.

a red brick building, side of a store, bottom part has been painted orange, probably to paint over graffiti, but has since been tagged twice, once in black and once in red, a parking lot is in front of the wall, with a small snowbank at the edge.

a door is covered with graffiti stickers.

Old First Ward murals, Buffalo

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Mary C

The First Ward in Buffalo NY includes the docks along the Buffalo River and was once a thriving industrial area. Old grain elevators still dominate the area. The first residents were Irish who came to help dig the Erie Canal (completed in 1825) and who stayed. A second wave of Irish immigrants arrived in the 1840’s as refugees from the famine. They settled here and found work in the port.

Two large murals have been painted on Republic Street, both facing the railway tracks. The first is ‘The Worker’ on the old Brock’s building/warehouse between Tennessee and Kentucky streets. It was completed just over a year ago.

a long horizontal mural called The Worker, with the words Thw WOrker written in large capital letters and filled in with pictures of working people. Along the side of a wall beside a train track - view of whole mural with tracks in the foreground

The project was headed by ELAB (Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo).

below: Molten metal and flying sparks by Nicole Cherry

a tub of molten metal and sparks flying, as part of a large mural that pays tribute the workers and labourers who lived and worked in Buffalo's First Ward back when it was an industrial powerhouse

below: Nick Miller’s painting, “Brakemen” a tribute to those who worked on the railways fills the word THE.

part of a larger mural called The Worker, with the words Thw WOrker written in large capital letters and filled in with pictures of working people. Along the side of a wall beside a train track

below: W O R K E R with its images

the word worker is written in large capital letters and each letter contains an image of people working, a large mural in Buffalo New York

below: A harbour scene.

part of a larger mural, a dock scene, harbour, ship in the water, lift bridge open in the background, kegs and barrels on the dock, a man working on the dock

below: Honouring the police and firemen. The boat is the “Edward M. Cotter”. This fireboat was built in 1900 as the “William S. Grattan” – named after the first paid fire commissioner in Buffalo. After a 1953 rebuild she was given her present name in honour of a recently deceased Buffalo firefighter and leader of the local firefighters union. She is the oldest active fireboat in the world and is a National Historic landmark. She also acts as an ice breaker during the winter months.

part of a large mural celebrating the workers of Buffalo, this panel is for the police and firemen and includes a red fire boat.

below: Scoopers with grain in the hold of a lake freighter.

part of a larger mural, men hauling a rope and filling a shovel with wheat

The second mural was painted by Vinnie Alejandro and a team of artists. It is a 5000 square foot painting contrasting the past and present of the Old First Ward.

railway tracks run past the community steel corp building on Republic St., Buffalo. There is a mural on the side of the building.

It is just up the street from ‘The Workers’ mural – on the side of the Community Steel building at Alabama and Republic.

mural about the Old FIrst Ward, Buffalo. involves two large panels, one is an image from the past with grain and grain elevators and the other is a scene from the present with the area as a residential parkland with old grain elevators in the background. Railway tracks run in front of the mural.

The area has many railway lines. The ones that run parallel to Republic Street were in 1903 the City of Buffalo granted private railroad rights to the Quaker City Cooperage Company (they made barrels). These tracks connected to the Erie Railroad.

From what I could find, other artists include Tom O’Brien, Amanda Gala Roney, Suzie Molnar Goad, Ed ‘Sparky’ Lawton, Jake Wiles, and Chris Kameck. Like all community mural projects, many people and organizations were involved. For a short history of the mural, and a list of groups who gave supplies and/or time, see an article in ‘Buffalo Rising‘ (an excellent resource if you’re interested in the city of Buffalo).

Photos were taken January 3, 2017

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Category Archives: Buffalo

another Hertel Alley building

famous people on Hertel

the answer is love

Cobblestone Commons

Locked Down but Still at Work

weathered & faded

Joe’s Deli

meating place and others

Allentown (Buffalo) street art

Old First Ward murals, Buffalo