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

below: Cyrielle Tremblay

below: Jason Brammer,  a framed view of the ocean

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

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.

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

below: Obsidian Bellis, human? floral?

below: Karle Norman

below: by Monet Alyssa Kifner

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

below: “Be happy” by James Moffitt

below: Colourful cyclists by Morgan Blair

below: Rough and tumbling pastel people by Bradd Young

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