![]() ![]() Perhaps, it is the evidence of an abandoned industry or the proximity to waterways now filled not by grain and grit, but wildflowers and creative expression. There really is something magical about the site on which these silos stand. Notable visiting poets like Ocean Vuong, Morgan Parker, Mathias Svalina, and Natalie Shapero take the stage to close out the evening. Each reading starts out with a local poet, followed by local musicians, and, on occasion, a touring band performs. Featured art forms have included live sculpture, live chalk art, virtual reality, experimental dance, large-scale installations, and film. Our events draw 80 to 120 people, some crossing the border from Toronto to take in the enormity of the silos enveloped in art. We host free readings in June, July, and August-performances can only take place in the summer as the silos are not winterized. ![]() The idea was for everyone involved to feel that they were contributing to something unique-and they were. I wanted to create an intersection between disciplines, an event that would include as many artists as possible. The Silo City series grew out of our desire to celebrate the arts community with the silos as the stage. I liked the idea of bringing together a variety of art forms and creating opportunities for people to find and feel connections between different forms of expression. We had music, we had art, we had poems: we had the first Silo City reading.Ībout 30 people attended that first reading, and it had a great DIY feel, with a party-like atmosphere. Joe and I invited local klezmer band, Ahavaraba, who filled the vacant cement megalith with their Eastern European-inspired folk jams. Rick connected us with a local photographer, Thomas Bittner, who exhibited his work. He agreed to lend us the silos for an evening, which allowed us to do something special for Joe’s book release and attract more people to an industrial and historic nook of the city.įor Joe’s event it wasn’t difficult to find talented people of various disciplines. I emailed Rick to ask if we could have a poetry reading in one of the silos, and he responded with an enthusiastic yes. Rick had already been a longtime supporter of the local arts community, particularly of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s BABEL Series, which hosts high-profile authors. Rick and Swannie were very welcoming and excited to learn of our recent move to the area. Alongside Rick was the caretaker of the silos, “Swannie” Jim Watkins, a rougher version of what I imagine Walt Whitman would have looked like had he spent his life working on the railroads. One night we made our way down to the old grain silos for an art event and were fortunate to cross paths with the silos’ owner, Rick Smith, a mustachioed businessman who resembles a character out of the Wild West. Every night after work we’d ride to a new bar, restaurant, or gallery-it was the ideal way to learn the makeup of our new hometown. My wife and I had been exploring the city on bicycle. When he asked if I knew of any venues that could host his launch event, what came to mind was Silo City, a cluster of historic, decommissioned grain silos that tower over a portion of the Buffalo River. Over drinks one night, as we discussed poetry and our favorite Buffalo haunts, Joe mentioned that he had a book, The Devotional Poems, coming out in the spring of 2013. One of the first writers I met was Joe Hall, who at the time had just started his PhD in the University at Buffalo Poetics Program. Through my work at Just Buffalo, I connected with many local poets, writers, and artists, hiring some to teach creative writing in area schools or lead workshops for teenagers at our writing center, which is a free after-school space. When I moved there in 2012 for my job as education director of the nonprofit Just Buffalo Literary Center, I joined a well-established arts community. Buffalo is known as a blue collar, working class sort of town, but it is also a city full of artists, writers, and musicians.
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