Big Fat Bike Ride is TODAY! Represent Buffalo's Bicycle Community and Show Your Support for Our Arts & Culturals!

Call to All Bicyclists! Show your support of the great cultural arts of Buffalo by leading this year’s Mardi Gras parade to benefit over 40 organizations de-funded by Erie County. Mark your calendars. This is our time to show the strength of Buffalo’s bicycle community and show our support for the very things that make our city a great place to live and bicycle.

Meet at 4:30 pm, TODAY, Tuesday, March 8th, outside the Albright Knox.

THE GIVE FOR GREATNESS CAMPAIGN

Artvoice in conjunction with M&T Bank has created the Give For Greatness campaign in response to the recent withdrawal of all county funding to over forty cultural arts organizations. Every single theater company, dance company, small arts group and literary organization has been cut from the county budget. The title “Give For Greatness” reflects our belief that art, music, literature, dance and so on, are the qualities that make a community great. Unlike our county executive we also believe that even small groups who engage in these activities are valuable and whether or not they draw tourists is not how they should be measured.

The Give For Greatness, or G4G, campaign will run from March 5th to May 5th and will include a series of events, fundraisers and a website for making donations at www.giveforgreatness.org a tax deductible charitable donations account opened at M&T specifically for this cause. (the web page is still a few days away from completion).

One of our first events will be the 16th annual Artvoice Mardi Gras float parade and the subsequent Mardis Gras parties at more than forty venues. This has always been a fundraiser and this year it will be directed for G4G. It is more important than ever to make it a large celebration. Just as important as the dollars raised, is reflecting the sense of community we have here among both our creative people and all the patrons of the arts, as well.

Here is a list of de-funded cultural arts, which G4G is working to support:

THEATRE:

Shakespeare in the Park – Irish Classical Theatre Company – Musical Fare Theatre – Kavinoky Theatre – Buffalo United Artists Theatre – Theatre of Youth – Lancaster Opera House – Road Less Traveled Theatre – Ujima Theatre Company – Alleyway Theatre – Paul Robeson Theatre – Torn Space Theatre – New Phoenix Theatre – Alt Theatre – Subversive Theatre Collective – Jewish Repertory Theater

DANCE:

Configuration Dance Company – Lehrer Dance Company – Buffalo Inner City Ballet – Neglia Ballet – Folkloric Dance   

 ART:

Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center – CEPA Gallery – Big Orbit Gallery – El Museo Gallery – Springville Center for the Arts – Locust St. Neighborhood Art Classes – Squeaky Wheel – WNY Artists Group – Buffalo Arts Studio – Polish Arts Club of Buffalo – Roycroft Campus

 EDUCATION AND MUSIC:

 Community Music School – Music Is Art (schools program) – Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus – Young Audiences of WNY – Arts in Education Institute of WNY – Explore and More – Just Buffalo Literary Center – WNY Book Arts Center – African American Cultural Center – American Legion Band of Tonawandas – Buffalo Naval & Servicemans Park – Pierce Arrow Museum  

back to top