Arts and Culture

University at Buffalo architecture faculty member Joyce Hwang will spend five weeks this spring at the nation's oldest artists' colony, where she will conclude a semester-long sabbatical devoted to a project she hopes to build in Buffalo: Pest Wall.

The 2011 David Blitzer Lecture Series presented by the University at Buffalo Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage in Jewish Studies will open on Jan. 31 and continue through April 4 with free public lectures on the UB North Campus and in Amherst's Temple Beth Tzedek by five leading Jewish scholars, philosophers and historians.

The University at Buffalo's Anderson Gallery will present the exhibition "American Chartres: Buffalo's Waterfront Elevators," featuring documentary photographs of the architectural giants by Bruce Jackson, Jan. 22 to March 6.

Where other Buffalonians see only piles of white, Sergio Lopez-Pineiro sees opportunity. This winter, the University at Buffalo architect will complete a months-long landscaping project using a single material commonly associated with Buffalo: snow.

Artists, scientists and the general public are invited to "Illuminating Nano," an evening of discussion on the subject of how light interacts with the nano-scale world, and how those interactions inform both science and art.

In an urban environment, how can technology cultivate a sense of community and connect us with the world around us? Two new projects by University at Buffalo media architect and researcher Mark Shepard address that question, enabling city dwellers to leverage their cell phones as tools for discovery as they navigate city streets and other public spaces.

YMCA Buffalo Niagara, the second oldest YMCA branch in the United States, has presented to the University at Buffalo Archives a collection of records and documents dating to its founding in 1852.

We've all heard the adage that whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but until now the preponderance of scientific evidence has offered little support for it. However, a new study of the effects of adverse life events on mental health has found that adverse experiences do, in fact, appear to foster subsequent adaptability and resilience, with resulting advantages for mental health and well being.

The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning has announced its fall lecture series lineup, with speakers including Jeanne Gang, designer of Chicago's award-winning Aqua tower, and a representative of Pugh + Scarpa, winner of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2010 Architecture Firm Award.

Soon after architect Dennis Maher arrived in Buffalo in 2002, he took jobs tearing down abandoned homes and other vacant structures to supplement his income as a University at Buffalo adjunct instructor. His experience on demolition crews ended up fueling his art practice: Fascinated by the politics of demolition and shocked by the quantity of waste that resulted from deconstruction, Maher began harvesting scraps from decaying homes and fusing the debris into large-scale sculptures.