Short History
Buffalo is becoming quite the street art city. Not that we haven’t always had an active art scene here, it’s just that now you can’t help but notice.
Our art scene began with The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. It was founded in December of 1862, with President Millard Fillmore, who was a Buffalonian, as one of its incorporators. The Academy used several different locations temporarily, until John Albright donated the money for a permanent structure to be built. It was placed at the edge of Delaware Park overlooking what is now Hoyt Lake. It was opened in 1905, having been renamed the Albright Art Gallery.
An addition was added to the gallery in the 1960’s, funded largely by a donation from Seymour Knox Jr., and the museum was again given a new name, the Albright Knox Art Gallery.
The Gallery is home to a vast collection of modern art and is considered to be world class. It is again undergoing a major expansion as I write this. Read more about this expansion here.

The Albright Knox is certainly not the only game in town when it comes to art. We’ve got the Birchfield Penney Art Center just across Elmwood Avenue from the Albright Knox, in addition to many, many independent galleries across the city and region.
So Buffalo already had a vibrant art scene in 2013, when the Albright Knox went into a partnership with Erie County to bring art into public spaces for the enjoyment of all. They called it called the Albright Knox Public Art Initiative. The city joined in on the action in 2014.
Boy do I wish this had been my idea! The Public Arts Initiative has, as they say, created a monster. A wonderful, endlessly creative monster. There is so much public art in Buffalo now, and so much being created practically daily, that it’s getting a bit difficult to keep up!
I’d like to share with you some of the must see murals in downtown Buffalo, and just a bit north of the downtown core, on or near Main Street. Art that is part of the Albright Knox’s Public Art Initiative is noted. The rest are funded either privately, or through donations. Note that I will be covering only murals in this series.
Go! 2015
Artists: Augustina Droze | Bruce Adams
Located at 95 Perry Street

This collaboration won a contest put on by Savarino Properties. The design highlights the historic Cobblestone District and Buffalo’s past by incorporating machinery, grain elevators and ship’s masts. It also breeds hope for the home team of Buffalo with the woman’s face at the top yelling out Go!
Colored Musicians Club 2005
Artist: William Y. Cooper
Located at 145 Broadway

Painted by well-known Buffalo artist William Y. Cooper, these vibrant paintings fairly jump off the building, letting people who enter know just what they are in for inside this historic building. What are they in for? History. Live music. Jazz. Black, white, purple or polka dotted, if you are into jazz, this is the place for you.
Wildflowers for Buffalo 2018 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Louise ‘Ouizi’ Jones
Located at 465 Washington Street

Louise Jones is a Detroit based artist with works in Detroit, LA, New York City, Shanghai and other international cities. All the flowers in this mural are native to the Buffalo area and were chosen specifically for that reason. Jones hopes that she has provided a beautiful backdrop for Buffalonians going about the business of their day, working and living in Western New York.
Freestyle Faces of Main Street | Diver & Sea Creatures 2012
Artists: Matthew ‘Ogre’ Grote | Chuck Tingley | Max Collins
Located at 515 Main Street


This mural has been around since before the AK Public Arts Initiative. All three artists have become well known in Buffalo since. These are artists who have both sanctioned and unsanctioned work in Buffalo, harkening back to the days when artists went out under cover of night, always looking over their shoulders for fear of getting caught. And by the way, the property adjacent to this mural is screaming for a Main Street pocket park. Can’t somebody make this happen?
Greetings from Buffalo 2016
Artist: Casey William Milbrand
Located at 461 Ellicott Street

This mural was funded through crowd-sourced donations and has become a mecca for Instagram selfie seekers, wedding photographers and all around general Buffalove. Casey created a custom font and drew inspiration from Buffalo City Hall’s stained glass ceiling for this mural. Milbrand’s genuine love of Buffalo shines through in this mural.
Optichromie–Buffalo 2019 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Felipe Pantone
Located at Town Ballroom, 681 Main Street (Washington Street Side)

This is one of Pantone’s series of Optichromie Op Art paintings he has been working on all over the world, Buffalo being one recent installment. Albright Knox was interested in having Felipe come to Buffalo to parallel this amazing Op Art design with the extensive collection of Op Art owned and displayed by the AK. The design itself appears to resonate off the wall of the Town Ballroom, much like the live music featured inside this legendary concert venue.
Walking Back in Time 2019 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Logan Hicks
Located at 5 East Huron Street


Based on a photograph taken by Hicks looking down Court Street towards Niagara Square and City Hall. He made a series of stencils to create this mural and the faces of the people are his own friends and family members.
Dream Keepers 2016 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Alice Mizrachi
Located at 1221 Main Street


Mizrachi worked with Mayor Byron Brown’s summer youth program to develop the design for this mural at the Buffalo Center for the Arts and Technology. The students then completed the mural, under Mizrachi’s direction. If you look close, each student’s name is painted somewhere in the mural. Cool!
The Freedom Wall 2017 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artists: John Baker | Julia Bottoms | Chuck Tingley | Edreys Wajed
Located at the Corner of Michigan Avenue & East Ferry Streets



This important work stands at the northern entrance to the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor. It highlights a mere 28 important African American leaders, both local and national. This is perhaps the most moving of all the murals in Buffalo.
Metamorphosis #5 2019 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Tavar Zawacki
Located at 1665 Main Street

To date, this is the largest mural Zawacki has created, and it is also the largest mural to date, in all of Western New York. It features the artist’s signature upward facing arrow and incredibly vibrant colors.
72 Jewett 2016 – AK Public Art Initiative
Artist: Daniel Galas
Located at 74 Jewett Avenue (72 Jewett is the former address of the building.)



Daniel Galas is a Buffalo based artist whose work is primarily based on architecture in and around Western New York. He uses his own whimsical style when featuring iconic buildings. The buildings featured in this mural are all within walking distance of the building they’re painted on. They are: the Darwin Martin House, the Elephant House at the Buffalo Zoo, Highland Lodge / Central Presbyterian Church Community Center, the Kensington Water Tower, St. Mark’s Church, Blessed Trinity Church, the Second Pierce-Arrow Showroom and Bennett High School & All-High Stadium.
And now for a little bit of random fun, found all over the city:
I hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment in my series about Buffalo Street Art! Check out Part 2 in the series for more incredible murals in Allentown, the West Side and the Elmwood Village! Comment below and tell us your favorite street art, whether in Buffalo or anywhere else. Include photos!
Wow! I love love love seeing cites that have art everywhere. We have beautiful walls like this in Phoenix, but not like Buffalo! I would love to check these out in person one day! I’m obsessed!
Keep an eye on my blog for more to come, going to have two more installments in this series. The best are yet to come! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love street art! I feel like it brings so much culture and light to an area!
It really makes a big difference! I’ll be writing a couple more in this series..stay tuned! Thanks for reading!
Great ART to enjoy here. My favorite: Wildflowers for Buffalo. Nothing like a bunch of blooms to brighten up a building!
I think that one is a favorite for a lot of Buffalonians too!
Love this! I’m doing the 10K Challenge as well! Great Blog!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
So cool. I love the Freedom Wall, especially! Metamorphosis is nice, too. Which one is your favorite?
Too tough to choose, but I do love Metamorphosis. It’s the newest, and the largest too! The colors are just so vibrant! Wait till you see the next in the series, we have a lot more murals to see!
I love how colorful Buffalo has become. I am especially excited for the changes happening at the Albright! I have yet to see Metamorphosis. I will definitely make a point to check it out, it looks stunning. Thanks for bringing attention to all this great art!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post MaryJo! I’m excited about the Albright Knox as well! Can’t wait till it’s finished!
The murals look really amazing and well thought of. The artists are sooo talented in order to come up something as good as this!
I love finding rainbow colorful buildings like that one! Did you do a mini insta shoot with it ahaha
My Trip to Buffalo would need one additional day to visit and see all these beautiful artistic works on buildings. I like your work and information that you collected about artists name and the location. It is useful and important piece of information that any art lover would be looking for. Thanks for sharing.
I never noticed any of this when I was in Buffalo, but I was only there for a short time. Next time, I’ll have to pay attention more or actually go to specifically see it! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, you’ll have to come back! Haha! Glad you enjoyed the post!
Wow! Every photo is just amazing as the other. I have so much respect for street artists and they deserve all the accolades for such a fine art. I love all of them but the one that stood out for me is Optichromie.
What a great collection you have on this article!
I’m glad you liked it!
So cool! I think the art and architecture combinations are some of my favourite… I love when buildings become a canvas for more beautiful art work! I think the wildflowers are my favourite of your list!! 🙂
Wildflowers for Buffalo is one of the most popular! It’s beautiful! Glad you enjoyed the post!
Wow! Wonderful! I also love to photograph the street art around the world!
I love street art! Just makes me feel good, gives me your om feeling!
Wow this is great! I haven’t been to buffalo in a while but loving the vibrancy!
I love street art. These are all so cool. Thanks for sharing
Somebody seems to have missed all of Hertel Avenue and the alley that runs parallel with it. Hmmmmm.
Hmmmm…somebody seems to have missed that this was part 1 of 3. Lol! Part 3 is all about Hertel Ave. Here’s a link: https://hellobuffalohikes.com/buffalo-street-art-part-3/ Thanks for reading, enjoy Part 3. Let me know what you think! Stay healthy!