Economic Impact Brochure - (Page 10)

W E S T E R N N E W Y O R K A S A C U LT U R A L D E S T I N A T I O N As home to the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College and the largest, most comprehensive visual arts program in the SUNY system, Buffalo State attracts visitors, artists, and scholars to the region, continually reinforcing Buffalo as a compelling destination for both academic study and cultural tourism. Through its support and vision, Buffalo State College helped create the Burchfield Penney Art Center (BPAC) at Buffalo State College as a learning resource for the campus as well as the community. As a repository for Western New York’s past, present, and future art, the BPAC defines and celebrates our region for all. The new $33 million museum dramatically demonstrates the power of culture both in quality and quantity. The opening of the regional art center, one of the largest in the nation, spurred the New York Times to include Buffalo in its prestigious ranking “The 44 Places to Go in 2009.” We now share the spotlight with Maui, Istanbul, and other exotic locales across the globe. With this enviable distinction has come increased interest from across the country, which in turn holds the potential for accelerated tourism and increased funding for the arts and preservation. The BPAC is the first art museum in New York State to be LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 84,000-square-foot facility houses the world’s largest collection of paintings, drawings, and sketches by renowned American watercolorist Charles E. Burchfield. The center also is home to more than 7,500 works by prominent artists with Western New York connections, including Robert Longo, Elbert Hubbard, Cindy Sherman, Gustav Stickley, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Within months of opening, the BPAC quadrupled its membership, to nearly 5,000. Zip code analyses indicate that the center is attracting as many new members from the suburbs as from the city. The center predicts it will attract more than 60,000 visitors in 2009. Weddings and conferences to be held at the BPAC are booked three years in advance. These events consequently increase revenue for area hotels, restaurants, and shops. The opening of the new BPAC has expanded and formalized Buffalo’s Museum District. Cross-promotional activities involve the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo State’s Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium, and the Elmwood Village Association of shops and restaurants. A “Black Friday” event kicked off the holiday shopping season in 2008. Visitors from across the region enjoyed free admission to museums, extended shopping hours, carriage rides, and other festivities along Elmwood Avenue. The Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall serves as another important entertainment and academic venue for the campus and the community. With its state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting, staffing, and 850-seat capacity, the Performing Arts Center ranks as one of the best venues in Buffalo. Over the years, a wide range of notable academic and cultural figures have spoken or performed on campus, sharing their expertise, including Alec Baldwin, Hillary Clinton, Patti LuPone, Colin Powell, and Maurice Sendak. Each lecture or performance is associated with hundreds or thousands of campus visitors who dine, lodge, and shop in Western New York. And these distinguished speakers serve as our ambassadors to other regions, further encouraging visitors. 10 

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Economic Impact Brochure

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