Published: June 11, 2009 09:38 am      

ART: NACC goes "Beyond the Barrel"

By Phil Dzikiy



The Niagara Arts and Cultural Center typically opens its “Beyond the Barrel” art exhibition at the end of June, but this year presented an opportunity that NACC staff couldn’t pass up.

According to Bob Drozdowski, NACC director of operations and marketing, the NACC was approached by the Boundary Waters Treaty Centennial Committee to be a part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the treaty that established a century of cooperation between the United States and Canada when it came to the boundary waters. The celebration will take place Saturday.

“(We were) asked if we could do something on that same day,” Drozdowski said.

So, the NACC moved up “Beyond the Barrel,” its annual exhibition featuring artists from Western New York. The opening exhibition takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the NACC. The exhibit will run through Aug. 9.

“As far as art exhibitions go, this is one of our showcase events,” Drozdowski said.

This year’s “Beyond the Barrel” exhibit features the theme “Water is Art.” About 80 pieces of art from nearly 40 different artists will be displayed at the exhibit. Paintings, photography and sculpture will be the most popular mediums on display, Drozdowski said.

As expected, some artists took the exhibit’s theme more literally than others.

“Some are obvious,” Drozdowski said. “Some not.”

The NACC only does two juried shows each year and “Beyond the Barrel” is one of them. Drozdowski describes this year’s panel of judges as “prestigious.” The panel includes Ted Pietrzak, director of Burchfield Penney Art Center, Joe Buczkowski, executive director of Main Street Art Center in Lockport, and Irene Rykaszewski, executive director of Lewiston Council on the Arts.

Everything at the exhibit will be on sale.

Following the opening exhibition, on the same Saturday night, the NACC will be showing “Waterlife” at 9 p.m. “Waterlife” is a documentary about the story of the Great Lakes narrated by The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie. The film will be shown on the outside of the NACC building.

As for “Beyond the Barrel’s” opening exhibition being on the same date as the opening day of Buffalo’s Allentown Art Festival, Drozdowski isn’t concerned. The Boundary Waters Treaty connection was reason enough to move the date up, he said.

And the “Beyond the Barrel” opening exhibition isn’t the only big event happening at the NACC in June. In a few weeks, June 26, the NACC will host one of its open houses.

The open house will feature all of the resident artists at the NACC, in addition to music, live theater and ballet.