Join co-curators Scott Propeack, Tiffany Gaines and Tullis Johnson for a discussion about the exhibition In the Fullness of Time, Painting in Buffalo 1832-1972. A book signing will follow this discussion.
This important historic exhibition focuses on the paintings created by artists of the region, from the time of the founding of the city of Buffalo, until the early 1970s, a period when painting was the dominant force in American art.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 240-page illustrated catalogue, which includes every painting included in the exhibition along with biographies of 86 artists. The presentation will focus on the development of the exhibition and publication, along with the important works included. With 65% coming from private collection, this unique exhibition offers viewers the opportunity to experience many great works that have not been presented publicly in recent memory.
Tiffany Gaines is a Buffalo-based cultural writer and digital content creator. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Tiffany moved to Buffalo to attend SUNY Buffalo State, where she graduated summa cum laude with her BA in Journalism in 2017. Shortly after graduation she began working at the Burchfield Penney Art Center as the Museum Store and Front Desk Associate. In 2018, she wrote the featured essay for the exhibition Salvaged: The Stitched Narratives of Jennifer Regan, which was published in the accompanying exhibition catalog. Presently, she is the Curatorial and Digital Content Associate at the Burchfield Penney. Tiffany has written artist profiles for several exhibitions including Contemporary Portraiture (2019), Valentino Dixon: Drawing My Way to Freedom (2019) and Paul Vanouse: Labor (2019). Tiffany has also documented some of The Center’s major events through video and photography, including Stay Gold (2018) and Pillars: Hip Hop at the Center (2018). Most recently, Tiffany wrote and compiled most of the biographical research for the exhibition and accompanying catalog In the Fullness of Time (2019), which surveys the region’s most prominent painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Tullis Johnson, Curator and Manager of Exhibitions at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, in Buffalo, New York, has organized multiple exhibitions of contemporary and historical significance, including the nationally touring exhibition, Charles E. Burchfield: Weather Event, which received the Award of Commendation at Museums in Conversation from the Museum Association of New York. Through his writing on Charles Burchfield, he is an emerging Burchfield Scholar. Respected for placing the work of Burchfield into a contemporary context, Johnson’s scholarship continues to break new ground in the understanding of the artist. His exhibition Blistering Vision: Charles E. Burchfield’s Sublime American Landscapes, examined Burchfield’s role as a link between the American naturalists of the 19th century and the environmental movement emerging in the second half of the 20th century. Johnson received his B.F.A. from the Visual Studies Department at the University at Buffalo earning the Eugene Gaier Award for Excellence in Print Making.
Scott Propeack is associate director and chief curator of the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, N.Y., a position he has held since 2008. As such, he provides vision for and management of curatorial programs and initiatives of the museum including onsite, offsite, and traveling exhibitions; visual arts and archival collections; acquisitions and donations; conservation; collections accessibility; and budgets and resource allocations. In this position he is responsible for all programmatic activity, including performances. He leads significant grant-funded initiatives and cultivates support for the museum’s endeavors. Propeack developed the Burchfield Penney’s new multi-faceted Arts Legacy Project, which among other functions involves the designation and institutional support of “Living Legacy” artists from the Western New York community; an archival component charged with bringing online more than 325,000 archival items to complement and provide context to visual arts collections; and partnerships with smaller arts and cultural organizations to assist with digitization and accessibility initiatives. Propeack began his association with the Burchfield Penney as registrar from 1997 to 2003, then worked as collections and exhibitions manager from 2003 to 2008. He also led the museum as interim co-director from 2010-2012 and 2017-2019.