Burchfield hosts Documentary and Storytelling

This week, the Burchfield Penney will co-present two programs, a screening of Model City (2006) produced by Doug Ruffin and The Whole Story: A Love Story, a performance with the Langston Hughes Institute and Michael Hill. Both are grounded in Black Americans’ far-reaching, immeasurable contributions and African heritage. “Celebrating African American history should not be limited to February,” said interim director Scott Propeack. “The Burchfield Penney is dedicated to the exchange of ideas about art and society that grow us all forward, and we are committed to this work every month of the year.”

Friday, February 25 – ScreeningModel City (runtime 69 minutes)5 pm – 7 pm  Model Cities was a federal program that made sweeping changes to urban planning, development, and restoration to combat the physical, social, and economic decline. Under the direction of the late professor and activist Jesse Nash Jr., the Buffalo Model Cities Agency established numerous programs on the city’s East Side. With this support, the founders of the Langston Hughes Center for the Visual and Performing Arts opened its permanent High St. location in 1971. The early history of the Center is the subject of the Burchfield Penney exhibition Founders, currently on view.
Following the Model City screening, filmmaker Doug Ruffin will have a one-on-one discussion with Burchfield Penney associate curator Tiffany Gaines. The founder of Urban Legacy Filmworks, Ruffin has spent the last 25 years capturing and chronicling the city’s rich African American history.
This will be a HYBRID screening in person at the Center, free with museum admission. You can also watch the film here, then join us live at 6:15 pm on the Burchfield Penney Facebook page for the post discussion.

Filmmaker Doug Ruffin

Saturday, February 26The Whole Story: A Love Story 2 pm – 4 pm

A multi-dimensional storytelling experience of African and African American heritage, arts, culture, and science.

In West African culture, the highly revered village Griot has told legendary epics through stories and songs for centuries. These tales are shared and passed down through different forms of expression, especially the spoken word.
Actor, educator, and storyteller BaBa Michael will bring to the stage a creative convergence of arts and humanity in this tradition designed to stimulate appreciation of the African American experience and further student inquiry. Structured from a series by centennial artist Walter Allen Bailey, The Whole Story is commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, MI, presenting a historical depiction with vivid colors and forms.
Free with museum admission, the performance is free of charge to Buffalo Public School students.