By Barbara Arnstein
Street art is an exciting genre featuring all kinds of striking images, ranging from flowers and abstract shapes to portraits of heroes, including musicians and authors,
On Saturday, June 10th and Sunday, June 11th, between 10am-7pm artists, business owners and local community folks will bring street art to life once again along Hertel Alley (also known as Hertel Avenue) in Buffalo. Besides the Live Mural Painting at the 2023 Hertel Alley Mural Fest, there will be live music and art activities. Visitors will be able to enjoy the rare opportunity to watch artists at work, and see imaginative, large-scale murals created before their eyes, using a variety of methods. They can even talk to them as they work! The murals they see created will remain in place until next year, when they will be replaced with new ones, to create an ever-changing artistic display. The AKG Art Truck will
be on site beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 10th, for children and family-friendly activities, and the Veteran Photography Club will have a tent to showcase their artists on both days. At presstime, the names of the musicians, who will be performing on both days, had not yet been announced.
This year’s artists, presented by Arts Services Inc. (ASI) and Buffalo Council Member Joel Feroleto’s office, are:
(pictured on cover) Edreys, Alexa & Emeka Wayed, Savion Mingo, Saira Siddiqui, Julia Bottoms, Nick Bonvissuto, Red Wizard, Danger Benzin, Tim Cornelius, Danielle Saeva, Jay Hawkins, Scar Markham, Tyshaun Tyson, Mark Zastrow, Chuck Tingley, Hayley Spradin, Keshanta Cleveland, Jordan Weaver, Justin Suarez, Bree Gilliam, Princessa, Markenzy Cesar, Teouria Morris “Sakygrinu”, Courtney Harick, Sabrina Parsons, The Solo Roths and XIII.
The event began in June of 2019 as the Hertel Alley Street Art Festival. when journalist Newell Nussbaumer (who writes using the name ‘Queenseyes’), street artist Vincent Alejandro and Council Member Joel Feroleto worked together to create it. Street artists from Buffalo, Rochester and other areas transformed an alleyway behind buildings into a gallery with murals such as the one by Vincent Alejandro featuring the name “Hertel” with images drawn into each letter in the style of an old-fashioned postcard. At that time, Feroleto said, “Public art on Hertel has been embraced by the neighborhood and has a positive economic impact on business”, while Alejandro commented, “This is the type of event that put some cities on the map, for an art genre that has not existed in Buffalo until now”. The alley art has been recommended as a sight to see by national newspapers including the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.
“The Hertel Alley Mural Fest is a celebration of WNY artists. We hope people will stop by at multiple points throughout the two-day festival so that they can see the progress of each muralist. We have chosen 26 artists and each of them are bringing a different approach to their mural site; some will be using spray paints or traditional paint, some will be sketching out the entire design and others will be creating freely as the inspiration strikes.
Of the chosen artists, many are big names in the WNY art scene but we at ASI made a deliberate choice when curating this festival to give some people their very first opportunity to create a large-scale mural like this and we’re excited to see what they come up with. The big names include The Solo Roths, Edreys Wajed, Julia Bottoms, and Chuck Tingley, and the new artists include Sara Siddiqui, Keshanta Cleveland, and Sabrina Parsons.” 
“Artists did not have to submit a design proposal and have not been given any specific prompts for their final Mural Fest design because we wanted to give every artist enough room for their creative expression and personalities to shine through in their work.” – Nicole Murray (ASI Marketing & Communications Manager)
“I’m beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this year’s Hertel Alley Mural Fest for the first time!”, said artist Keshanta Cleveland. “To me, community art is a great way to tell a story visually”.
The festival, a welcome addition to Western New York’s festival season, will be located in Hertel Alley between 1225 and 1301 Hertel Avenues (an area that is not visible from the street). Admission is free. The alley (only a few blocks long) can be entered from either end, or at any side street. In case of rain, the event will be cancelled and not rescheduled. However, the artists will still be able to install their work anytime until June 18th (beginning June 10th). For more information, go to www.asiwny.org/hertel-alley-mural-fest-2023/