Art Moves Me

2019 Spring Session: Wednesdays May 8, 15, 22, 29

10:15-10:30: Arrival and sign-in
10:30-11:00: Creative soundscape with words and vocalized rhythm using text from Charles Burchfield’s journal writing  
11:10-11:30: Class-specific tour of gallery with museum curator
11:30-12:30: Movement class

The Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State is excited to host the third season of our innovative partnership with the Parkinson's Foundation WNY to present Art Moves Me, a gallery-based dance program designed for people living with brain and movement disorder disease. 

Art Moves Me is a site-specific program designed expressly for The Center by Cynthia Pegado. This initiative distinguishes Buffalo as one of only five cities in the world to offer Parkinson’s-specific programming in an art museum setting. Developed to stimulate physical, cognitive and imaginative forces within each person, this community class draws upon therapeutic fundamentals of Dance for PD® by Mark Morris Dance Group, Brooklyn, NY, while creating a unique experience inspired directly by the artworks on exhibit. 

This free program is open to the public. Care-partners and community friends, adults and accompanied children ages 8 and up are welcome to participate. Please pre-register, as space is limited. 

Classes take place in the galleries where guided improvisation techniques foster interactive exploration and interpretation of visual art through movement. Using text and descriptive phrases from Charles Burchfield’s journal writing as source material, a portion of each class will be devoted to composing creative soundscape with words, vocalized rhythm and gestural movement. Live music accompanies each class.

The Spring session will include a kinetic art-making project called "Art Moves Me: From Buffalo to Kyoto” using dance movements to collectively fold paper into a giant origami crane. Conveying a message of encouragement, it will be shared across the world at the World Parkinson's Congress in Kyoto, Japan, attended by 3,000 researchers, neurologists and patients from 60 countries.

This program provides a potent experience and raises awareness of the art and artists of Western New York while serving a critical health-related need in our community.

To register, please call (716) 878-6011 during museum hours of operation. 

Art Moves Me is generously funded by the Garman Family Foundation, the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, administered by Arts Services Initiative of Western New York.