Welcoming Spaces

At the Burchfield Penney Art Center, our work is grounded in inspiring, celebrating, and investing in the achievements of our region’s artists by cultivating an ecosystem that fosters connection and brings their work into the broader community.

Welcoming Spaces is a new collaboration between Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) and the Burchfield Penney that places the work of diverse artists into local non-profit spaces. Selected PPG partner organizations will each acquire one work from a featured artist to be permanently installed in a public-facing area in their building. There will be a public Art Crawl celebration on September 13, 2025, where artists and community members can visit the offices to see the works and learn more about each organization.

The selected organizations offer myriad programs and services, including job training, employment assistance, legal services, access to fresh food, family and youth support, and accessible healthcare. By bringing artwork into a broad range of spaces, this project beautifies the workplaces of non-profits doing important work in the community. It also allows the work of our local artists to be seen and enjoyed by constituents of different cultures, identities, and lived experiences. Through cultural partnerships like these, the Burchfield Penney continues to deepen its commitment to making the arts an accessible and welcoming space to heal, inspire, reflect, and connect. 

Welcoming Spaces is made possible through the generous support of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. 

About Partnership for the Public Good and the Participating Organizations

Partnership for the Public Good (PPG): A community-based think tank that builds a more just, sustainable, and culturally-vibrant community through action-oriented research, policy development, and civic engagement. Each year, our partners use a democratic process to create a Community Agenda: ten ways that state and local governments can act to improve Buffalo Niagara in the coming year.

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO): Our vision at Center for Employment Opportunities is that anyone with a recent criminal history who wants to work has the preparation and support needed to find a job and stay connected to the labor force. Our program consists of providing participants with immediate employment with daily pay, skills training, job placement, and ongoing career support. CEO is dedicated to ensuring that justice-impacted job seekers have opportunities to achieve social and economic mobility.

Center for Elder Law and Justice: The Center for Elder Law and Justice provides free legal services to individuals throughout Western New York, focusing on older, disabled, and low-income adults. Our goal is to use the legal system to ensure that our clients may live independently and with dignity.

Family Promise of Western New York: The mission of Family Promise of Western New York is to keep families experiencing homelessness together by offering emergency housing and compassionate support as they work to find their way back home.  Our vision is to build a community that wraps homeless children and their families in hope.

Jericho Road Community Health Center: At Jericho Road Community Health Center, we provide primary care for about 25,000 people each year. Because of our proximity to the most vulnerable people in our community, our mission is also to advocate for systemic health equity—addressing the injustices that make all of us sick. Our vision is for individuals, families, and communities to become healthy and whole.

King Urban Life Center: King Urban Life Center (KULC) is committed to being a catalyst for radical educational, economic, and social neighborhood change while preserving the historic building it occupies as a symbol of the work it hopes to accomplish.

Massachusetts Avenue Project: Massachusetts Avenue Project is a food organization on Buffalo's west side that attempts to nurture the growth of a diverse, accessible, and equitable local food system, promote economic opportunities, and empower youth through social change education.

Metro Community Development Corporation (Delavan Grider Community Center): The Delavan Grider Community Center is dedicated to fostering a vibrant and inclusive community by providing programs and services that promote the cultural, economic, social, and physical well-being of residents within the City of Buffalo area. We aim to empower individuals of all ages through education, recreation, and community-building initiatives, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for growth and connection. Together, we are strengthening the heart of Buffalo, one person and one family at a time.

Open Buffalo: Established in 2014, Open Buffalo is a nonprofit organization that grows the power of individuals and communities through innovative leadership development, advocacy, and organizing. Our mission is to advance racial, economic, and ecological justice. We do so through skill building, network connecting, and activating leadership opportunities. Our goal is for all communities in Western New York to thrive free from discrimination and poverty. Open Buffalo is located on Jefferson Avenue, in the heart of the Cold Springs neighborhood.

Peaceprints of WNY: With a mission of “strengthening communities by rebuilding lives,” Peaceprints of WNY has been pioneering reentry across Western New York since 1985. Every year, Peaceprints helps thousands of justice-involved individuals and their families connect to the tools, resources, and support to regain their independence and thrive.

Western New York Law Center: The mission of the Western New York Law Center is to promote human and civil rights guided by an overarching commitment to racial and economic justice. In furtherance of that overall mission, the Law Center's work ensures that low-income people receive the full range of civil legal services including "nontraditional" legal assistance like policy advocacy and legal education, emphasizing the areas in which low-income people are underrepresented and underserved.