The new Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College opens to the public on November 22 at 10:00 am with a continuous 31-hour grand opening celebration. The first new museum to be built in Buffalo in more than a century, the campaign for a new museum began with a proposal and a lead gift from William J. Magavern II and his late wife Louise. The Magaverns proposal was three-fold: build a freestanding museum for the Burchfield Penney on Elmwood Avenue and that the museum should be a building of distinction, one befitting Western New Yorks architectural heritage.
Almost ten years later, the new 84,000 square foot museum opens to the public on November 22. This achievement would not have been possible without the vision and generosity of many from the community in both the public sector and private donors including Art and Violet Burchfield and the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation, the John R. Oishei Foundation, the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, Sylvia L. Rosen and family, Peter and Elizabeth Tower and lead donor Bill Magavern.
Dr. Muriel A. Howard, president, Buffalo State College, Dr. Stanley Kardonsky, vice president, finance and management, Buffalo State, Ted Pietrzak, director, Burchfield Penney Art Center, capital campaign chair Paula Joy Reinhold, the capital campaign cabinet and a team of staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to bring this dream to fruition.
source
