A "Perfect Storm" - The Creation of Hallwalls

Until I did the reading for this week, I was under the impression that Hallwalls was a fairly recent creation. I knew about its recent history and the recent upheavals and moves, but I didn't fully realize how much more there was to its history. Hallwalls was a true bohemian innovation, created by a group of "kids" looking for a place to showcase their art, to grow as artists, and just to hang out in general. 

The original creators of Hallwalls, Charles Clough and Robert Lango, were only 23 and 21 years old respectively when they decided to turn the walls that joined their art studios into a gallery. Their thirst for knowledge and their fun, laid-back personalities attracted other young artists in the Buffalo area. It's strange to think that someone like Cindy Sherman used to simply be categorized as a "Buff State Student." Slowly but surely, the young Hallwalls group managed to get their name out to the rest of the world, and even though they couldn't offer visiting artists many comforts, many of the artists were willing to come to Buffalo for free, as long as they had a place to party and sleep.

The combination of personalities in the first five years of Hallwalls set the stage for an organization that would still be going strong over thirty years later. Someone asked Ellen Carey "How come there are so many artists in New York from Buffalo?" She answered, "I said it was the finger of God that put us all there in Buffalo. Sometimes things happen, and this was a special, magical time." Without the perfect mix of characters, Hallwalls might not have survived through some of its early dry spells. The gallery needed accountants and writers and advertisers just as much as it needed its artists. Thankfully, the mix of the lifestyle of those already involved, the sense of promised camaraderie, and the common goal shared by the members of this group, were enough to attract everyone that Hallwalls needed to thrive.

My favorite quote from the article was from Biff Henrich. He said, 

"People have asked me, 'Why did Hallwalls happen here, in Buffalo, and why at that particular time?' My only answer has been that it was a freak occurrence, a coincidence of the right personalities with an abundance of talent, ambition, enthusiasm, naivete, and persuasion skills arriving in on place about the same time."