INTERVIEW: Peter Johnson and Victor Marwin of Grain Cycles

There’s something a-brewing in Studio #212 at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (1201 Pine Ave, Niagara Falls, NY 14301) that many Western New Yorkers will be excited to hear about. The brainchild of Against the Grain Woodworking‘s Victor Marwin and Peter Johnson, Grain Cycles have arrived to give the many cyclists and enthusiasts in the area a new aesthetically pure and extremely durable alternative to ride wherever the road takes them. With a low carbon footprint (they are built from FSC certified sustainable lumber), centuries-old European craftsmanship, and multiple…

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INTERVIEW: A.J. Fries, painter

An inaugural member of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center’s “Living Legacy” artists in 2012, A.J. Fries has gone from a young boy roaming the halls of Buffalo’s cultural institutions to a respected member of its world whose work now rests in more than one local museum’s permanent collection. How’s that for a hometown success story? Winner of Artvoice‘s “Best Painter” in 2013, written about in 2008’s Buffalo Spree‘s Best of WNY issue by friend and soon-to-be exhibition partner Bruce Adams for contention in the “Best Artist” conversation, and a resident in…

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INTERVIEW: Allison Ewing, Victoria Kuper & Emily Stewart, worker/owners at Breadhive

Don’t feel too bad if you’ve never heard of Breadhive Worker Cooperative Bakery as they’ve only been around since April of this year. It does mean you’ve missed their cover story in Buffalo Spree magazine, their profiles in The Buffalo News and Block Club, as well as blog entries on Buffalo Rising and Buffalo Eats, though. So maybe you should feel bad—I know I did after only discovering the collective last month. Thankfully BuffaloVibe is here to ensure you’re given a second chance to get to know the entrepreneurial women behind…

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INTERVIEW: Michael Gelen, designer/owner of Inkwell Studios

Michael Gelen is a Buffalo-based artist whose work you have probably seen in and around the city. Been to ICTC? He draws the covers. Enjoy the beer selection of New Buffalo Brewing? He’s the one designing the labels. The mind behind Inkwell Studios, Gelen’s expertise runs the gamut from logos to posters to children’s books and medical illustration. He’s been at it since 1989, working with clients of all sizes locally and across the nation while also providing budding artists a role model to aspire towards—I remember him visiting my…

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INTERVIEW: Nick Mendola, president/owner of FC Buffalo

I’ve known FC Buffalo owners Nick Mendola and Scott Frauenhofer for a decade and a half, watching their love for the game of soccer evolve into running their own National Premier Soccer League team. It only took the Wolves (the current, approved nickname after a few years going by the Blitzers in honor of Ken West grad Wolf Blitzer) two games to earn their first win and clean sheet, defeating the New Jersey Blaze in front of the home crowd at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium 2-0. The next year…

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