BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Sitting in the heart of the Fruit Belt community in Buffalo is a magical place that has been providing free and low cost access to art education for more than 60 years.
If you haven't been to Locust Street Art, or supported some of the art schools incredible programs, there has never been a better time then now.
"Locust Street Art is all about making sure that everyone has equal and equitable access to fine arts," says Rachelyn Noworyta, the Executive Director at Locust Street Art, "we really want to provide free and low cost art classes to anybody 4 years old and up."
Locust Street Art operates with the belief that art should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it. The non-profit operates from grants, donations and fundraisers.
The mission of Locust Street Art started back in 1959 with the founders of what was originally known as MollyOlga, Molly Bethel and Olga Lownie, turning a former convent into a place that provides art instruction to a diverse array of students.
"It was a convent and active nunnery with the nuns still living in the building," says Noworyta, "Molly and Olga were allowed to use the first two rooms to conduct children's art classes."
60 plus years later the work and mission continue with the incredible instructors at the now Locust Street Art proud to be sharing their passion.
"It means everything," said Emma Brittain, who is a ceramics instructor at LSA, "Art is another way to speak, especially for people who have been disadvantaged. Having their voice amplified in every medium is powerful."
Locust Street Art had more than 800 students enrolled in art school's free classes in 2022. The non-profit reports that 67% of students at the school are people of color, primarily African American. 90% of students that attend classes live in zip codes considered low-income and 86% participate in free lunch programs.
Each student is welcomed as they are, and are encouraged to harness their creativity in a variety of ways.
"I see a lot of myself in the students, I know that sometimes for the most creative kids, art in school wasn't quite enough, or was being cut at the time" says Akasya Crosier, the Children's Drawing and Painting Instructor, "a lot of them just love being here because they don't have another outlet."
"Some people come here and just want to play with materials," says Danielle Saeva, the Adult Drawing and Painting Instructor at Locust Street Art, "I love teaching, I just love being able to give what I know what I have learned to somebody else and being able to see them grow."
Students at Locust Street Art can also learn the art of photography.
"We have cameras here that we can loan out to students, we have equipment that is state of the art," says Nicholas Butler, the Photography Instructor, "we have the right professional tools to be able to dive into this craft, this art form, that tends to not be accessible."
Butler says that watching his young artists grow in confidence has been rewarding.
"To see my students work up on the wall knowing that I taught them how to capture that moment, and to be proud of it, I couldn't want anything more."
And if you ever wanted to learn about animation, students at Locust Street Art can pick the brain of Animation Instructor Roger Scott, who has decades of experience in the field.
"I started in animation in 1974 as an animator. I was hired at 18 years old in New York City," says Scott.
Scott now uses his expertise to encourage students of all ages to explore the process of animated filmmaking.
One group of young students in 2022 even worked together to create a 3 minute animated movie entitled "Blueylocks and the Two Godzillas."
Blueylocks-final.m4v from Roger Scott on Vimeo.
"It forces you to think about what does a character do on screen, how do you make that works," says Scott, "it's been really fulfilling to see other people experience a medium that dates back to the turn of the 20th century."
So whether it's animation or photography, painting or ceramics, Locust Street Art continues to help students of all ages and backgrounds harness their inner creativity in a safe and welcoming space.
"It may not seem like it, but places like this save lives and change lives for the better," says Noworyta, "these smaller cultural institutions really do mean a lot and they help our communities grow in such bigger ways."
Locust Street Art is currently working to raise $10,000 to support free Spring Art Classes, if you would like to contribute you can do so here.
If you would like to find out information or sign up for classes of workshops you can do so here.
