(From Arnold Simon)

Editor:

Despite my New York City roots, after roughly 40 years of living south of the Mason-Dixon Line, I consider myself a southerner. A recent visit to Buffalo reminded me of the cultural riches of the great northern cities. From an art perspective, Buffalo can proudly take its place as a world-class destination.

Here in the South, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art is notable for its architecture by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano. The small town of Cartersville, Ga., 45 miles north of Atlanta, features two outstanding museums: the Booth Western Art Museum and the Savoy Automobile Museum. Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga, along with most Southern cities, contain enough art to feed and satisfy the imagination. So, we’re not exactly lacking in culture.

Venturing north to Buffalo this summer impressed me with its historic residential neighborhoods, rife with unique houses shaded by canopies of mature trees. Driving through Frederick Law Olmsted’s park system reveals one architectural treasure after another. On Jewett Parkway toward the zoo, one casually passes Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, painstakingly restored to pristine condition. A mere 17 miles away is Graycliff, another Wright creation overlooking Lake Erie, well worth the drive.

And who can visit Buffalo without a stop in Niagara Falls? This spectacle proves once and for all that nature can outdo anything created by mankind.

The crown jewel of Buffalo’s art world is no doubt the newly reopened, renamed Buffalo AKG Art Museum. As if the original neoclassical Albright-Knox Art Gallery building wasn’t impressive enough, the modern addition stuns both inside and out.

Though we only had one day to visit the AKG, not nearly enough time to savor the collected treasures, highlights included the current Marisol retrospective, the sublime Sculpture Court, the tucked away Hemicycle Gallery with three distinctive Picasso lithographs, and lunch under the “Common Sky” glass and mirror ceiling. Plus a personal favorite, Jaume Plensa’s “Laura” bust, (seen at the top of this post) 20 feet of stacked marble slabs sitting on the grass outside.

Because the nice weather in Western New York is a limited commodity, you can sense the joy in which local residents bask in their chance to get out and enjoy it, witnessed by the lively outdoor art festivals and roster of activities. Buffalo is definitely a go-to city for art lovers.

Arnold Simon is a former graphic designer, college instructor and art critic living in Alpharetta, Georgia.