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Article
reprinted from
Buffaloathome.com |
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Faces of Buffalo By
Amy Frontuto 11/15/06 |
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Buffalo is getting a new face – thousands, actually.
Each year,
Faces of Buffalo founder Brian Nesline calls on the people
of Buffalo to draw their self-portraits for inclusion in a
mosaic of our city’s mascot. Up close, the eye sees colorful,
wacky faces. From a distance: the stately buffalo.
 Mr.
Nesline encourages everyone to participate no matter what
their artistic talent. Be silly, be creative, be whoever you
are. Like a puzzle piece, we all have unique shapes and sizes
but contribute equally to the finished product.
“Faces of Buffalo is about inclusion,” says Mr. Nesline. “It
says that each one (of us) belongs and is as important as the next.”
The deadline to submit drawings for the 2007 buffalo mosaic is
December 31, 2006. (
Click here
to download the current Self Portrait Response Form to be in
next year's mosaics.)
By the time Mr. Nesline developed
"Faces of... " in 2002,
he’d been seeing faces for years. “There has always been
something up with faces for me,” says Mr. Nesline. “When I
looked deeply at textures – tile, linoleum, wood grain – I
would often see simple, little faces in them.”
He first tried to market a series of POGS, a milk cap game
popular in the early to mid 1990’s, but his design was
rejected. Afterwards he applied for a grant, requesting
start-up funds for Faces of Buffalo. Again, he was rejected.
“I went out and did it anyway. I made a choice,” he says.
"After that, funding for the small business eventually came
through."
Originally from Ridgefield, Connecticut, Mr. Nesline moved to
Buffalo in 2001, creating Faces of Buffalo while studying
Communication Design at Buffalo State College. “I guess I was
led here to practice creativity, to be useful and to add
something to the community. I think that’s why we are all
here. To try to make a positive difference,” he says.
Mr. Nesline has contributed thousands of dollars to the
Buffalo area by selling art prints and note cards to benefit
groups such as the Buffalo City Mission, Leadership Buffalo,
Compass House and Aids Community Services.
In the future, he may partner with a single group to
contribute more substantially to a given cause.
Mr. Nesline is also the founder of
Faces for Fundraising, an offshoot of Faces of Buffalo
Community Art Mosaics
that benefits several (types of ) organizations: non-profits, companies,
schools, and churches. When contracting with Faces for
Fundraising, group members draw their
self-portraits, which are then combined to create whatever
image is meaningful to them, a company logo perhaps or a
school mascot. Portions of sales from the finished prints go towards the
participating group. Locally, Elmwood Franklin School's Faces
for Fundraising project runs until November 21, 2006 and
Fisher-Price in East Aurora has just completed two mosaics
which resemble toys made from their employees' drawings.
Because Faces for Fundraising is not limited by a geographical
area, Mr. Nesline hopes it will build awareness of the
faces of concept and allow his company to expand into
other cities.
“As everyone does art, we spread the word that we are all
creative. We get to be a part of something much bigger and
remind ourselves that we matter.” |
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