ArtsCanisius And Borders And Migrations Initiative Bring Local Art Curator To Campus

By Mikayla Boyd, Editor-in-Chief

On Wednesday, April 22, Dr. Andrea Alvarez, part of the curatorial team at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, visited Canisius University to discuss her newest (and first) major curation, an exhibit entitled "Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way." This exhibit features the work of 58 Latinx artists and is on view from now until Sept. 6, 2026 and the talk was sponsored by both the Borders and Migrations Initiative and ArtsCanisius. Alvarez gave attendees an introduction to the exhibit, a complex look into behind the scenes of curating all of the art pieces and wrapped up by explaining how it impacted the Latinx community and her own identity. 

The exhibit “explores contemporary Latinx artists’ innovations and interventions within established traditions of painting, inviting discussion on a variety of themes and revealing the diversity and expansiveness present within the field,” according to the exhibit overview. The title is taken from former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem of the same title. Alvarez explained that the big idea, which in curation is a concise and active sentence that defines the core message and purpose of an exhibit, is that Latinx art today, like Latinx people, is not a monolith, but should be understood and appreciated for its complexity and diversity. On that point, Alvarez highlighted that there is total richness and diversity of stylistic approaches precisely because there is no one Latinx style of art; there is no shared technique, and each artist shines as an individual. That is apparent through the vast array of mediums: there are adobe panels that exhibit goers can walk across and feel, fabric pieces, traditional paintings and more. Furthermore, there are seven thematic groupings to add flow to the exhibit and aid understanding that visitors can be on the lookout for. 

Alvarez also gave the audience insight into the work curators do. She holds a PhD in art history, as do many other curators. What she did not realize while she was studying to become a curator was how much travel and networking the job would entail. She explained that there was travel for researching, exchange and dialogue of what the project was and networking accordingly, attending art fairs and making tough decisions about artists and pieces to incorporate. She also explained that a network of support is critical, and the artistic community extends to the curatorial world as well.

The exhibit does not end with the physical installation either. There is also a catalogue that Alvarez explained is a way to expand upon the work in the exhibit. According to the AKG, the catalogue is “a robust bilingual catalogue featuring scholarly investigations of topics related to contemporary Latinx art, an artist roundtable discussion, newly commissioned poetry and illustrations of all works in the exhibition.” It is essentially a book, and it is for sale in the AKG’s shop. 

Ultimately, Alvarez concluded by answering the question of how organizing this exhibit had impacted her personally. She shared that as an Ecuadorian-American who moved here when she was two years old, growing up didn't know how to identify, and sometimes felt like she was lying or faking because she could pass as white in some situations. Working on this show and meeting so many people like her helped her to understand and appreciate complexity, which helped her understand who she is. She concluded by saying, “My unique formula fits under that umbrella [of Latinx] and so does everybody else’s.” Alvarez’s curation is on display at the AKG in the Gundlach Building until Sept. 6, 2026, and admission is free on the first Friday of every month.