The Buffalo Exchange Arts Award was established by Buffalo Exchange owners Kerstin and Spencer Block to encourage creativity, innovation and excellence in the arts.
The focus of the Buffalo Exchange Arts Award changes each year, rotating between an emphasis on
Artists are nominated and selected by two separate panels of anonymous experts familiar with the local arts scene. Since 1994, nearly $130,000 has been awarded to individuals in the arts community through the Buffalo Exchange Fund for the Arts held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.
Andrew Rush, MFA, director and founder of The Drawing Studio, received the $10,000 Buffalo Exchange Arts Award in January at an awards ceremony sponsored by CFSA. Andrew is a former associate art professor at The University of Arizona and a 2006 recipient of the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1992, Andrew and 20 art friends began The Drawing Studio to offer instruction and fellowship to artists and art students outside traditional institutions. The Drawing Studio was based on the Art Students League in New York. The studio is rooted in Andy’s belief that studio practice is useful for all artists regardless of their artistic goals, and that studying the practice of visual art enhances the critical thinking process.
Andrew believes that participants come to The Drawing Studio - not because of career intentions - but in response to a strong urge to practice drawing as a way to explore perceptually and kinesthetically the very nature of observation.
2008: Performing Arts
Recipient Samantha Wyer Nominees Leigh Ann Rangel & Tammy Rosen, Michael Walk
Recipient James S Griffith Nominees David Brown, Michael Cajero, Margaret Lauderback, David Tineo, Carlos Valenzuela
Recipient Todd Walker Nominees Joshua Goldberg, Barbara Grygutis, Suzanne Knosp, Kevin Osborn
Buffalo Exchange is a unique store where clothing and accessories are bought, sold and traded directly with customers. Buffalo Exchange is a sustainable company that works to protect the environment by reusing and recycling clothing. It donates to local nonprofits through its Tokens for Bags® program, which has generated funds for nonprofits since 1994. Shoppers are encouraged to accept a token instead of a bag for their purchases, and Buffalo Exchange donates five cents to a charity their customer choices. Not only do charties benefit - so does the environment - by saving over 6 million bags and counting.
Buffalo Exchange in Tucson Stores are located at 2001 E. Speedway and 6170 E. Speedway.