Our residency program offers artists an opportunity to use all the tools in our 6,700 square foot studio as well as full time access to the expertise of our collaborative master printers. New to printmaking? Great, we got you. Already a printmaker? Also awesome. Feel free to email with any questions: [email protected]
Link in bio for more details!
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#artistresidency #printshop #printmaking #buffaloart
Some names arrive quickly.
Others take shape slowly, through years of conversations, shared spaces, late nights, exhibitions, laughter, risk, and belief.
The Raft Residency became its name because of what art came to mean to us during the years we shared space with Elisabeth Samuels.
In those gallery rooms, we watched art become more than something to look at. We watched it carry people. We watched strangers connect through it. We watched artists rediscover themselves through it. We watched Elisabeth light up while showing someone a work she loved, fully believing in art’s ability to change the way a person feels, thinks, or moves through the world.
Art became a raft.
A place of movement, trust, vulnerability, discovery, and freedom.
Something capable of carrying us toward one another.
That spirit lives at the center of The Raft Residency, created in partnership with Mirabo Press.
This opportunity is about giving artists time, support, community, and belief. It is about creating space for experimentation, conversation, and new work to emerge. It is about honoring Elisabeth’s extraordinary ability to make people feel seen through art and to remind all of us why creative communities matter.
The greatest gift she gave us was not simply introducing us to incredible artwork. It was showing us what happens when people gather around it together.
We are so proud, emotional, and excited to finally share this with all of you.
Join us Saturday, May 30 as we celebrate the launch of The Raft Residency and the beginning of what we hope will carry artists, ideas, and community forward for many years to come.
Rachel Shelton, Slow Looking
Opening Reception | May 22, 2026 | 5–8pm
Buffalo Arts Studio
Slow Looking is a new body of work by Rachel Shelton that challenges the negativity so often associated with decay, uncertainty, and precarity. When things shed the weight of their past lives, there is also hope, potential, and relief. New connections and contexts, once thought impossible, become real.
Shelton draws inspiration for her work from the natural world, as rocks provide one of the best examples of the dualities of growth and decay; of entropy and stability. Despite their inevitable change in form—from mountain to boulder to rock to pebble to sand—we feel a constant sense of awe and wonder at whatever state we find them in. We accept their ephemerality. Just as we look with admiration upon the grandeur of a mountain, so too do we treasure the smallness of a pebble held in the palm of our hand.
With installation work and a series of repeated and reiterated rock forms, Shelton reminds us that it is the nature of things not only to fall apart, but to begin again.
We’re so grateful to Buffalo Rising for sharing the story of The Raft Residency.
This program means a lot to us. Created in partnership with Mirabo Press and in honor of our founder Elisabeth Samuels, it’s our way of supporting artists with the time, space, and care needed to create something lasting.
We’ll be marking this first moment on May 30 at TENfold Gallery, with a film premiere, conversation, and the release of the first residency publication.
This is just the beginning 🤍
Link in our bio to read the article and learn more.
📷:
1) A still from a wall in the memorial exhibition for Elisabeth Samuels hosted at Raft of Sanity Gallery, September 2024
2) Elisabeth Samuels describes a work by Jozef Bajus at an exhibition in New York City, March 2016
3) and 4) DJ Carr working at Mirabo Press during his residency, April 2026
5) The first artist’s book produced through The Raft Residency Program, May 2026
6) Behind the scenes from the making of the documentary film about Monument and Memory which will premiere on May 30th, February 2026
7)A painting by Kyle Butler which will be included in his Fall exhibition at TENfold Gallery
Enjoyed visiting @mirabo.press last evening in Buffalo - had to check in with some printmaking rockstars 💪🔥 and of course scheme a little for future projects!
We’re pleased to share one of the prints we made with @nicholashruth for his upcoming exhibition at @planthousegallery ! Go check it out on 4/23!
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Inkjet & multilayer screenprint on @legionpaper Coventry Rag, 22x30.
(Big thanks to @jeffsherven for the assist!)
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@peopleofprint #printmaking #screenprint #limitededitionprints #contemporaryartist #contemporaryprintmaking
We had a great week printing with @nicholashruth and can’t wait to be able to show you the results. Until then, some sneak peeks at the process!
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#printmaking #screenprint #printshop #printingpress #limitededitionprints
Everyone did a great job making prints during our pressure printing workshop this Thursday! We had a blast. Up next in our workshop schedule: Kitchen Litho and then Intro to Etching. Link in bio for details & registration!
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#pressureprinting #reliefprint #monotype #printmaking #artworkshops buffaloart
The Pull | April 3 – May 30
OPENING RECEPTION Friday, April 3rd, 6-9pm
Print as process, concept, and experiment. Works by Noah Breuer, Mark Dion, Adele Henderson, Taro Takizawa & Ola Volo will be on view. Visit the link in our bio for details!
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@noahbreuer@markdionstudio@adele.henderson.1683@tarotakizawart@olavolo
#buffaloart #contemporaryprintmaking #contemporaryart
Behind the scenes during production for @markdionstudio ! Limited editions are available in our web shop - link in bio.
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#screenprint #limitededitionprint #printmaking
