PROJECT PROFILE:

Artist: Daniel Shafer
Title: Spirit of Community
Materials: Cor-ten Steel
Fabrication + Installation: Demiurge
Location: Richardson Olmsted Complex, Buffalo, New York

"The “Spirit of Community” by Dániel Shafer features three circles of Unity, continuously looping to celebrate the three centuries of our City of Buffalo, telling a story about our past, present, and future. The soft, graceful lines contrast from the strong, commanding lines of H.H. Richardson’s design with a flowing pattern provoking contemplation by visitors and travelers. The open shape compliments the Towers Building without obstruction, welcoming visitors with an inviting embrace. “Spirit of Community” was executed in Corten weathering steel and stands 20 feet in diameter. Dániel, a native of Buffalo, works with bronze and mixed media sculpture, questioning the dominance of accepted norms and perceived societal roles in shaping people’s behavior and freedom." - Spirit of Community Press Release

Artist Bio: Dániel apprenticed under sculptor/jeweler Sándor Végh in Budapest, Hungary from 1996‐1998. His media was oil‐on‐canvas, plaster, and bronze, and his work focused on exploration of his Transylvanian roots and the meaning of culture in a rapidly changing society. Later while living in Italy, Germany and Japan for several years, he explored musicianship and kept active with oil painting and drawing to investigate the meaning of borders. Repatriating to the US via Houston in 2014 allowed him to reestablish a studio space, where he focused on working in bronze and mixed media sculpture. Those themes questioned the dominance of accepted norms and perceived societal roles in shaping people’s behavior and freedom. Currently, he is living and working in Buffalo’s Linwood Historic District where the focus is community and preserving a Second Empire Style home from 1900.