April 30, 2012

Up until the Give for Greatness campaign was launched, I had only heard of musicians singing about lawyers and politicians (Public Enemy and Warren Zevon for example). Never had I heard of lawyers singing or playing musical instruments. Maybe doctors, but not lawyers.

On Tuesday May 1 at the Ellicott Square Building, you will have a chance to see and hear something that may seem a bit foreign - an event thrown by lawyers where the money raised will go towards the arts. To top it off, a number of lawyers and politicians will actually perform. "The musical talent is from the law and political community, including Higgins and Poloncarz." Jamie Moses, Publisher of Artvoice and creator of Give for Greatness wrote to me. "Plus a multitude of attorneys who would rather play in a band than in a court room. It is, of course, part of the Give For Greatness fundraising campaign for cultural organizations."

When you attend a Give for Greatness event, you are helping to financially support Buffalo's culturals. We all know how important each and every one of our arts institutions are. Supporting an event such as Lawyers for the Arts gives us the opportunity to give back to the community, while enjoying ourselves at the same time. According to Moses, "The G4G campaign has been going well. The yard sale on Saturday was a smashing success. People just kept bringing more and more stuff to donate and we sold lots. The Speakeasy Sundays that Seamus Gallivan has been hosting at Pearl Street gets better all the time. Mardi Gras, which was the kickoff event also did well, although it rained that night, which probably hurt a little. The BPO show did very well, and what was particularly good about that was that there was not a single mention of the event in the Buffalo News, no listing, no preview, no article, nothing. Proving, in spite of what many believe, that we [Artvoice] don't really need the Buffalo News to succeed.  There has just been a hell of a lot of good activity for the cause and, in my opinion, even more important than the dollars is the constant profiling of our cultural groups and increasing awareness of them. Overall we're pleased. And we still have the Fiesta for the Arts ahead on May 5 at Burchfield Penney."

http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/04/lawyers-for-the-arts.html