"Gathering along the shore" art meetup with Alumni artists

Alexis Oltmer is a UB Art alum now based in Pittsburgh, PA. Joel Brenden and Avye Alexandres are organizing this through Gatheringspace, the studio/workshop project they co-founded in 2025.

Both events are on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

Beach cleanup + art materials hunt, 3pm-5pm (RSVP req’d). 
 Location will be disclosed upon signup. (within short drive of Buffalo) Free. Sign up here.

Artist presentation + community convo, 6pm at Fitz Books, 1462 Main St.

These events precede a unique workshop Gatheringspace will offer with Alexis in 2027, stay tuned! 

Environmental artist returns to Buffalo to lead community beach cleanup and share artistic journey. 

Buffalo, NY — Gatheringspace welcomes artist-organizer Alexis Oltmer back to Buffalo for Gathering Along the Shore, a day of events inviting community participation and exploring the intersections of environmental advocacy and art. 

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 19, Oltmer will join community members at Emerald Beach (Erie Basin Marina) for a beach cleanup re-igniting #plasticfreeBuffalo, her series spotlighting plastic pollution in Buffalo waterways and shorelines. 

At 6:00pm, Fitz Books (1462 Main St) will host Oltmer and Gatheringspace for an artist talk about Alexis’s journey of environmental research and artistic activism. Learn more about her recent work researching Superfund Sites and extractive industries in the Rust Belt. Conversations will follow with perspectives and observations about how Buffalo’s shoreline has changed (or not) since Alexis began this work in 2016 and what efforts could be catalyzed now. 

Full details about the workshop, including, schedule and registration, can be found here: gatheringspace.art/event/gathering-along-the-shore/ 

This marks Alexis’s return to Buffalo as an environmental artist. Before moving from Buffalo to Pennsylvania in 2019, Alexis established herself in Western New York as a photographer and sculptor, as well as the as the organizer of #PlasticFreeBuffalo, a series of strategic, community-involved shoreline cleanups centered around Emerald Beach. 

More about the Artist 

Alexis Oltmer (b.1990) was born in Endicott, NY, a post-industrial river valley town with a history of labor, dissent and natural wonder. This environment deeply influenced Oltmer's understanding of the complex interrelationship between “humans”and “nature.”Growing up on protected wetlands adjacent to a state highway provided early insight into our capitalist culture and the wonder of natural systems. 

Oltmer obtained her BA in photography from the University at Buffalo and MFA from The Pennsylvania State University. Alexis’s work is currently on view until November 2026 at The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA, LA)exhibition Fractured Foundations: 250 Years of American History. Oltmer is a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and a recipient of the 2024 Creative Achievement Award, Art & Architecture (Penn State University), 2024 Penn State Sustainability Fellowship, 2021 NOAA Debris Grant (Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper), 2020 Global Warming Art Project, Art Services Initiative (Buffalo). She is founder of Pittsburgh Coexistence, an art collective based in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Learn more about Alexis’s studio and environmental projects at her website, alexisoltmer.com 

What is Gatheringspace? 

Gatheringspace is a multipurpose art studio dedicated to process, experimentation, and socially-engaged practices tailored to the Buffalo artistic community. We host workshops and unique exploratory events by artists and community members, such as our signature creative feedback workshop, Zygote. We also offer bookmaking, printing and design equipment access as well as studio space for movement and photography. 

Gatheringspace was founded in 2025, and made possible in part by BICA’s 2025 Generator Fund. It is cooperatively organized and operated by artists Avye Alexandres and Joel Brenden. 

Gatheringspace welcomes artists and community members by appointment. Our studio is located on the 1400 block of Main St, Buffalo, NY. 

For media inquiries, interview requests, or high-resolution images, please contact: Joel and Avye: gathering.space.art@gmail.com ph. 716-207-0433.