Poet Allen Ginsberg once said, “Fortunately, art is a community effort.” In Buffalo’s case, Ginsberg was certainly correct. Every summer, for instance, thousands descend upon the Queen City for the Allentown Arts Festival. This year, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery celebrates its centennial anniversary, a milestone only possible with public support. And even outside the city, galleries like Meibohm Fine Arts and the West End Gallery in East Aurora continually captivate and inspire patrons.

This winter, why not visit a new gallery, or take in several? Here we present three options that represent merely a taste of Western New York’s flourishing art community.

CEPA Gallery: 617 Main Street, Suite 201, Buffalo • cepagallery.org

About a block down Main sits the CEPA Gallery, which despite being founded in 1974 remains, for some, one of Buffalo’s best-kept secrets. CEPA is a nonprofit that strives to present contemporary photography, support local artists and educate people in photographic arts.

Besides adult workshops, CEPA also works with the Just Buffalo Literary Center on Writing With Light, a photography and writing education program that serves more than 5,000 K through 12 students. Programs average 10 weeks, during which teaching artists from both organizations work with students to interpret and take photos and then write responses.

“All of our programs are geared toward academic achievement, but also, and no less importantly, toward personal and behavioral change,” says Sean Donaher, CEPA Gallery executive director. “We encourage them to express themselves creatively, regardless of what they’re expressing. We want to empower them.”

In February, CEPA will host its annual member showcase, featuring one piece from each member. An outside juror will select two winners to have a solo show during next year’s member event.

Donaher says it’s the strength of Buffalo’s arts community that’s allowed CEPA to weather funding cuts and other setbacks for 37 years. “We’re fortunate because the community rallies and comes to the aid of cultural groups,” Donaher says. “They refuse to let them go.”

Main Street Studios: 515 Main Street, Buffalo • nomadbuffalo.com/515

Erica Eichelkraut searched for two years for a photography studio in Buffalo before seeing a vacant space in the 500 block of Main Street.

“When we first walked in, I was so in love with the space, the ceiling, these crazy old beams,” Eichelkraut says. “There were no walls whatsoever. It was just a huge, open space.”

Since then, the building has transformed into Main Street Studios, a collaborative art space and gallery, with 12 open-air studios designed to foster a community of artists. The tenants, whose rent begins at just $275 per month, share a lounge area and kitchenette, and receive access to the downstairs gallery commission-free.

“It’s very different than having a private studio in a big ’ol building,” Eichelkraut says. “You’re part of a new family.”

The gallery is also working to change the perception of the block from one of urban despair to one of vibrancy and creativity. Main Street Studios hosted “Fight the Blight” in November and invited local residents to create art that was later hung in three abandoned Main Street storefronts. The gallery has also hosted an artists’ market and UB student showcase.

Eichelkraut, who also publishes a biannual literary and art magazine, says the response has been tremendous. “We’ve had people stop in randomly on their lunch break to check out the artwork and say how nice this is,” she says. “It used to have a gate and was boarded up, so to see it opened up as a public space has been phenomenal.”

Mundo Images: 500 Franklin Street, Buffalo • mundoimages.com

Ann Peterson caught the travel bug as a student and has been on the move ever since. She has lived and worked in Costa Rica, coordinated volunteer trips to Panama and the Galapagos Islands, and visited numerous others like Ireland, England and Cuba.

“My whole life I was trying to combine this love of travel, language and photography,” Peterson says. Five years ago, the Buffalo native finally joined her loves together, and thus Mundo Images was born.

Mundo Images produces several lines of greeting cards, each of which features a quote and one of Peterson’s photos from her travels or here in Buffalo. The cards are printed locally and are environmentally responsible, using acid-free ink and wood-free paper.

Peterson opened her Franklin Street gallery this summer. The added space allows her to exhibit other artists’ work, including photography, painting, fused glass and mixed media. “I’m learning how to host other artists and give back to the city for everything I’ve gotten from it,” she says.

In February, Peterson will host a show of her winter photographs, from Buffalo and abroad. Plus, she’s already selected her next travel destination, Italy, which she’ll visit in March with her sister.

“Sometimes you have to jump, and the net will be there,” she says of opening the gallery. “Every day is different, and I’m living the quotes I often put on my cards: ‘Live passionately.’”

Matthew Biddle is assistant editor of Western New York Heritage Magazine.