Logan Hicks’s newest work of public art, Walking Back Time, 2019, has been completed on the Washington Street façade of 5 East Huron Street in the heart of downtown Buffalo, surrounded by many of the city’s architectural gems. Hicks (American, born 1971) is often cited as one of the premier stencil-based muralists in the world and has been an active member of the street art and mural communities since the early 2000s.

The artist’s concepts come primarily from his own photography, and the project in Buffalo is informed by recent trips to the area. Many of his works involve a staggering number of stencils; Walking Back Time is composed of five layers and more than 500 individual stencils. The mural depicts a downtown Buffalo scene, including a view of City Hall from Court Street and renderings of Hicks’s Buffalo-based family and friends, living and deceased, as a homage to the city’s past and future.

Hicks’s mastery has garnered him worldwide respect and the opportunity to create large-scale murals globally. Perhaps most notably, he was selected to paint the coveted Bowery Wall in New York City in 2016.Building on his long-standing ties to the street art community, he organized The Underbelly Project, a secret hidden space in New York City memorialized in a book released by Rizzoli and an upcoming documentary film.

The Albright-Knox’s Public Art Initiative is an innovative partnership between the museum and the County of Erie established in 2013 to enhance our shared sense of place and cultural identity in the urban and suburban landscapes of Western New York. The City of Buffalo joined the partnership in 2014. The goal of the initiative is to create spaces of dialogue where diverse communities have the ability to socially engage with, actively respond to, and cooperatively produce great public art that is capable of empowering individuals, creating stronger neighborhoods, and establishing Western New York as a critical cultural center.

The Public Art Initiative was established and is supported by leadership funding from the County of Erie and the City of Buffalo.