Squeaky Wheel at 20

Related records

• A Squeaky History Groups

  Squeaky Wheel (also Buffalo Media Resources) formed from community meetings in 1985–87 following the 1985 closure of Media Study/Buffalo; Julie Zando was appointed director and founding members included Tony Conrad and Chris Hill. The organization operated equipment access (SWAP), workshops, internships, a weekly public-access show (Axlegrease) and the seasonal publication The Squealer (first Upstate issue 1988); it obtained NYSCA funding (initial $22,000 in 1986) and additional support from the Buffalo Foundation, Wendt Foundation, Benton Foundation and NEA to purchase equipment including a V5000 camcorder, Hi-8 gear and Macintosh computers. Squeaky Wheel occupied storefronts at 585 Potomac Avenue, 372 Connecticut Street and 175 Elmwood Avenue and organized events such as MediaBuff (1988), a Native American Film/Video Festival (1992) and a Digital Art Interactive show (1993).

• Squeaky Wheel Celebrates Ten Years Groups

  Gabe Rhodes reports in Main (November/December 1996) on Squeaky Wheel/Media Resources Buffalo, founded in 1986 after Media Study Buffalo closed; Executive Director Cheryl Jackson credits NYSCA equipment grants and Hallwalls' support for growth to a 300-strong membership, youth workshops and resource rentals despite never receiving NEA funding. Squeaky Wheel taught workshops with the Albright Knox, planned citywide 10th-anniversary screenings and events for spring 1997, and faced competition from the University at Buffalo and RIT; Jackson advocated a grassroots orientation and expanded regranting, residency and distribution programs.

• Squeaky Wheel Chronology

  Start-up funds to Squeaky Wheel media center, Buffalo; Julie Zando first director. Other Directors: Cheryl Jackson, Robbie Butler, Dorothea Braemer

• Upstate Media Group Forms Bibliography

  Squeaky Wheel

• Media Buff: Media Art of Buffalo Being In Between Bibliography

  Survey situating Buffalo as a mediating center between New York City and the wider world and documenting its independent media community centered at SUNY Buffalo's Center for Media Study, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, and the collective Squeaky Wheel (founded 1985). The text profiles materialist practitioners (Paul Sharits, Hollis Frampton, Tony Conrad, Woody and Steina Vasulka) investigating film/video materiality; postmodern performers and installation artists (Barbara Lattanzi, Julie Zando) addressing spectator relations; and Squeaky Wheel's access initiatives (one Sony camcorder, Super 8, Video 8, Pixelvision toy camera, Axlegrease cable show, work-in-progress sessions). It also notes institutional support including the New York State Council on the Arts and exhibitions at the Johnson Museum, and references programming and criticism from Media Alliance, Chris Hill, Gerald O'Grady, and others.

• David Gracon People

  David Gracon received his masters degree from the University at Buffalo in Media Study and Sociology; his production interests include documentary, experimental documentary/video, diary and collage. He taught video and film interpretation at UB for two years and taught video and sound art at the University of Rochester; after a brief stint as technical director of Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo Media Resources, he moved to Kanazawa-City, Japan to teach English and make new work. Other interests include zines, underground music, punk, activism, travel, subcultures and a Japanese video game whose sole object is to walk a dog; he is presently at the University of Oregon.