By Nicole Kujawski
A large brick wall containing a mural of St. Joseph Calasanctius has been standing next to E.H. Butler Library facing Caudell Hall since 2005.
Buffalo State College was chosen as the mural’s final destination due to the relationship of the artist to the college, the space available on the campus and the theme of the mural.
The mural was produced by Jozef Slawinski for the Piarist Fathers who lived in what is now the Graycliff Estate and depicts the founder of public schools in Italy. Slawinski created it thanking the priests for allowing him to use their space to create his murals.
When the Graycliff Conservancy purchased the summer home of Darwin Martin in Derby, it wanted to restore the building. The Piarist Fathers used one of these buildings as a kindergarten. This mural was affixed to a second story exterior wall of this building by Slawinski using his sgraffito technique. Because of this technique, the entire wall needed to be removed along with the mural.
The Polish Arts Club of Buffalo took on the task of restoring this mural once the Graycliff Conservancy decided to demolish the entire building it was contained in. This building was not an original building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
“(The Club) felt it was a significant piece of art work by a local muralist. They thought to lose that artwork would be devastating,” said Stanley Nowak, president of the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo.
The club raised more than $225,000 to restore and transport the work. Due to the size (12 ft X 18 ft) and the weight (18 tons) of the piece, Erie County supplied $20,000 and the New York State Parks Conservation Department granted $6,000, along with contributions from members of the club and the community, to bring the mural to BSC.
Slawinski was a guest lecturer at BSC in the art department and his widow currently works in the library. He was a large supporter of art conservation and focused his art on historical themes.
Slawinski created 30 sgraffito murals across Western New York. There are also five outside of this area:
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Pope Paul VI, (ca. 1969), Doylestown, Pa.
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History of Poland, ten panels, (1969), Chicago, Ill.
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Pope John Paul II (1979), Rome, Italy.
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The Siege of Czçstochowa, (1979), Turners Falls, Mass.
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Communication, (1980), Philadelphia, Pa.
Because of his dedication to art conservation, his widow, Wanda Slawinska, felt that saving this mural was important.
“Just as we have to take care of our landscape, we need to take care of our artistic landscape,” said Slawinska, a librarian at Butler Library.
Due to the overwhelming cost of the project, the Polish Arts Club is still paying some of the costs related to this project and is looking for donations. The club plans to add some landscaping at the base of the mural this summer.
Adam Zaremski wrote an article in 2005 when the mural was first erected on campus.
For more information, contact Nicole Kujawski at nicolekuj@yahoo.com.
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 The mural is encased in brick to help protect it from damaging weather conditions and was part of the overall cost. Photo by Nicole Kujawski.
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