CLIENT

Stitch Buffalo

Buffalo AKG Art Museum

LOCATION

284 Plymouth Avenue, Buffalo NY

DATE

2024-2025

BY THE NUMBERS

  •  18 Months → from vision to installation

  • 8 Workshops → engaging youth, refugee artisans & public voices

  • 400 Votes → design refined by the community

  • 15 Paint Days → drop in paint days, sponsor, and student sessions

  • 1,200+ Engaged → across all phases of the project

Curated by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in partnership with Stitch Buffalo, this 18-month project brought together refugee and immigrant women artisans, local youth, and community members to create a mural that celebrates belonging and the diversity of Buffalo’s West Side.

Led by artist Saira Siddiqui, the process included organizing stakeholders, designing and facilitating eight design workshops, and developing the final mural design through in-person workshops and a community voting process. Alongside the Buffalo AKG, Saira helped coordinate 15 public paint days—from open drop in paint sessions, to sponsor groups, and student workshops—culminating in producing and installing the mural alongside Buffalo AKG staff and assistants.

With over 800 co-creators putting brushes to fabric and more than 1,200 people engaged across all phases, the mural is truly a community cloth. Painted on nearly 150 sheets of polytab fabric (each 5×5 foot), in her traditional paint-by-numbers style, this mural allowed for wide-spread public participation. It was installed on Stitch Buffalo’s new Plymouth Avenue building in the summer of 2025. Hundreds of hands. One community cloth.

We can’t thank you enough for all that you brought to Stitch Buffalo through this mural project. Your vision, talent, and love for community shine so clearly in the work. And the way you invited so many people into the process has created connections that go far beyond our walls.

Working with you was an absolute joy. Your thoughtful planning, openness to ideas, and infectious energy made the whole experience both smooth and inspiring. We feel so lucky to have shared this journey with you and are grateful for the beauty (both tangible and intangible) that you’ve given us.

The Stitch Buffalo Team, Stitch Buffalo

The thing I love most [about the mural] is how much pride it gives people. When I see it, I always look at the little square I painted and it brings me so much joy.

Rebecca, Mural Participant

Hi, Ms. Saira! This summer I visited your mural right before the finish. All summer I’d been considering starting a club to repaint and renew murals around my high school. As a junior, I thought it’d be fun, and something to give to the new freshmen before I graduate. Your mural gave me the push I needed to get started and talk to leaders in my school.

Nathania Ling, High School Student

Project Timeline

Gallery