Sonia Kozlova Clark

Sonia is a visionary. Thank you for leading Artpark to a much better place.

You have been a champion for the arts, and Artpark has never been such a vibrant hub for the community.

Sonia embodies the fine and necessary principles of creative leadership: Engagement, Imagination, Ambition and Care. And she has done all this through warmth, humanity, play and a love of Artists and Community.

Thank you for all you have done to bring new opportunities to Artpark and the region. Your vision and strategic direction are deeply admired. I think of the Artpark before you arrived and what you accomplished…amazing. Thank you for all you have done to brighten creative souls.

Sonia is a dynamo at curation, programming, and strategic thinking. I have the pleasure of co-facilitating the Outdoor & Festival Circus Working Group for the Market of Contemporary Circus (MICC). We’ve successfully collaborated on block booking tours. Sonia has a superior eye for developing new works, and her dedication to the local communities she serves is first-rate.

Sonia brought the venue’s cultural, environmental and educational programming into a world of relevancy, acceptance and imagination I didn’t know was possible. In her term, Artpark transformed from a classic rock concert stage into what it was originally envisioned to be – an art park. It’s now a place where music and culture and nature and, most importantly, people can come together and be creative in a safe and welcoming space. Our community is better off for having Sonia Kozlova Clark be a part of it these past years.

I was lucky enough to be part of Artpark’s inaugural writers’ residency program in 2023. During my stay, I found Sonia Kozlova Clark’s ability to wear multiple hats, effortlessly and stylishly, impressive. She was warm, welcoming, and endlessly helpful as the face of Artpark; she was savvy and adventurous as a taste-making curator — introducing me to the work of the incredible Jeremy Dutcher as well as the invigorating Third Coast Percussion during my stay. In short, her enthusiasm was contagious; her taste, impeccable. I hope our artistic paths cross again in the near future. She’s truly one-of-a-kind.

Sonia’s leadership, direction and vision were extremely important to the cultural fabric of Western New York,…” said Dan Shanahan, founder and associate director of Torn Space Theatre. “What Sonia was able to do was look back at the origins for Artpark as a space for vibrant intellectual expression and a commitment to an avant-garde and land art, and channel that original spirit into a contemporary setting,” Shanahan said. “She was as remarkable at balancing the demand of commercial theater, where you have to present popular summer concerts, with a commitment to experimental and contemporary theater in order to create a vibrant and relevant cultural space.

Je (nous) tenais à te remercier pour la relation régulière que nous avons entretenue durant ces années ponctuées de nos spectacles, merci pour ta confiance. Nous vivons rarement cela. Je me souviens du premier repérage pour Big Bang où tu venais d’arriver à ton poste, loin d’imaginer la collaboration qui s’en suivrait. La seconde chose importante pour moi (nous) est de nous avoir aiguillé sur cette piste Haudenosaunee, passionnante et surtout si riche de découvertes. Je ne cesse depuis de tenter de comprendre et de m’émerveiller du message contenu au sein de cette culture porteuse de paix, de respect et d’avenir. Il est grand temps de les entendre. Pour ma part, quelque soit l’avenir, la possibilité ou non d’en faire un spectacle afin de mieux faire connaître cette culture si profonde (je me dis souvent que la nôtre est minuscule tant elle est pressée et hautaine), je poursuivrai mes recherches pour comprendre l’importance des cérémonies, des façons d’accueillir, des wampums en tant que véhicules d’idées, de la chaîne d’alliance, et de l’histoire américaine avec son cortège d’autochtones ignorés. Nous aurons l’occasion de nous revoir. Les feux du lac réchauffent encore…

Sonia’s tenure at Artpark brought back what was so special about that very unique place when I first moved here in 1982—but in a new way that was as fresh and exciting and utterly appropriate in the 2020s as it had been in its fabled early days. Every time my husband and I visited the park recently—for Strawberry Moon, the Fairy Fest, experimental/environmental concerts, and on and on—we both felt transported. Sonia has become one of my local arts heroes. She (re-)connected WNY”s thriving arts community with the international scene.” “For decades I tried to tell people heading out to Lewiston for the latest appearance by yet another past-its-prime 70s rock act with a single original member left that “Artpark used to be SO much more than this. … I knew it could be more than just a picturesque outdoor concert venue again, because it had already been one. And then Sonia came along, and within a summer or two Artpark was back. Not as a shadow of its former self but as a 21st century reinterpretation. It’s been thrilling to witness. The park has recently played host to international spectacles attended by vast crowds, partnerships with Indigenous communities, audio tours of the woods by world-class artists, kid-friendly (but not childish) “fairy festivals,” drive-in movies… And, yes, plenty of concerts by acts old AND new.

Sonia has created a remarkable culture that extends from the audience, donors, board and staff. There is an authentic spirit at your home supported by the crashing in and out of artists that you effortlessly host; creating an open spirited atmosphere that is unlike anything I have seen in and around Buffalo. There is an international perspective, and the easygoing nature of conversations next to lake and fire seem out of a dream. During our visit, when we lost a phone, the staff were super helpful and genuinely concerned to find it, and this speaks to that culture you have created. They are supportive of the work being done and seem to really be enjoying their time at Artpark. The gala ’23 supported the artistic vision Sonia brought to Artpark. The donor event filtered into a durational performance piece that was a self-enclosed spectacle that evolved in unexpected ways culminating in a defined poetic image of the floating piano that underscored the aesthetic and performance philosophy you are bringing to Artpark The labor of the balloon filling up, coupled with the performance and setting was the exclamation point of the evening and did what no board presentation could articulate; this is the vision, these are how funds are being raised, this is what is possible, and this is a Sunday, and now for Monday. Monday was a sold-out show by one of the most influential bands of the post-punk era [Pixies]. This is a show in a red rock setting and it is bringing quality to WNY. And this is an event without pretension because of the way the volunteers and beer sellers conduct – it goes back to that notion of authenticity I notice throughout the week.