Rust Belt Books is not only a great bookstore, but it has also been a home for art and artists in Buffalo, New York, for over a decade. At Rust Belt, it has always been a given that art is more about the creative process and engaging an audience than it is about buying and selling.
For over a decade, Rust Belt Books has been home to the (original) Real Dream Cabaret, and the first home for numerous theater companies, including Blue Garrote, Brazen Faced Varlets, and Subversive Theater, some of which have gone on to find larger and more permanent homes elsewhere.
The caretakers of Rust Belt Books, Kristi and Erin (and previously Brian), have provided space for visual artists to show their work, performance artists to try out new ideas, poets to share their words, puppeteers to bring their work to life, playwrights to become theater directors, actors and comedians to hone their craft, and musicians to share their music. It has been a place where artists can bring their work to life. In Rust Belt's short history, there have been political meetings and media stunts, musical performances, experimental theater productions, art installations, art exhibits, and improvisational sketch comedy.
Rust Belt Books has not only been a bookstore with an excellent selection of used books; it has not only been a performance space; it has been a community space and a fertile meeting ground for area artists, writers, comedians, playwrights, and musicians.
In the next month, through the amazing efforts of its proprietors and caretakers, Rust Belt Books will be moving to its new home at 415 Grant Street, to begin its next incarnation. We would like to give Rust Belt a monetary gift to help ease this transition and help Kristi and Erin continue the legacy.