About Mary Joy
Biography
Mary Joy (Buscemi) Murphy is a lifelong Buffalonian best known for her impeccable style, warm heart, and creative mind. Mary Joy is a passionate artist, advocate for the arts, an active community board member, and a volunteer of many Western New York organizations. She is known throughout the region for promoting local artists and the arts.
One of Mary Joy’s greatest pleasures is expressing and sharing her creativity with others through cooking and entertaining. Combining her love of food and art by creating elaborate and eclectic table-scapes, an art form, and incredible cuisine, her parties have become regarded as a feast for all senses.
Her happy place is painting in her new artist studio inside Buffalo Business Interiors at 111 Tonawanda Street (off Niagara Street) in Buffalo, NY. She is an abstract artist and has been accepted in many juried exhibitions. In 2023, she hosted her first one-woman exhibition, “Color in Motion,” at the Carnegie Art Center in North Tonawanda, NY. In 2024, her first two-women exhibition, “Recurrence & Resistance,” featured her newest collection, “Beyond Black,” at The Comma in East Aurora, NY.
She enjoys volunteering, traveling, cooking, gardening, and playing with her four rescued kitties. She resides with her husband, William F. Murphy, in the Elmwood Village. She has converted a dilapidated two-story garage into an artist’s dream residence, with an industrial kitchen and dining space any chef would envy.
Artist Statement
From an early age, I’ve been creative, inspired by color and making art. I was mostly interested in the aesthetic nature of my surroundings. From an early age, my mother encouraged this innate passion of mine by allowing me to attend art classes at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and numerous private lessons.
During my high school and college years, I majored in textile printing, pottery, and sculpture. I was fortunate to study Interior Design under Irene Adamski at Villa Maria College. From there, I attended Buffalo State College. I received a B.S. Degree in Hospitality Food Service and Management and Design. I was one of the creators of Vito’s Gourmet Market. This gave me the opportunity to be extremely creative as CEO and gave me the playground to be greatly influenced by my use of color for food displays.
My life experiences and educational background have always inspired my art. I see my world in color and am fascinated by the manipulation and repetition of shapes, forms, and textures. I am an abstract artist focusing on acrylic-on-canvas; this body of work is a culmination and reflection of this. I invite you to enter the vivid beauty of the world as I see it and to enjoy the vision.
