Upper School art teacher Kari Achatz has been selected as one of more than 40 artists commissioned for the Buffalo Bills Public Art Program at Highmark Stadium, a $2 million initiative to bring permanent, locally rooted artwork into every level of the stadium.

Artists were chosen through a competitive Request for Proposals process, then commissioned to create new, site-specific work for the stadium's permanent collection. More than 25 panelists — representing organizations including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and Buffalo State University — reviewed submissions across three separate calls for artists. Every artist selected is local to, or has close ties to, Buffalo and Western New York.

Achatz learned she'd been chosen while at Nichols.

"I must have had a look on my face," she said. "Someone was like, 'Are you okay?' And I was like, 'I did it. I did it.' I just couldn't believe that they saw what I was hoping they would see. I put a lot of time and energy into it. I wanted everything to be really professional and polished. I submitted the best version of myself that I could, and someone else saw that and thought it would be a good fit for this project."

Achatz's piece, titled Between the Rush and the Release, is a stamped and powder-coated aluminum work finished in red, white, and blue, originating from hand-cut and painted paper compositions.

"I was literally thinking about the game — the release of the ball, the rush of the players, and then, for me, experiencing it as a fan," Achatz said. "There's always a rush when I watch the game, and there's a release of emotions. It's twofold — what the game is, and what you experience as a fan."

That duality carries into the artwork itself. "There are literal layers to the work, and depth to the work," she said. "This is the release layer, this is the rush layer, and when they come together, they form this really cool thing."

Achatz is known for cutting paper entirely freehand, without a preliminary design, a process she describes as intuitive and meditative. Translating that process to a permanent stadium installation, she said, came with real pressure.

"I knew this was potentially going to be on a national stage, and that the stadium was going to have it for a long time," she said. "The majority of the time, the work comes easily to me — my hand and my body are very connected. But there was a lot of disconnect on this one. A lot of sample pieces, a lot of 'this isn't right, this doesn't flow.' And when I finally got it and put it together, I was like, that's it. That's it right there."

Working with Buffalo-based Rigidized Metals Corporation to fabricate the piece meant watching lasers precision-cut her design into aluminum, taking the work, as she put it, "from analog to digital to machine."

"It was a beautiful full-circle moment," Achatz said. "It's kind of a nod to Buffalo's industrial past. I could have done this work on paper and had it framed, but I loved that it would be in a stadium people built, and that it reflected Buffalo's history. That's why I ultimately chose to go with metal."

The Public Art Program was built specifically around artists with deep ties to Western New York, a fact not lost on Achatz, a Buffalo native.

"There's an immeasurable amount of pride I feel in this work," she said. "The press put an image of it out before I was even allowed to, and someone commented, 'Put that design on merch and the stadium will pay for itself.' I didn't expect that strong of a reaction."

"I think I've left a pretty cool legacy — not only as an educator, but as an artist with work in museums," she continued. "This elevates that legacy to a whole different group of people who may not have had experience with art and artists before."

For Achatz, the project has become a teaching tool in its own right.

"I'm very transparent with my students — they see me work," she said. "For them to hear that Ms. Achatz got stuck, too, lets them know that what they're experiencing in their classes — the art studio or not — they're not alone in that. Even when you pursue something professionally, it doesn't always come easy. You have to have a little bit of grit."

The project has also opened a door with students who might not otherwise gravitate toward the art studio. "It's different when you say your art's in a gallery versus, 'My artwork is in an NFL stadium,'" Achatz said. "Kids are like, 'Oh, you're kind of legit.'"

Between the Rush and the Release is now part of Highmark Stadium's permanent collection. Learn more about the Buffalo Bills Public Art Program at buffalobills.com/stadium/art-collection.