About
Learning, to help.
Dennis is an artist, musician and web developer inspired by the history of the Buffalo-Niagara area.
Dennis is an artist, musician and web developer inspired by the history of the Buffalo-Niagara area.
I sketch and paint local historical subjects to tell their stories. You can see my work at Art by Dennis Reed Jr. For daily sketches, follow me on Instagram.
I am in a band called Yellow Jack.
I grew up in North Tonawanda, a canal town in upstate New York, between Niagara Falls and Buffalo. "NT," as we call it, gave the world the modern carousel and the Wurlitzer jukebox. Check out the thousands of historical images, maps and articles I have curated at NThistory.com.
I am a "webmaster" at the University at Buffalo, on the communications leaf of the information technology branch. My work includes branding third-party applications and developing and maintaining some Web applications.
I designed posters for my rock band in the mid-1990s, starting on photocopiers and moving to Photoshop. Today I design a wide variety of promotional collateral for the University at Buffalo's IT department, and dabble in illustration.
I received my MA in English literature in 2008. I taught writing and rhetoric briefly at Buffalo State College.
Most of my work is on the sites linked above, but here are a few samples while you are here...
2016 illustration seeking to describe the boundaries of the neighborhoods of North Tonawanda.
February 2011–Present
I use customer-centric research and Web standards-based design to create Web applications and experiences that are intuitive, accessible and friendly. I also supervise and participate in departmental graphic design and video production.
August 2008–August 2010
Taught two introductory courses in writing, emphasizing research methods, critical thinking, rhetoric, essay organization and creativity.
July 2003–February 2011
As I completed my graduate work at Buffalo State College, I got a job working as the "webmaster" for Buffalo State College's library. I also designed a system of signage, edited and performed a poetry podcast, took photos, and laid out three full-length books published by the library.
May 2008
I wrote my thesis on the English medieval morality play.
May 1998
Areas of focus included early 20th Century American poetry, James Joyce and William Shakesepeare.
June 1992
Areas of interest included playing hooky at McDonald's, occasionally entertaining "study hall" classes and lunchrooms with a guitar, and generally looking shifty.
