Mary Morgan holds a copy of the Art Calendar magazine inside the coffee shop area of her new business in the former Slackers bar on Seneca Street in Oil City. Morgan, who saw an advertisement for the Oil City arts revitalization program in the magazine, came to Oil City from her home near Philadelphia, and one of the first stops on her visit was the Slackers building. Photos by Jerry Sowden The regional arts revitalization program was first suggested by community developers as a way to put the “city” back in Oil City.

So far, more than 20 artists have relocated and settled in the Oil Region as a result of the revitalization program. Mary Morgan — owner of the new Arts on Elm gallery and cafe — is one of them.

Two years ago Morgan convinced her husband, Andrew, to purchase a home in Oil City’s North Side, near St. Joseph Church.

A year later, the couple moved to the area and Morgan set up a photography studio in Studio 21, in the National Transit Building.

Mary Morgan hangs some of her photography in the gallery space. Though Morgan technically comes from Philadelphia, she said she and her husband were suburbians who lived well outside of the city, and that actually she’s a country girl at heart.

“I’ve always lived in the country,” Morgan said, “and this town is surrounded by country.”

Still, Morgan couldn’t shake that city vibe.

“Oil City has that little city feel,” she said, “and that’s what I really like about it. You feel like you’re in a little city, and that’s what appeals to me. When you’re up on that hill looking out over the rooftops and you hear the church bells ringing, it’s very European.”

But Morgan felt the city needed more of a European culture to go with its quaint, little city charm.

That’s why when the realtor who sold her a home mentioned, offhand, that she could purchase a storefront on Seneca Street for a fairly reasonable sum, something went off in her head.

“That’s when it started kind of blossoming in my head because I had always wanted a place where I could have live music and display my art and own a restaurant or a cafe or whatever,” she said.

Now she does.

Arts on Elm — which occupies the former Slackers building at 237 Senece St. — is everything art house wrapped in one.

While much of the coffee house and gallery is still a work in progress, Morgan — who has been shooting photography for more than 30 years — has already established an art gallery in the back (or Elm Street) portion of the building.

In the front, construction is being done on a kitchen area, which will be manned by Morgan’s son, Dave Gundrum, who studied at the California Culinary Academy.

The heart of the space is an ecclectic and Bohemian setting — comfy armchairs, mix-and-match furniture, tables and booths, stage and soundboard — perfect for impromptu performing arts, from poetry readings to acoustic music and more.

“I prefer to call it a coffee house — the old-fashioned kind with an open mic, poetry readings and that sort of thing,” Morgan said.

“I think what we’re doing here will be good, especially for the population of Oil City, because we can do more for more people as opposed to just going to a bar,” said Dave Furman, a friend of the family helping with initial construction. “We can get a wider range of people and actually give them something to do.”

City developers agree.

“As far as timing goes, this is the moment when (art-related business) needs to spread out (from the National Transit Building) onto Seneca Street,” said Joann Wheeler, manager of the arts revitalization program. “For some people, the studios (in the NTB) are an incubator before they take their business to the next level. They can develop their ideas there and test the waters, then move forward.”

“I think it’s a bonus for the community and I think it’s very good for economic development and tourism,” said Betty Squire, vice president of tourism for the Oil Region Alliance.

Squire said coffee shops and galleries such as Morgan’s are a real draw for “daytrippers,” who can spend anywhere from $100 a day individually to nearly $350 a day for family outings.

“I think it’s just great for all of us,” Squire said. “The arts revitalization program is bringing people from the outside in, and I think that is a win-win situation for all of us.”

Morgan said she hopes so.

“I think (the art revitalization) is really working, and I hope we see more cafes and coffee shops and galleries,” she said. “I think if we have places that appeal to tourists and people in the arts from other communities that brings them to Oil City, I really believe we can make a difference.”