Inquiries
from artists interested in setting up shop in Oil City continue at a brisk
pace, according to details compiled by the Arts Oil City revitalization
committee.
"The interest
is really there and it's exciting," said Joann Wheeler, coordinator for
the downtown arts project, at a committee meeting Friday.
Seven artists
have set up studios on the second floor of the National Transit Annex on
Seneca Street and the arrangements have now filled that floor. A seventh
individual, a portrait photographer, has rented space on the second floor
of the adjacent National Transit Building. More room is being readied for
artists on that floor.
On the
drawing board are a teaching area on the annex's third floor and an
artists' gallery and shop on the ground floor in the annex.
"We've also
had inquiries from artists interested in relocating to Oil City from
Massachusetts and California and they are asking about properties,"
Wheeler said. "And a few others have indicated to me they are combining
their trips to see what we have with the city's Bluegrass Festival this
month and Applefest in the fall."
One eastern
Pennsylvania couple is purchasing an Oil City home this spring, she said,
as they plan to open an art therapy business.
It will be
the second artist relocation spurred by the downtown initiative, said
Wheeler. The first occasion was the Whipple Howling Dog coffee caf‚ and
art gallery opening in the former Klivan's jewelry store building on
Seneca Street in December.
Curiosity
about the city's new arts project is being piqued in part by new
advertising pegged to specialty arts and crafts publications, such as "The
Craft Report" and "The Art Calendar," said Wheeler. A commercial touting
the city's arts program has been added to YouTube on the Internet.
The arts
revitalization committee is also completing details on a number of public
events scheduled over the next few months.
Marian van
Landingham, an artist and creator the Torpedo Factory Art Center in
Alexandria, Va., will present a program on April 19 at the National
Transit Building.
The group is
working with other organizations on the second annual Independent
Singer-Songwriter Festival on May 24 in Oil City's Justus Park; the 2008
summer Pipeline Alley Concert Series outside the National Transit and
Annex buildings; a Sept. 12-14 Digital Film Fest in Emlenton, Oil City and
Franklin; an Art Walk on Sept. 13 in Oil City; and a "Gusher of Lights"
fundraising event in Hasson Park for the 2008 holiday season.