Oil City's
fledgling art initiative, designed to revitalize the community by
encouraging artists to set up shop here, has drawn accolades from an
artists' magazine.
"Art
Calendar," billed as the 'business magazine for visual artists, has
chosen Oil City as one of the 10 best towns for working artists.
"...Oil
City is one of the best deals on the market," wrote Kim Hall, a Florida
artist who serves as managing editor of Art Calendar, in the current
edition of the magazine.
Of the top
10 art-friendly towns, Oil City is ranked 10th after Millvale, N.J.;
Evansville, Ind.; Rising Sun, Ind.; Berea, Ky.; Bradenton, Fla.;
Chattanooga, Tenn.; Paducah, Ky., Clarksville, Miss.; and Pawtucket,
Rhode Island.
Oil City
launched its ARTS Oil City project nearly two years ago as an
experiment, according to a yearend report offered by Joann Wheeler, arts
revitalization coordinator.
The
initiatives include the opening of a new art gallery/caf‚ on Seneca
Street, the pending relocation of an art therapy practice, the leasing
of several art studios in the National Transit Annex, expansion in the
adjacent National Transit building to allow more studios, future
creation of an artists' retail outlet and a teaching center and more.
In the Art
Calendar story, Oil City is described as "special" because of its claim
as being in the midst of the birthplace of the oil industry. The city
has "affordable Victorian homes and mixed-use properties - many under
$50,000," writes Hall, and offers "easy accessibility" to art markets in
Buffalo, Cleveland and elsewhere.
Much of the
attraction, notes the author, is related to financial incentives offered
through Oil City's arts program.
One bank,
wrote Hall, offers "100 percent fixed-rate financing up to $150,000 on
live-work space." That sum includes rehabilitation costs.
She cited
another county-run program that provides up to $7,500 to be used towards
a down payment and closing costs on a residence. The offer, made through
the Venango County Affordable Housing account, carries income
guidelines.
"...There
are opportunities for facade grants and loans, tax abatements for
commercial properties and tax breaks for certain properties in the
Historic District," Hall wrote.
The author
also referred to inexpensive lease rates for downtown studio space
offered by ARTS Oil City in the National Transit Annex.
More
information on Oil City's arts promotion is available on the Internet at
www.artsoilcity.com.