Program drawing artists to Oil City
Spaces in the National Transit Annex are being renovated into art studios.

        Photo by Jerry Sowden  -  Joann Wheeler has helped fill one downtown storefront with a working artist studio
          and is in the process of filling three studio spaces in the National Transit Annex.

Joann Wheeler’s year-long courtship to draw artists to downtown Oil City is beginning to pay off.

Today, the first new downtown art business will open in the shape of Charlie Whipple’s Howling Dog Gallery and Café on Seneca Street.

Directly across the street, a tenant has set up an art studio in the National Transit Annex. Two more annex spaces are in the process of being renovated for lease.

Wheeler holds the job as the city’s ARTS Oil City coordinator, a part-time position that aims at attracting artists to the city’s downtown areas. Still in its infancy, the program is showing significant signs of success.

“It is starting to work and I think we’ll be seeing some real activity,” Wheeler said. “We’ve had people inquire about our project from all over.”

The first tenant in the Annex is Linda Lineman, a well-known china painter and owner of Lineman’s Porcelain Memories. She has leased a large upstairs room for a studio.

Two more artist spaces are being prepared for Joe Gerzina, stained glass artist, and Margherita Emanuele, a painter and art teacher.

The multi-story Transit Annex, a building that reflects a gilded construction age of elegant woodwork, wide hallways and plentiful windows, has the potential to house 30 to 40 small studios. Owned by the non-profit Oil City Civic Center, the structure has been leased to the Oil City Arts Council that intends to use it as an artists’ work center.

“These studios are open to artists in any medium,” Wheeler said. “Typically, a one-room studio would lease for under $1,000 a year, including utilities.”

While Oil City is competing with other communities that offer a wide array of financial incentives to artists interested in relocating, the local effort is nevertheless succeeding, Wheeler said.

“We don’t have as many as those incentives here but once an artist sees Oil City, especially if they are from an urban area, they like it and the interest begins,” Wheeler said.

Information on the arts revitalization efforts is available by calling Wheeler at 676-5303 or checking wwww.artsoilcity.com on the Internet.