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Effort under way to create an arts community

Oil City leaders saw the potential to use the arts as an economic development tool and acted on it.

City council hired Pittsburgh native and longtime Oil City resident Joann Wheeler to serve as the city’s arts champion. She was hired on a part-time contract basis to market Oil City nationally and to provide support, relocation incentives and a point of contact for artists who live here and those who wish to move here.

Wheeler says the program is gaining momentum.

The Shepstone-Fairweather study commissioned by city council in 2005 highlighted the development of an arts district as a way of reinvigorating both business and residential neighborhoods.

In response, council stepped up to the plate by changing zoning regulations in the residential-2 parts of the city to accommodate live-work-gallery space, and by creating the arts champion position under the umbrella of the Oil City Arts Council.

ARTS Oil City officially launched in July.

The program is an arts revitalization and artist relocation incentive program that strives to attract emerging and established artists to Oil City. Another goal aims to incubate an arts business community in the downtown.

Modeled on successful programs in Paducah, Ky., Pawtucket, R.I., and Cumberland, Md., ARTS Oil City has been taking shape since spring of 2006.

“It aims to repopulate the downtown with residents and businesses; to make good use of our heritage of beautiful existing building stock; and to establish Oil City as a destination and cultural center,” Wheeler said. “Six months later, the program is already seeing positive results.”

The historic National Transit Annex is being renovated under the leadership of city resident and arts revitalization chairman Lee Mehlburger. Funds received from private foundations, the city and an anonymous donor are making the conversion of the building possible. A gallery, a museum and studio space are eyed for the building.

The annex, along with the Oil Valley Center for the Arts and the Transit Fine Arts Gallery in the National Transit’s main, will serve as a downtown hub for the arts.

“Artists were beginning to discover Oil City and the surrounding area as a relocation possibility even before the program officially began,” Wheeler said. “Drawn by beautiful and inexpensive housing in lovely natural surroundings, 12 artists have shown an interest in relocation to date, two from Louisiana, one from West Virginia, one from Virginia, two from Ohio, five from New York state, and one all the way from Alaska.”

Five of those people have moved to the area, one is in the process of moving, and two have come back for a second look.

A loan package for live-work space purchase and rehabilitation just developed by First National Bank, as well as the potential for façade improvement, interior rehab loans and tax breaks for structures in the city’s historic districts, will help to attract people, Wheeler said.

“But just as important is the helpful, friendly community here,” she added.

“There are a lot of artist relocation programs out there. What we offer has to make sense on a financial level and on a personal level to the artists who are coming in. I keep hearing from artists how wonderful and friendly people are here, and that makes a huge difference in an outsider’s perception of the city,” she continued.

Arts-related businesses are also seeing an upswing.

One local businessperson has opened a dance studio, three established local artists are interested in studio space in the annex, and two people have shown interest in opening a gallery/retail storefront.

New arts-based initiatives

Several new arts-based efforts, including a concert series, public art works, the formation of a quilters’ guild, and plans for a digital film festival are being developed because of the arts revitalization push.

n Last summer’s Pipeline Alley lunchtime concert series had a noticeable positive impact on revenues at Seneca Street restaurants, she said. Next year, the concert schedule will be expanded to every Wednesday in June, July and August, with one month of performances to be held on the South Side in front of the library.

n New York artist Dave Poulin completed a residency in the Oil City schools last year that has resulted in a series of bronze sculptures of Oil City children with a river theme.

Local elementary Principal Tom Huston said elementary school students were involved in every step of the process — from choosing the theme to hands-on sculpting of the models. A daylong event is planned for this spring, allowing community members to celebrate the arts and be on hand for the statues’ unveiling.

n The Oil Valley Quilters, a local chapter of National Quilting Association, has been formed under the leadership of Anita Roby-Lavery, a recent transplant to the area from Virginia. More than 40 quilting enthusiasts attended the group’s first organizational meeting in January.

n A digital film competition and festival is in the works.

Under the leadership of Troy Wood and Jonathan Wenner, a national and international screenplay competition will be announced, and the winning six screenplays will be filmed, edited and screened locally.

Producer and filmmaker Scott Wohlstein will provide technical assistance for six film crews.

The top three films will go on to be screened at the Great Lakes Film Festival.