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See Oil City:
Oil City Facts and Photo Tour
Read About Oil City:
Art Calendar February,
2010
How Oil City Turned Itself Around
Art Calendar March, 2008
Ten Great Towns for Working Artists
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Oil City looks deceptively like the town that time forgot, with its turn-of-the-century
architecture and leisurely, small-town feel. But it is in the
process of re-inventing itself, and and the core of a committed
arts community is growing in its distinctive buildings. With urban markets in Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and
Buffalo in easy reach, more and more artists are becoming small-town
transplants -- and small towns like Oil City are becoming vibrant centers of
creativity.
Over the last few years, artists have taken over much of the historic
National Transit headquarters and established studios.
Independent musicians and filmmakers have started annual festivals, and the Oil
City Arts Council sponsors concerts, classes, and events throughout the year,
including a First Night celebration and a lively Bluegrass Festival.
"I moved to Oil City in 1996 because I could buy a
house here for less than a year's rent in Boston -- and because I found a
great combination of small town living and city amenities here," says Joann
Wheeler, the artist who is heading up the Oil City arts revitalization
effort. "The area boasts an airport, a new regional medical center,
safe schools, a
branch campus of Clarion
University, fine community
theaters, a thriving music scene, excellent libraries, beautiful,
affordable Victorian homes, and
a well-equipped arts center and
gallery, all in a breathtaking rural setting of wooded hills and
pristine waterways. And now that artists are beginning to move here
from all over the country, the arts are taking off in an exciting way!"
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