The Difference a Year Makes: Rock on Oil City

I love "Rock On Oil City" because it captured the imagination of so many people. Watching people at "Rock on" events has been great fun. If someone tried putting canvas on a table and asked people to paint, they would be intimidated. But ask people to paint rocks, and they are not afraid.
The idea sprung up from a blog Susan Williams, Venango Chamber of Commerce, read about a mom who got her kids to paint rocks and leave them places for people to find. The family had watched a movie that the mom feared would inspire the children to do random graffiti. So, she channeled their creativity.
The first "Rock On Oil City" event was during the Indy Fest on Seneca Street. Then at the 2011 Oil Heritage Festival we set up a booth in Justus Park, brought paints, brought rocks and expected to stay a few hours. Six hours later, young and old were still coming and painting rocks. Many started going down to the river to gather more rocks - bigger rocks - to paint.
Other local artists and enthusiasts coordinated Rock On events at schools, small events and at the local nursing home. Individuals started painting rocks and sprinkling them around town. Area natives who moved away, painted rocks and sent them home to land somewhere in their old home town.
We have no idea how many people are now painting rocks and sprinkling them around to bring smiles to others. I love it because it's such a simple thing. Leave something behind to make someone happy. I love it because it is something anyone can do, anytime. I love it because it fits well with the Art Revitalization theme "Art Inside". It gives people a chance to open up to creativity and it adds a note of kindness without expectation or external reward.
So - Pick up a brush - paint a happy rock - place it out there for someone to find - Rock On Oil City!!! Visit us at Justus Park during Oil Heritage Festival 2012.

Create Joy

I looked around a room of 20 women this morning - all gathered early for a Royal Wedding party - and realized how important it is to create simple joy. We wore hats for our own "royal" picture. Hats have become a humorous symbol of several groups of women I know recently. And perhaps the hats symbolize a simple embracing of fun and the creation of joy - a lifting of spirits for no other reason than to lift spirits.

A group of American women gathered in the wee hours of the morning to watch a Royal Wedding. To me, these were no ordinary women and it wasn't about watching a royal wedding. It's was about a reason to get together for a created special purpose. One with no agenda at all except getting together to comment on hats, the young couple, the pomp and have some coffee and crumpets.

I'm part of a facebook group of women who have been doing these kinds of events for over a year now. No one is in charge. Anyone who wants posts an event and whomever can come will come. Sometimes it's coffee in the morning. Sometimes it's an outing. Sometimes it's a birthday celebration. Sometimes a movie night. Always it is a creation of joy. We are building strong bonds as we get to know each other - with no agenda except to create and share joy.

I am learning from these strong women that joy is mine. But it is sweetest when it is shared with as many as possible. I am also learning that no one can steal our joy without our consent. So, don't consent!

If you are reading this and thinking 'it all sounds like a lot of silliness to me', you are right. And that is what makes it so wonderful. It's art. It's playtime. It's getting together for no other purpose than the fun of it.

Why is play time so important for children? Because they learn how to get along with others. From what I've been seeing in the news, on the internet, and on TV, I think we adults need to find a way to get along with others. Play time might just do it.

Over the past year it sure has helped me to see the human side of people I may never have gotten to know otherwise. If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would see myself getting up in the wee hours of the morning to watch a royal wedding with a group of women - some I barely know - I'd have laughed and said 'think not'.

I did. I loved it. I wore a hat. I've smiled all day about it. Simple joy.

Thank you Sonja - our special royal mayor.

Why is Art Important?

Last night the Graffiti Art Gallery in Oil City held an artist reception for the current show listed below.

REFLECTIONS
(Photographs of Nature and Architecture)
by
MARK PANZA
Sufana Chowdhury
Eleanor ter Horst & the
National Transit Studio Artists
MARCH 1-APRIL 8, FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS 11 - 7

If you missed the reception, don't miss the show! We are so fortunate to have a growing arts movement in our region! It's not only breathing new life into our economy, but more importantly opening hearts and minds to new possibilities.
Art - no matter if it is music, performing art, photography, painting, installations... - can provide a glimpse of someone elses vision of the world. It can open our minds to see our own world in a broader context. It can inspire us to express ourselves in new and interesting ways.
Learning to appreciate a wide variety of expressions helps us to learn to communicate better, to seek broader solutions, to think "outside the box." I believe art appreciation and encouraging artistic expression is the most important investment we can make to lead to a better community.
Why? Because it leads to invention. One must imagine something is possible before that possibility will ever be pursued.
Why? Because it forces us to see. We have to acknowledge that a problem exists before we can be motivated to solve it.
Why? Because we often overlook beauty and sometimes need to have someone put a spotlight on it to remind us that it is all around us.
Why? Because if we are to understand one another, we need first to learn that our point of view is not the only point of view.
Art can be shocking. It can be enlightening. It can be comforting. We need it all. We need to encourage expression. Encourage communication. Encourage understanding. If we can learn to do that in ways that may take us out of our comfort zone, in positive appreciation of varied perspective, we build better community.
I applaud the efforts of the Art Revitalization Movement in Oil City! And I am excited about the positive impact Art is having on the region at large.