Area Arts and Culture

The Greater Olean area offers a large, diverse assortment of programs in the performing and fine arts, thanks to the area colleges and the numerous local and regional organizations. National touring companies, well-known entertainers, symphonies, philharmonic orchestras all find their way to Olean, enriching the cultural lives of the area's residents. All telephone area codes are 716 unless otherwise noted.

Ballroom Artistry -- Ballroom Artistry enjoys teaching American smooth dances: Fox Trot, Waltz, Tango; Fun Dances: Swing, Country Western; and Latin Dances: Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba Mambo. Please contact 372-2940 for more information.

Bartlett Historical House and Olean Point Museum, 302 Laurens Street, Olean. Take a walk back through time in the Victorian era of the late 1890's in one of Olean's oldest, grandest houses. New to the area - Olean Point Museum - existing carriage house is devoted to a time line tracking Olean's history, children's interactive center. During special exhibits, call for hours or for more information - 376-5642.

Cattaraugus County Council on the Arts -- The CCAC promotes the creation, promotion and appreciation of the arts throughout Cattaraugus County. Acting as a "service organization" to the arts group in the area, the CCAC provides a newsletter, resource library, gallery exhibitions, workshops, seminars, and special events. The CCAC also produces Routes to Art, an open studio weekend premiering in May 2008. Please contact Anne Conroy-Baiter for more information at (716) 372-7455 or E-mail at: artscouncil@verizon.net.

Dance Arts -- Offers ballet, jazz, acrobatics and tap to children and adults. The Arts also has many performance workshops. Please contact Marcia Gallineaux for more information at 372-5048.

Enchanted Mountain Poems and Cards -- This is an internet site that contains the inspirational writing of George Wetherby (B.G. Wetherby). These writing have spread via the internet worldwide, and it all started right here in Olean, NY.

Friends of Good Music -- The Friends of Good Music is dedicated to providing excellence in classical music programming and performance that will expand knowledge and appreciation of the performing arts for the residents of the Twin Tier area. Please call 373-1776 for more information.

Garret Theatre Players -- The Garret Theatre Players is a St. Bonaventure University performing group. The players present a wide range of plays, ancient to modern day. Please contact Dr. Stephen Gray-Lewis for more information at 375-2405.

Keynote Chorus -- The Keynote Chorus performs two official concerts per year in the Olean area. The chorus also can perform at churches, civic and other forums. Please contact Al Mohilewsky for more information at 585-268-7310.

Neighborhood School Of Dance -- The Neighborhood School Of Dance teaches ballroom, tap, ballet, jazz, tumbling, and aerobic lessons. The lessons are offered to adults & children. Please contact Susan Forrest for more information at 373-3330.

Olean Barbershoppers -- The Olean Barbershoppers perform at local events. Please contact Donald Derx for more information at 372-1411.

Olean Community Theatre -- The Olean Community Theatre holds theatrical performances, musicals, comedies and dramas. Season or individual show tickets available. Please contact 375-1-OCT.

Olean Enchanted Mountaineers Square Dancing Club -- The Enchanted Mountaineers use the modern or western-style square dancing styles. The club has dances on the first & third Saturday evenings of each month. Please contact Mel Follett for more information at 372-3485.

Olean Public Library -- The Olean Public Library is a resource center for educational materials, and cultural arts center. The library also hosts many poets and writers programs throughout the year. The library has expanded their children's section to include parent and infant reading areas. Please contact Lance Chaffee for more information at 372-0200.

Olean String Quartet -- The Olean String Quartet accepts engagements for variety of occasions. Please contact Sylvia Lynch at 372-1380.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts (QCA) -- The center is home of St. Bonaventure University's world-class permanent art collection, a broad spectrum of art and historical artifacts that span from beginnings of Western civilization to the 21st Century. The collection totals approximately 2,000 works of art including paintings, sculpture, glassware, works on paper, photographs, and rare books and manuscripts. The QCA boasts 18,000 s.f. exhibition space showcasing the permanent art collection, national touring exhibitions, and faculty and student exhibitions. Additional facilities include a 321 seat proscenium theater and a 110 seat black box theater. The QCA is host to over 50 performances a year including professional presentations of classical music, theater, dance, and film, as well as lectures, symposia and student performances. Museum hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 AM - 5 PM, Saturday and Sunday 12 - 5 PM. Museum admission is free and open to the public year round. Please contact the QCA for more information at 375-2494.

St. Bonaventure University Friedsam Library -- The SBU Friedsam Library contains over 240,000 books, publications, and resource materials. The library also is home to a rare book collection. This collection contains manuscripts from medieval times through rare books of the 1850s. St. Bonaventure owns about 100 late medieval manuscripts from the 1100s. It also owns about 300 incunabula - the scholarly jargon used to describe written material which existed before 1500. Please contact the library at at 375-2000.

Southern Tier Symphony -- Welcome to the area's newest orchestra in the Southern Tier. They're very happy to offer you and your family the thrill of hearing exciting performances of LIVE symphonic music. Please contact STS at 372-1110.

Theatre Workshop -- Theatre Workshop offers many opportunities for young and old alike to perform on stage in various plays, musicals and other vehicles during the year. The opportunities include Workshop Kids, Adult Theatre Workshop and the Theatre Workshop Players. Please contact Nick Patrone for more information at 373-SHOW.

Twin Tiers Community Band -- Local musical organization which provides concert band music at various community functions in the NWPA and SWNY area. Based in Eldred, PA, the band appears throughout the year at various community events. Please call 716-307-4171 for more information.

Woodland in the City -- It started in 1999 with cows in Chicago, Guitars in Cleveland, Labrador retrievers in Aspen. Soon Buffalo was bedecked with buffaloes. It’s part of a worldwide public art craze built around oversized fiberglass animal statues. Olean joined communities across the United States when four-foot high fiberglass squirrels sprouted up along city streets in June 2007. Olean is now home to 25 squirrels scampering around the city!

The biggest collection of art in the Twin Tiers resides inside the Quick Center on the campus of St. Bonaventure University. But right now, it can be argued the most popular collection of art is along the sidewalks of Olean. The Woodland in the City project organized by Amy Sherburne, Bob Sherburne, Mark Barta and Evelyn Penman seems to be a hit.

The painted 4-foot tall fiberglass squirrels have caught people’s eyes, encouraged them to take walks and even drawn in people from out of town who might not have otherwise come to Olean.

What’s in the future for the squirrels? From the beginning, the squirrel project has had a greater purpose. Money raised through squirrel sponsorship has been put toward an effort to build a children’s museum downtown. All proceeds of the project will benefit a non-profit organization comprised of Woodland in the City, Quick Arts Center, and the Historical and Preservation Society in Olean. This non-profit organization plans to develop a plan for a children’s hands-on learning museum based on Olean’s history and how its natural surroundings influenced its early settlement.

For more information, visit www.woodlandinthecity.org.

July 15, 2010

Woodland in the City