 By Kelsey Wagner
Originally Published in the Ponca City News Weekend Edition, pg. 5, August 17, 2019 There has been a lot of discussion recently about the art proposed for the Grain Elevator. Closed in 1959, the Robin Hood Grain Elevator sits just west of downtown, a towering and ominous relic from the past, a daily reminder of loss and of days gone by. Ponca City has had its fair share of loss. It was only ten years ago, in February of 2009 when it was announced that Ponca City would lose 750 jobs at a major area employer, another exodus of high-paying jobs after an already tumultuous decade of closings and mergers. Ponca City has been, up until the early 2000s, a town primarily defined by a single employer and a solitary industry. But today, Ponca City has changed. Ponca City is no longer...  The Ponca City Grain Elevator Project was born out of an earnest and organic movement to improve downtown Ponca City. This project began with a lunch. John McNeese gathered 15 people in January 2018 who he knew were arts leaders in Ponca City and challenged that he would entertain a matching grant up to $50,000 to help fund projects if they promoted art in Ponca City. At that time, we had no projects in mind in particular. In February 2018 Ponca City Main Street brought Rick Sinnett to Ponca City to pick out a wall for a mural. Not even a big wall, a small wall. Definitely not a grain elevator, just a wall. But Rick was moved by our city, its beauty and he just kept gravitating to the Grain Elevator...
On Monday, August 12 at City Hall at 5:30 pm the City Commission met for their bi-monthly meeting. The City Commission voted unanimously to pledge $49,000 of the Hotel/Motel tax fund towards Ponca City Main Street's Grain Elevator mural proposal. The mural designs were created by Rick Sinnett, a well-known, Oklahoma born American Folk Artist who is responsible for many large murals in Oklahoma. |
Who is funding the Project?AuthorThe Ponca City Grain Elevator Mural Project, in conjunction with the John McNeese, the city of Ponca City, Ponca City Main Street and other private donors is a joint public/private partnership to further enhance downtown's vibrant image, and to also provide a positive economic impact to downtown businesses. Phase 1, 100% Complete!Archives
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