Courtesy Debi Burch, Lycoming Arts
Love Letter to Billtown
How Williamsport Became a FFAT—First Friday Artistic Town City By Linda Roller
F
illed with music, theater, and art yearround, Williamsport has become a destination for people who love the arts, and a magnet for those who are artists in every medium. The downtown has several galleries, music flows from restaurants, and the streets themselves are the canvas. The parking areas are crowded as events are well attended at the Community Arts Center, and the art overflows into the streets every First Friday. It may seem like a town that has blossomed overnight, but in August, Lycoming Arts celebrates its sixtieth anniversary. And, as one of the
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primary forces that changed the look of Williamsport forever, First Friday celebrates twenty years of art in the streets. It certainly didn’t look and feel like a town that had any art when I interviewed for a job at the old Williamsport Area Community College in 1981. At the same time, a young art instructor also moved to Williamsport to raise a family. Judy Olinsky was a woman always in love with art, and recently we talked about the 1980s in Williamsport, and how the initial appearance was a little deceiving. “The people were wonderful, but the
town was sad,” Judy says. “The art was there, but not ‘public’.” It was hidden, not seen in the streets, not widely advertised. The town was facing many challenges in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arson was a presence. Several churches and many buildings burned, and the fear of older churches being torched led congregations to organize overnight sentries. Judy sums up what happened next. “In 1993, we were at a crossroads—whether our town was going to live…or die.” It sounds stark, but Judy was not the only See Billtown on page 16
