Oil Regional Alliance, Oil City, Pennsylvania

Project Overview:
The first successful oil well drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859 ignited the worldwide exploration and race for energy that we continue to experience today. However, it was the transportation of oil and natural gas that made Standard Oil the financial giant of its day. In 1891 the National Transit Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of America, built the National Transit Building in Oil City, PA, as headquarters for their oil/gas transportation network. The transportation of oil and gas is an enormously complex story, yet the Oil Regional Alliance wanted the story told without text in the lobby of the historic building. Traub Design Associates* accomplished the task with the creation, digitization, fabrication and installation of a 780 sq. ft. interpretative mural.

The development of the mural was approached with an extensive review of historical resources creating a narrative that was distilled to primary information and conveyed only through historic images. The images, which were accurately rendered in pencil, were digitally scanned and their placement, together with portraits of important industry leaders, were massaged into a dramatic layout of images and colors using sophisticated graphic and computer design techniques. A photo-quality, large format digital color printer generated the final mural sections.

The unusual shape and architectural features in the lobby presented a variety of installation challenges, as the sections of the mural were installed 30 feet above the lobby floor. To complete the installation low-voltage lamps were focused on the mural to highlight its historic and artistic details. An interpretative panel containing all the mural images and a brief description of each was installed overlooking the Lobby, as was a created image that incorporated the images of the private donors of the project. This colorful interpretative mural, together with the accompanying informational brochure, will tell the story of the transportation of oil for decades to come with a minimum of text, space and maintenance.