Wiley Purkey has been recording the changes in the Ellicott City Historic District from 1969 to the present, through his numerous drawings and paintings. The images in this show are chosen from those 44 years of drawings, watercolors, oil paintings and prints.
Wiley’s work is familiar, yet he remains unknown to us apart from the images. He may well be, “The most well-known artist in the area that no-one has ever heard of.” This show is an attempt to re-introduce Wiley’s work to all of us who visit and appreciate the beauty of Historic Ellicott City.
The sum total of Wiley’s life is made up of bits and pieces of old Ellicott City. His art, his life’s work, has been drawing and painting the Historic District in precise detail, much of it from cherished memories of the recent past, like racing handmade go-carts down Mulligan’s Hill, walking to school, sliding down granite boulders, and following Indian trails along the river to escaping the wrath of Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972.
It’s an Ellicott City of streetcar rails going down Main St., of Art Shows on Main St. In Spring and Fall, of Taylor’s, Sach’s, and Rosenstock’s department stores, Patapsco Pharmacy, the Ellicott Theatre, Bob’s Five and Dime, Olin’s Art Shop, and Eddie’s Luncheonette.
Wiley’s life, from his birth, at home on Fel’s Ave. in a forgotten Ellicott City, to his full life of today, parallels the history of Ellicott City and its own journey from the fog of poverty to one of the best places to live in the country. He and Ellicott City and their journey together are inseparable, and it shows in his life’s work, his art.
