The Blue Dome

"The Blue Dome (Arnie's), Tulsa," oil on panel 

A decade or so ago, after a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, my old home town, I painted a cityscape of the emerging arts district that was at the time reclaiming an old and decrepit area northeast of downtown. Anchored by a circular building with a blue done (and named The Blue Dome District) the area now has fine dining, clubs, art galleries, and shopping of course. 

The blue domed building was once a service station in the Art Moderne style, with numerous gas pumps, service bays, and a big office. Over the years it faded, closed, and went to ruin. Now it's been repurposed as a bar and grill named Arnie's Bar, that traces its own lineage to another part of town. Arnie's was once owned and hosted by it's namesake, a former big-band musician. The original Arnie's was a long, narrow room with a door to the sidewalk and one to the back alley. Any day, if you walked in, big band or jazz music would be playing on his reel to reel recorder.