Biography Wiley Purkey has been painting in the Historic District of Ellicott City for over fifty years. He took up painting at the age of thirteen, after purchasing his first oil painting set at Olin’s Art Shop on Main Street. His creative energy was ignited in 1967 by the colorful album cover and interior art of the Beatles Sgt. Pepper album. Wiley’s work is the end result of having been born in the Ellicott City Historic District, growing up in the the town as it experienced it's rebirth, and returning to paint the town and be part of it’s continuing history. He and Ellicott City and their journey together are inseparable, and it shows in his life’s work, his art.
The Painter of Ellicott City History.
