Although the views of the Allegheny Mountains are breathtaking, particularly as the leaves take on their fall colors, the northwestern Maryland city of Cumberland has seen better days. Once a major manufacturing hub, after World War II the factories, and the jobs, went east. Today, there are barely 20,000 residents in Cumberland, many of them living below the poverty line, and a whole lot of empty buildings downtown alongside the flowing Potomac River.
Frank Strunk III fell in love with the place, on first sight.
Eighteen months ago, the St. Petersburg artist – he’d been here, swimming happily in the artistic bloodstream, for 30 years – and his longtime partner Bethany Peabody relocated to Cumberland…