Sustaining a Cultural Hub: Arts Alive and Nova Arts

Arts Alive has always held a simple belief: when the arts thrive, communities thrive. That belief has guided us through moments of growth and moments of uncertainty. Even amid the transitions 2025 has brought, our commitment to regional artists and cultural spaces remains unwavering.

One shining example of that ongoing commitment is our partnership with Nova Arts.

A Longstanding Relationship Rooted in Creative Community

Nova Arts has become one of the Monadnock region’s most dynamic cultural hubs—a home for live music, performance, visual arts, and community gathering. Arts Alive is proud to serve as fiscal sponsor for Nova Arts, making it possible for them to focus on presenting world-class live music on stage right here in Keene. This is the type of long-term, behind-the-scenes support that allows creative spaces not just to exist, but to thrive.

Why Nova Arts Matters

In a time when rural arts venues struggle nationwide, Nova Arts stands out as a beacon—drawing touring musicians, elevating local creatives, and enriching the cultural life of downtown Keene. The venue fuels economic vitality, nurtures emerging artists, and provides a deeply needed gathering space for expression and connection.

Arts Alive’s continued support is part of our mission to ensure that cornerstone institutions like Nova Arts remain strong pillars of the region’s creative ecosystem.

Looking Ahead

As our Interim team—Jay House and Hallie Driscoll—leads Arts Alive through a thoughtful realignment of programming, we remain focused on direct service to artists and cultural organizations. By mapping available resources, identifying gaps, and cultivating new collaborations, we are working to build a future where spaces like Nova Arts not only survive but flourish.

Nova Arts embodies the spirit of possibility that defines the Monadnock arts community. We are honored to play a role in sustaining that vision.

Just say the word.

From Advocacy to Impact: How Arts Alive! Helped Spark the Creation of MAXT Makerspace

As Arts Alive has regrouped this year to focus more deeply on core programming, the statewide cultural landscape shifted dramatically—including the near collapse of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts early in 2025. In moments like these, it becomes even clearer how essential it is for local arts organizations to lean into their role as community anchors. 

This truth is woven through Arts Alive’s history. Under the leadership of long-time former Executive Director

Jess Gelter, Arts Alive grew from a small advocacy collective into a vibrant regional resource. Her work helped lay the foundation for projects that continue to shape the creative economy today—including the launch of MAXT Makerspace in Peterborough, one of our region’s most successful examples of community-driven creative development.

A Catalyst for Creative Infrastructure

Before MAXT opened its doors, the Monadnock region had no dedicated hub for makers, artists, tinkerers, and small creative businesses, despite the long history of manufacturing and entrepreneurship in the region. 

Today, MAXT Makerspace serves as a vibrant center for woodworking, metalworking, digital fabrication, studio arts, and entrepreneurial incubation. It supports hundreds of creatives annually and has become a model for rural creative infrastructure statewide.

Continuing the Work of Regional Capacity-Building

As we celebrate 15+ years of accomplishments like supporting the creation of MAXT, we remain committed to turning moments of uncertainty into opportunities for innovation. This winter, our board and staff are mapping resources across the region, identifying gaps, and exploring new collaborations to ensure that the next big creative idea has what it needs to take root.

With the energy and fresh perspective of our Interim team—Jay House, Director of Fundraising and Operations, and Hallie Driscoll, Community Operations Coordinator—Arts Alive is pausing some of our activities to realign programs with community needs. Our past success with projects like MAXT Makerspace illuminates what is possible when we invest deeply in local creative ecosystems.

Arts Alive awards 18 mini grants to local artists

A panel of peers in the arts community selected 18 local artists and creative businesses to receive an Arts Alive mini grant. This year, 43 total applicants sent artist bios and descriptions of their project for review. Selected projects received funding to either expand the artist’s or business’s professional abilities or increase the amount of people they reach with arts experiences.

We’re really delighted that the mini grants program can open the doors for folks to pursue their dreams and reach their community. – Jennifer Paone, Board Co-Chair

The 2024 mini grant awardees are:

Hannah Banana

Visual artist Hannah Banana Clark, who intends to use the grant to purchase supplies and promotional materials for an old-train-car-turned-new-community-maker-space called “The Banana Box” in Swanzey, NH.

Keene Senior Center Executive Director Kimberly Rumrill, who will use the grant to fund the purchase and installation of molding and hanging rods to hang paintings for a new art gallery at the Senior Center.

Local artist and educator Erin Sweeney who will use the grant to help pay for a sign and website for a new art studio in Hancock called Brick House Arts. Sweeney intends to host workshops, pop up art shows, events for all ages, and an Art Table project, among other community collaborations and projects.

Filmmaker and High Cairn Films-founder Chris Hardee, who will use the funds to support free screenings of a new history-focused documentary ‘Good-bye to a House’ to local audiences in the Monadnock region. These screenings involve time, travel expenses, and in some cases, equipment purchase or rental.

Waking Finnegan

Violinist and songwriter Corey Walden, who will use the mini grant to support an album recording by the local Celtic music project Waking Finnegan.

Former librarian Miranda Rosbach, who will use the grant to serve families with children aged 0-12 of Rindge by creating a Mini Maker Art Studio with art classes and interactive experiences and a children's bookshop in her backyard.

Pyrographer, fiber artist, and performer Brenna Morss-Fish, who will use the mini grant to purchase materials to craft unique and fun wood and fiber-based products to support her growing creative business.

Writer and writing coach Becky Karush, who will use the grant to fund a week at Welcome Hill Studios in Chesterfield, NH to provide uninterrupted writing time to work on the third draft of her WWII-themed historic fiction novel.

Artist and arts educator Sammy Burhoe, who will use the funds to purchase printmaking class materials including a new set of printmaking inks, 2 new rollers and about 25 sheets of fine art paper for students ages 14+ in a public after school program at The Center at Orchard Hill in Alstead, NH. 

Martha Behrens-Temple

Photographer and mixed media artist Martha Behrens-Temple, who will use the mini grant to gain access to the workshops, materials, and resources available with membership at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro.

Caroline Tremblay

Author, entrepreneur, and content creator Caroline Tremblay, who will use the grant to fund a solo writing retreat at a farm to provide inspiration and uninterrupted writing time to draft her first novel.

Artist and art teacher Melanie Fedorowicz, who will use the funds to support her growing art practice and creative business in a new studio.

Artist Alison Scott, who will use the funds to purchase frames for artwork to be exhibited in local galleries.

Singer-songwriter and audio engineer Cameron Paul, who will use the mini grant to purchase materials for the construction of a vocal isolation booth for his music studio.

DJ Owen Zoll, who will use the mini grant to purchase an external hard drive for his music.

Photo of ‘Emergent Pines’ and Alison Scott by Diana Place

Independent director, producer, filmmaker, and documentarian Heather Holloway, who will apply the mini grant to the cost of developing, mounting, and framing photography for a public exhibit of a film currently in production.

Interdisciplinary artist, educator, and art historian April Claggett, who will use the mini grant to purchase supplies for an interactive, video-based installation at the Jaffrey Civic Center.

Dance instructor, professional choreographer, and dancer Kristen Walden, who will use the funds to replace props and costumes for classes and performances. 

Arts Alive awarded grants of $200 to $250, depending on the needs of the project and alignment with the nonprofit’s mission of igniting creativity, sparking connections, and nurturing the artists and culture-bearers of the region so that they may spark others to dream, create, and engage.

Kristen Walden by Peter Paradise Photography

Through anonymously collected demographic information, Arts Alive determined that 28% of the mini grant applicants are living near or below the poverty line and over 49% make less than the region’s median income. Additionally, 36% of applicants are caretakers of another household or family member, like a child or an ailing relative.

We’ve begun collecting data to see who is accessing our programs to better understand where the need is. Mini grants are an easy way to say to artists - your ideas are valid, worthy, please keep going! With this bit of funding, we are able to connect artists with money to kickstart their dreams. I wish we had another few thousand to give away each year! - Arts Alive Executive Director Jessica Iris

By accepting the mini grant, awardees agree to use the funds for intended purposes by September 2025. Awardees will also document the impact of the funding on their project. To help raise the $2,000 for this program, Arts Alive conducted a NH Gives Day online fundraiser in June 2024. In October 2024, Arts Alive was able to increase the amount of mini grants available with a generous donation from the The Eppes-Jefferson Foundation.

This year, the mini grants panel consisted of local arts leaders, previous mini grant recipients, and Arts Alive board and staff members including 2023 mini grant recipients Sarita Drew of Everybody Burlesque, musician and composer Tara Novak, musician and sound artist Katie Semro, artist and arts educator Tristan Bridges, and Keene Sentinel journalist and photographer James Rinker. Additionally, Keene State College professor and 2024 Ewing Arts Award winner Christina Wright-Ivanova, Arts Alive board member James Duffy, and Arts Alive Programming Coordinator Nina Taylor-Dunn juried.

Two books and a podcast — Nov/Dec 2024 News from Arts Alive’s Creative Community

In a nutshell: Author Sy Montgomery published What the Chicken Knows - her third new book THIS YEAR, interdisciplinary artist Jo Dery launched a podcast on adoption and foster care issues, wildlife illustrator Matt Patterson just completed a series of new illustrations for an upcoming book about a snapping turtle, and mini grantee Alison Scott sold a painting!

author sy montgomery publishes a new book

I've got a new book out this month--WHAT THE CHICKEN KNOWS: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird--starring people and chickens of our Monadnock area! This is the third new book of mine out this year. Next up: with wildlife illustrator Matt Patterson, a book on our favorite 42 pound wild snapping turtle, Fire Chief; a commemorative edition of The Photo Ark with Nat Geo photographer Joel Sartore; and a book for younger readers on my September expedition scuba diving with giant oceanic manta rays in Ecuador!

interdisciplinary artist jo dery launches a podcast

I actually launched a podcast recently at https://adoptionstoriesvt.com/. You can also listen on the Podbean website or app at https://adoptionstories.podbean.com/.

Adoption Stories is a series of audio interviews with foster/adoptive families, adult adoptees, and adoption-support professionals in Windham County, VT. Children in foster care should be of concern to every Vermonter. There are 1,300 children in foster care across Vermont – 150 of them are in Windham County. In the past decade, our state’s child welfare system has been, and remains, under great stress. The themes touched on in these interviews include trauma, grief, resilience, celebration, and community – as well as the role that race, class, gender, and the opioid and housing crises play in why children end up in foster care in Vermont. Through centering foster/adoptive children’s and family’s memories of the past and dreams for the future, Adoption Stories paints a picture of the complex experience of these kids and families – full of love, loss, beauty, and pain. The Adoption Stories interviews are collected on the web at www.adoptionstoriesvt.com, and available to listen to on the Podbean app. Adoption Stories was funded in part by a Brattleboro Town Arts Fund grant.

Join creators and foster/adoptive parents Jo Dery (artist and educator) and Tamara Evanson (licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist) at the Putney Library to learn about the project and hear from some of the participants.

artist Matt Patterson completes illustrations for a new book

I recently finished the illustrations for a new book about a snapping turtle titled THE TRUE AND LUCKY STORY OF A TURTLE! I did over 30 illustrations for this book which is being published by HarperCollins and will be out in a year. It chronicles the life of FIRE CHIEF the snapping turtle from when he hatched to current day. He also is a major character in the NY Times bestselling book OF TIME AND TURTLES.

mini grantee Alison Scott sells a painting

Photo of ‘Emergent Pines’ and Alison Scott by Diana Place

My “biggest piece“, my 16“ x 20“ photo called Emergent Pines, sold, before the 11/23 Opening Reception at the Jaffrey Civic Center had begun.

This show, called “Emergence” is held by the Monadnock Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for the Arts. During the Reception, a fellow Women’s Caucus artist expressed interest in purchasing a copy of this print, as well. The frame is wood, painted silver, and as it cost $50, the mini-grant I received from ArtsAlive! and its sponsors was most helpful!

Updates from Arts Alive’s Creative Community—October/November 2024

In a nutshell: The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music welcomes a new cellist, new executive director, and new solar panels; Arts Alive fiscal sponsee, the Contenders documentary, shares progress in the filming process; Taryn Fisher Fine Art curates a gallery at 310 Marlboro and takes part in Monadnock Music’s Holiday Home Tour; The Colonial enjoyed organizing performances for Keene Pumpkin Fest and looks forward to an upcoming concert; The Art Source Fine Arts Gallery looks for folks to join life drawing classes and French conversations on Fridays; Jaffrey Civic Center celebrates new staff, a one-year milestone, and prepares for the holidays; Craig Stockwell wraps up the October SPAR(K) artist residency at Covenant Living; Rodger Martin presents poetry to be included in a new anthology on the subject of death.

apple hill welcomes New people and renewable energy

Apple Hill’s new solar panels

It's been a very busy fall at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, as we welcomed new cellist (and Stoddard native!) Jacob MacKay to the Apple Hill String Quartet, and new executive director Sam Bergman to our farmhouse office. The AHSQ is off and running with fall concerts featuring music from across 900 years of musical history, in New Hampshire venues from the Monadnocks all the way east to the Seacoast region! The quartet will be traveling further afield in November, with concerts in Brooklyn, New York and Rockport, Massachusetts, as well as New Hampshire performances at Aloha Yoga in Keene on the 10th; at St. Paul's School in Concord on the 15th; and at Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner on the 17th. Visit Apple Hill’s website for more information.

In addition, our campus has taken an enormous step towards sustainability and renewable energy reliance this month, as we bring a long-planned pair of rooftop solar arrays online! With help from our friends at SouthPack Solar, we've installed nearly 23kW worth of electricity generating solar panels atop our concert and rehearsal barn roofs, which are expected to supply nearly all of the electric power our campus uses over the course of a year. The arrays are as beautiful as they are functional, and we can't wait to show them off to our audiences and camp participants next summer!” — Gail Malitas, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music Office Administrator.

the contenders documentary shares film progress

“The Contenders documentary is nearing the end of the football season as they follow the Fall Mountain football team through the 2024 season. Interviews still need to be conducted with a number of the coaches, players, alumni, and school officials and the aim is to complete those by the end of the year. The filmmakers hope to have a rough version of the film available for the team and their families to watch by the end of May/early June 2025 with a finished version completed by the fall of 2025.” - Brantley Palmer

The Contenders documentary is one of our fiscal sponsees! Read more information about the project here.

Taryn fisher fine art curates new galleries

Main Lobby at 310 Marlboro Street. Artwork by Scott J. Morgan.

Taryn Fisher Fine Art created a gallery at 310 Marlboro Street! Periodically rotating exhibits will be curated by Taryn Fisher. Artwork can be viewed in the corridors and common areas on multiple floors.

Taryn Fisher’s recently opened home gallery will participate in the upcoming Holiday House Tour hosted by Monadnock Music on Sunday, December 15th from 2 to 5 pm. The December exhibition captures the ethereal nature of this season's holiday celebration. Tickets and info are available here. 

the colonial organizes community engagement and unique programming

The Colonial had the Big Nazo perform at the Keene Pumpkin Festival, and some students from NHDI performed with them after a workshop!  It was free and open to the Community and quite popular.  Above are photos of two NHDI students in their puppet costumes and one of the entire Big Nazo/NHDI company. 

The Colonial’s Director of Education & Community Engagement, Vicky Pittman, is excited about Aysanabee (Ace-in-abbey) - a two-time JUNO award-winning alternative indie artist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter who will be performing at the Showroom on November 7 at 7:30pm. He is Oji-Cree, Sucker Clan of Sandy Lake First Nation, a remote fly-in community in the far reaches of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

“His voice is haunting and his stories are based on his life and the memories of his grandfather,” she says. Information and tickets can be found on the Colonial Performing Arts Center website.

the art source fine arts gallery shares unique offerings

Mona Brooks continues her life drawing classes (Fridays at 11) and French conversations (Fridays at 4), and offers individual art classes by appointment at her Peterborough Gallery, The Art Source Fine Arts Gallery.

jaffrey civic center celebrates a milestone

“I am very excited to attend the Leadership Conference held by Arts Alive in November...I have a new assistant Karen Chiasson who has now been working with me since August of this year. November 1 I will hit one year working for the JCC!” - Laura Adams, Executive Director of the Jaffrey Civic Center.

Attend art classes in various mediums at the Civic Center here and sign up for the December 7 craft fair as a vendor here.

Craig Stockwell wraps up a residency project

The Social Practice Artist Residency (Keene) (SPAR(K)) residency at Covenant Living is drawing to a close and there will be a closing event and exhibition 11/1 at Covenant Living of Keene, 95 Wyman Road at1:30pm. Artist Olivia DelGandio of Portland, Oregon, who has been working with residents throughout October, will speak about the residency and the work that has been accumulated on the topic of age and changing artistic practice.

rodger martin presents poetry

Rodger Martin, poet, teacher, editor, journalist, and director of Monadnock Pastoral Poets, will be part of a group presenting poetry for Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen’s anthology on death - The Black River: Death Poems. More info here.

Stay tuned for next month’s updates! In the meantime, you can look up an array of wonderful local artists and creative businesses on our creative economy directory.