Arts Alive!’s current strategic plan identifies a goal of increasing access to arts & culture in the Monadnock region to promote well-being. Numerous studies have shown that engaging in arts and culture enhances community well-being in various ways, from increases in health care efficacy to helping students achieve in school to building social capital, a key asset in success for social service projects.
This strategic goal focuses on building community awareness of Arts & Culture assets in the Monadnock region, and for Arts Alive! to become the heart of Arts & Culture information in the Monadnock region. To that end, Arts Alive! gathered arts leaders, audience members, funders, and community leaders at the Historical Society of Cheshire County on Monday February 12th for 2 hours to discuss access to the arts in the Monadnock region. The conversation was structured to address audience development and community-building.
The group was able to identify three areas of interest to pursue. These next steps will be initiated by bringing together a larger community meeting that would break into groups to begin work on the following action items:
A collaborative marketing campaign
Developing an arts ambassadors program
Building regional commitment to an arts-based brand
Arts Alive!’s next step is to host this follow-up meeting, ensuring a wide variety of stakeholders is in attendance to represent the region.