Eric Gagne had operated a nonprofit for a decade before he took on the position of program director at Nova Arts.
The Peterborough singer-songwriter and musician launched The Glass Museum for one purpose: to host The Thing in the Spring, a four-day music festival and affordable art fair in downtown Peterborough and more recently, a Ewing Arts Award winner.
A video about Eric, The Thing in the Spring, and the nonprofit he ran on a volunteer basis for many years, from Arts Alive!’s Ewing Arts Awards.
He curated and produced The Thing (as it came to be known) for 10 years, spending 20 hours a week all year to do so. It was a labor of love, for his art form and his community, but it simply became unsustainable. He couldn’t continue without either more volunteer support or compensation for the time he was putting into the project - time away from his family, his music, and away from his regular work.
When he was approached about curating programs for Nova Arts, Gagne knew he had to do things differently.
He had known for several years about Arts Alive!’s Fiscal Sponsorship and Incubator Program, for groups, individual artists and one-time project coordinators. He had once considered applying for the program when he launched the Glass Museum.
Arts Alive! works with artists to provide 501(c)3 status for collecting tax-deductible donations and applying for grants in order to hire Gagne in order for him to coordinate quality programming, keep ticket prices affordable while still paying artists a fair amount, and increasing access to the arts for community members who prefer a casual arts atmosphere where alcohol is not a focus. Arts Alive! takes care of a lot of the administrative nonprofit work, so Gagne can focus on programming.
One of those loading dock concerts.
Jeff and Eliza Murphy, Brewbakers Cafe owners, shared the community’s vision of creating a more accessible space to showcase the arts. Brewbakers had been hosting open mic sessions, artist exhibits and live performances in their former space on Main Street adjacent to the Colonial Theatre. When they opened a mini cafe and roastery in a new space on Emerald Street, they tested the Nova Arts concept, hosting pop-up events and concerts in the garage/loading dock.
The inception of the idea that became Nova Arts came from a small group of arts collaborators and friends who wanted a place to engage and develop the local arts community that would be accessible and casual setting. They wanted to reach different audiences other than those served by the Colonial Theatre or other local venues. They connected with Gagne, and the Nova Arts vision was developed, with him as an employee and member of Nova Arts’ advisory board.
Located at 48 Emerald St. in Keene, Nova Arts Block is a creative and collaborative arts and business space that contains Nova Stage, a place where emerging artists perform, underrepresented voices are heard, and unexpected juxtapositions happen. It shares a location with Brewbakers. A rotating open stage night allows for different hosts and genres – including music, theater, poetry and comedy The Nova Arts vision not only encompasses the performing arts - interactive group events such as craft night, a drop-in writing salon, and after-school art classes are also offered in the space.
Nova Arts kicked off programming with a livestream series starting in the winter of 2021.
Another piece of their vision is community connection and give-back. Nova Arts collects donations online and in person to support its programming and for some events has partnered with nonprofits in the region that have received a portion of those funds. which also pay the artists to perform.
Gagne wants everyone who comes in to see themselves there, whether on the stage or in the diversity of programming. His aim is also to instill trust in Nova Arts curation so that patrons will come see a band they haven’t heard because they really liked another band they saw perform there. Likewise, Arts Alive! places trust in Gagne’s ability to curate and present programming of excellence and offers full support to Nova Arts.
“It's all about partnership,” says Arts Alive! Executive Director, Jessica Gelter. “We want to connect more folks to the arts - in innovative ways. This relationship makes sense for us because Nova is helping us fulfil our mission - we’re enhancing access to the arts, we’re supporting and paying creative entrepreneurs, and we’re demonstrating effective nonprofit / for profit partnership with Brewbakers - a story that we can use in our advocacy work to encourage those with resources to share them with the creative community.”
Nova Arts also contributes 10 percent of proceeds from events to Arts Alive!, which Gagne said is comparable to the amount paid to an accountant/bookkeeper. At this point, he has no plans to apply for independent 501(c)3 status for Nova Arts.
For this initiative to be sustainable, the support of Arts Alive! Is absolutely crucial. Donations ensure that Nova can take risks on programming ideas that may not be “money-makers,” but that may help them build relationships with new audiences or communities.
“Without the fiscal sponsorship, we definitely would not have been able to do any of this—we wouldn’t make any money at all.” said Gagne. “We would have been rolling the dice.”