Long-term, the arts corridor encompasses ideas about a covered structure for the arts/farmers' market and festivals and painted crosswalks as part of the Gilbo Ave./Railroad St. corridor plan. Now, we have a chance to make it happen! A covered area, etc. could be integrated into the grant funds the city is currently applying for - no additional funds would need to be raised.
In December 2023, Arts Alive held a series of Potluck Arts Listening Sessions at three different locations within the Monadnock region. Artists and staff of arts organizations and nonprofits were invited to share and listen to each other's stories and discuss solutions to unique challenges in the local arts community in this transformative time.
The goal of the Listening Sessions was to address the questions:
What’s changed for artists and arts organizations since the pandemic?
What are some trends in the challenges we’re all now facing?
What would you like to see for yourself, your business, your organization or community going forward?
How can Arts Alive adapt its resources and programming to continue to support artists and arts organizations?
Each session started with a guest offering their personal story as a starting point for conversation. We heard from artist and art educator Tristan Bridges, the Dublin Community Center, and the Peterborough Players on their observations and personal experiences as artists, nonprofits, and arts organizations navigating the new world left behind by the pandemic.
Arts Alive’s first Listening Session at the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene, NH
We then asked attendees to create a three-part story for themselves, outlining how the pandemic affected them, where they are now in their art practice, and what they envision for the future. After taking several minutes to contemplate and write down their reflections, participants gathered in small groups. This was the most important part: Each person in the group shared what their goals and challenges were, and what they believed they needed to achieve their vision.
Overall, we heard a need for increased networking opportunities and community events for artists, as well as a greater awareness of available resources for education, support, and growth. Artists called for things like more affordable studio space, finding the right community for critique and growth, knowledge of resources like where to show work, and accessible opportunities for practical and creative development.
Attendees write reflectively on their experiences at the second Listening Session in the Dublin Community Center
For arts and nonprofit organizations, we identified a need for increased intercommunication and collaboration, as well as effectively reaching and maintaining staff, volunteers, donors, and audience members. Arts organizations imagined receiving support in marketing and outreach, donors and funding, and better communication between each other to gain strength and stability after the pandemic.
Google Jamboard with ideas from the sessions. A “+” indicates a “like” from another user.
In January 2024, Arts Alive consolidated all the perceived needs and solutions into a community bulletin on Google Jamboard. The Jamboard had two main pages: one for artists and one for arts organizations. The pages were further divided into categories of 1) the need for community and connection and 2) the need for skills and resources. The board was open for community members to respond to the ideas that felt the most relevant and helpful to pursue, as well as to contribute their own.
Finally, Arts Alive invited all Listening Sessions attendees to a meeting via Zoom to discuss all the ideas that came out of the sessions. The virtual meeting also gave those who could not attend an in-person session the opportunity to share their thoughts, visions, and feedback.
Through the Listening Sessions and Zoom discussion, we determined that these specific projects would be the most helpful:
A series of bite-sized skill-building workshops over Zoom for artists and organizations
Meetups and activities for artists of specific subgroups to connect
A support group for nonprofit and arts organization leaders to connect and share resources
An available and up-to-date list of venues that display artwork
and more!
The thing is, we can’t do it all on our own! Reach out to the director, Jess at jessica@monadnockartsalive.org or the programming coordinator, Nina at nina@monadnockartsalive.org if you want support organizing a networking event, community gathering, or meetup for your specific arts subgroup. If you want to volunteer with other community building projects and resources, or learn more about all the different ways to get involved, fill out this Google Form!
On Saturday, October 28 at 10AM, Arts Alive invites artists and creatives to connect to Brattleboro through its local arts spaces. The program will convene at the River Gallery School of Art in downtown Brattleboro VT. With the community art school’s gallery as the backdrop, participants will hear about a few local visual arts programs and businesses directly from the arts leaders who run them. Afterwards, participants will enjoy tours of the nearby Vermont Artisan Designs and Stone Church. Arts Alive will provide coffee, tea, and fresh baked goods. Registration at monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips.
To begin, River Gallery School of Art board member Carolyn DiNicola will give an introduction to the school, including a brief overview of its history, current programming, and various opportunities for artists and arts-enthusiasts to get involved. Following, Downtown Brattleboro Association (DBA) Creative Director Erin Scaggs will tell the story of Gallery Walk. As the current program's founder, she will describe the seasonal monthly event that enlivens Brattleboro downtown and unites the local creative community. As Program Director for the Stone Church, Erin will also share about the Victorian-Gothic concert and event venue and her role within it.
Afterwards, a short walk through the River Gallery School will segue into a tour of Vermont Artisan Designs - just down the street. Owner Greg Worden will lead participants through the two-level store and gallery space. During the tour, Greg will touch on the topics of 1) how he's created and maintained a stable downtown arts retail space and 2) how the business advocates for the market for American crafts. John Dimick, a Brattleboro-based watercolorist featured in the store, will converse about his work and relationship with Vermont Artisan Designs.
Finally, Erin Scaggs will offer a tour of the Stone Church. The 140 year-old structure, whose character has been preserved through careful restoration, is juxtaposed weekly with rock, punk, folk, and metal music concerts, among other events.
Field Trips are $12 to cover the cost of refreshments and $7 for Arts Alive members. Limited space is available on most field trips. To register for the event and check on future excursions, visit monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips. For information about accessibility, please call 603-283-0944 or email nina@monadnockartsalive.org.
Arts Alive field trips provide a unique perspective on a town’s arts community. “The Harrisville story is really special, so it was great to get such an insider view into it,” said one attendee to our Harrisville trip.
Field Trips intentionally build community for artists and lovers of the arts. “I enjoyed getting to intentionally experience the art studios,” said another attendee about our visit to the artist studios at 17ROX. “To have artists around to ask questions and talk about their art form and how to further build community. It was also nice to have a variety of creators; musicians, portrait artists, jewelers! Oh my!”
Arts Alive has led artists to explore a variety of large and small, new and old creative spaces in the New Hampshire towns of Dublin, Keene, Swanzey, and Harrisville, as well as in Brattleboro, Vermont. Locations included the Hannah Grimes Gallery, DublinArts & Muse Gallery, MAXT Makerspace’s Ceramics Center, 17ROX, Harrisville, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, First Proof Press, and individual artist studios. Arts Alive launched Field Trips in January 2023 to address needs in the artist community for creative inspiration and connection.
Arts Alive is supported in part by National Endowment for the Arts, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and this program is supported by a generous gift from C & S Wholesale Grocers.
Keene, NH Oct 13, 2023—Arts Alive today announced that the Monadnock Region’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $25 million in economic activity in 2022, according to the newly released Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), an economic and social impact study conducted by Americans for the Arts. That economic activity—$18.2 million in spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and $6.8 million in event-related spending by their audiences, supported 521 jobs, provided $20.6 million in personal income to residents, and generated $5.3 million in local, state, and federal government revenue. Spending by arts and culture audiences generates valuable commerce to local merchants, a value-add that few other industries can compete with.
Arts Alive was founded with the idea that increasing investment in arts and culture in our community would increase our community’s well-being. This study continues to remind us of the economic and social impacts that the arts and arts institutions have across our region, says Jessica Gelter, Executive Director of Arts Alive. We are grateful to the 840 audience members and 68 arts and cultural organizations that participated in this study. It is our goal in the coming years to increase access to and visibility of arts and culture so that more folks can enjoy the benefits of participating in these meaningful community events.
Building on its 30-year legacy as the largest and most inclusive study of its kind, AEP6 uses a rigorous methodology to document the economic and social contributions of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. The study demonstrates locally as well as nationally, arts and culture are a critical economic driver of vibrant communities.
We need to remember arts are businesses and that arts can be a powerful recruitment and retention tool for all employers, said Taylor Caswell, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Here at BEA, we work hard to tie the lifestyles found in our communities to the local economy, building sustainable economies that result in places where people want to live and work. Whether it’s access to arts, the outdoors, or whatever, that lifestyle component is critical and worth supporting. The info from the Arts Alive report helps us all tell the story.
Key figures from the Monadnock Region’s AEP6 study include:
The region’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $6.8 million in event-related spending by its audiences.
The typical attendee spends $32.51 per person per event, not including the cost of admission.
27.1% of arts and culture attendees were from outside the region in which the activity took place. They spent an average of $56.53. All vital income for local merchants.
87.6% of respondents agreed that the activity or venue they were attending was “a source of neighborhood pride for the community.”
85.7% said they would “feel a sense of loss if that activity or venue was no longer available.”
79.6% agree that the venue or facility where they were surveyed is “an important pillar for me within my community.”
Nationally, the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) study reveals that America’s nonprofit arts and culture sector is a $151.7 billion industry—one that supports 2.6 million jobs and generates $29.1 billion in government revenue.
Arts and culture organizations have a powerful ability to attract and hold dollars in the community longer. They employ people locally, purchase goods and services from nearby businesses, and produce the authentic cultural experiences that are magnets for visitors, tourists, and new residents, said Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. When we invest in nonprofit arts and culture, we strengthen our economy and build more livable communities.
AEP6 represents a reset from its previous versions, establishing a new benchmark in the AEP study series.
Social Impact: For the first time, AEP6 expands beyond the economic and financial data to include social impact measurements of arts and culture’s effect on the well-being of communities and residents.
Equity and Inclusion: AEP6 broke new ground by prioritizing equity, community engagement, and inclusivity. With the goal of reducing systemic bias, Americans for the Arts transformed its approach and expanded the inclusion and participation of organizations serving or representing BIPOC- (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and ALAANA - (African, Latine, Asian, Arab, Native American) identifying communities.
AEP6 demonstrates the significant economic and social benefits that arts and culture brings to their communities, states, and the nation. To amplify the study results and raise awareness of these widespread benefits with public and private-sector leaders, seventeen national organizations partnered with Americans for the Arts on AEP6:
Actors’ Equity Association
African Diaspora Consortium
Arts & Planning Division (American Planning Association)
Black Legislative Leaders Network
Department for Professional Employees
AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations)
Destinations International
International City/County Management Association
Independent Sector
National Association of Counties
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations
National Independent Venue Association
National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women
Race Forward
Recording Industry Association of America
The Conference Board
U.S. Conference of Mayors
By measuring arts and culture’s wide-ranging impact, public and private sector leaders can work together to secure funding and arts-friendly policies that shape more vibrant and equitable communities.
The full report, a map of the 373 study regions, and a two-page economic impact summary for each, can be found at AEP6.AmericansForTheArts.org.
For more information, follow us @monadnockartsalive. The Monadnock region’s full report and 2-page summary can be found at monadnockartsalive.org/aep6.
A panel of peers in the arts community selected 10 local artists and creative businesses to be awardees of an Arts Alive minigrant. This year, 33 total applicants sent artist bios and descriptions of their project for review. Selected projects received funding to either expand the artist’s or business’ professional abilities or increase the amount of people they reach with arts experiences.
“We’re really delighted that the minigrants program can open the doors for folks to pursue their dreams and reach their community,” says Jennifer Paone, Arts Alive Board Co-Chair
Monadnock region - Arts Alive is offering $50-$250 mini-grants to artists and creative businesses in the Monadnock region. Applications have been open since July 1st and will close August 31st. Grants will be selected by peers and awarded to projects that further either the artist or creative business - expanding their professional abilities or increasing how many people they can reach with arts experiences.
“We’re going to be really flexible with how this money can be used,” says Executive Director Jessica Gelter. “Supplies for a project, marketing your work, a short term studio rental, getting work framed, booking time in a recording studio or performance space, hiring a babysitter and ordering takeout for several nights so you can focus on a project, gas for your car to get to a series of gigs, attending a workshop - whatever it is that will help you move towards the next level.”
The application is simple and available online at monadnockartsalive.org/mini-grants. Most questions are multiple choice or check boxes and ask about the artist and their project. Awardees will be chosen by a panel of local leaders in the creative community based on:
How meaningful the project funding will be to the applicant.
The positive impact on the greater arts community.
Artists, writers, performers, and creative business entrepreneurs are all encouraged to apply. Grant awards will be distributed via check. Awardees will need to fill out a W9 form to receive their payment.
To help raise the funds for this program, Arts Alive conducted a NH Gives Day online fundraiser. The $2,000 raised will cover anywhere from 8 to 40 mini-grants. In the past, Arts Alive has partnered with local businesses to build this fund and create opportunities for local artists to advance professionally. To partner with Arts Alive on this project, reach out to Executive Director, Jessica Gelter at jessica@monadnockartsalive.org.
Arts Alive’s mission is to ignite human creativity and spark connection. The organization will nurture the facilitators of creativity across our community because access to arts and creativity is a human right.
“This is our creative way to do some research,” says Alison Wilder, Arts Alive board member. “We’re launching this in order to collect information about artists, performers, and other creatives whose businesses are emerging and who need a boost. That is one of the key groups we serve with our field trips, workshops, and fiscal sponsorship programs. We want to better understand where they’re at. This just made sense, instead of paying a consultant to do research or investing in advertising an online survey, we’re going to put money into the hands of creatives in our community.”
Applications are available on the Arts Alive website at monadnockartsalive.org/mini-grants.
On Saturday, August 19th from 10:30AM-1:30PM, Arts Alive invites local artists and arts enthusiasts to immerse themselves in the story of Harrisville, NH. The gathering will take place in one of Historic Harrisville’s renovated mill buildings at 71 Main St. Breakfast-style refreshments provided. Registration at monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips.
Elevate the Arts is an outdoor community arts festival and fundraiser for Arts Alive on August 13th from 12-4PM. The event will be hosted in the commercial lot on Gilbo Ave. in downtown Keene and will include free lawn games and arts activities for kids and families, live music, food trucks, an artist market, and a bake sale. The event will close with a raffle of large and small prizes.
