Radically Rural: Notes on the Magical History Tour

Radically Rural: Notes on the Magical History Tour

Arts Alive! coordinated the Arts Track of the Radically Rural Summit. Radically Rural is an annual two-day summit that brings together hundreds people who are passionate about creating vibrant, robust rural communities and eager to learn, connect and lead change.

Broad shifts in demographics, communications, technology, economic development, and personal values are generating creative responses from innovative thinkers, change-makers, entrepreneurs, and community-builders who love their towns and know their advantages.

Here is a rundown of what we learned in our first session with Keene Walldogs project leader Peter Poanessa who co-founded the Magical History Tour project with Judy Rogers.

Arts Spotlight: Antioch's Dance Movement Therapy Program

Kimberley Burden & Tomoyo Kawano share the story of Antioch New England’s Dance Movement Therapy training program, and how it is building partnerships across the community.

“As dance/movement therapists, we believe that dance is life-affirming and that a person’s lived bodily experience and relational bodily action is the primary agent of change. The American Dance Therapy Association defines dance/movement therapy (DMT) as the psychotherapeutic use of dance and movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being. Dance and movement have been utilized throughout history for communication, rites of passage, ritual, entertainment, ways of knowing, learning, and so much more.”

Arts Spotlight: Electric Earth Concerts

Arts Spotlight: Electric Earth Concerts

This month we put a spotlight on Electric Earth Concerts! The Monadnock Region is a hotbed for chamber music and professional classical ensembles - from Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music to Ashuelot Concerts to Monadnock Music to all the incredible resources and ensembles at our local schools and colleges. On the eastern side of our region, Electric Earth Concerts gives affordable public concerts in the Monadnock Region that are meant to inspire, educate, and entertain, often looking beyond music to its connections to the other arts.

Arts Spotlight: Keene Public Library

Arts Spotlight: Keene Public Library

The Keene Public Library’s collection of books has always been a core cultural resource. In recent years the collection has grown to include various media, as today and tomorrow knowledge and intelligence are not only shared through books. The Library is poised to bring knowledge and art into the future.

Arts Spotlight: Taryn Fisher & the new League of NH Craftsmen store in downtown Keene

Arts Spotlight: Taryn Fisher & the new League of NH Craftsmen store in downtown Keene

This month for our Artist Spotlight we spoke with Taryn Fisher. She claims she is not an artist herself, but a facilitator - bringing art to people, people to art, and inspiring conversation and connection through the process. She recently opened a branch of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. Here is her story, in her own words.

Gelter receives National Arts Strategies Fellowship to further Arts Alive!'s work

Gelter receives National Arts Strategies Fellowship to further Arts Alive!'s work

This week, National Arts Strategies announced: Jessica Gelter, Executive Director of Arts Alive! and Brattleboro resident, is one of 25 individuals chosen to be a Creative Communities Fellow, part of the New England cohort. This is a 6-month program that will deepen arts leaders’ connections across the New England states, and deliver training and project support to develop programming. National Arts Strategies is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build and support a diverse community of cultural leaders, who drive inspiring change for the future. Gelter’s fellowship project proposes to increase access to the arts in rural southwest New Hampshire.

10 Year Celebration: Hearts Wide Open

10 Year Celebration: Hearts Wide Open

For Arts Alive!’s 10 year anniversary celebration, Executive Director Jessica Gelter and musician and artist Jim Murphy wrote a song to honor the occasion. It was recorded by over a dozen local musicians and features arts venues across the Monadnock region. Artists include: Adam Arnone, Jeff Kolter of Omoo Omoo, Jim Murphy, Jeff Murphy, Jessica Gelter, Karissa Vincent, Stuart Fuchs, Larry Siegel, Elise Kuder, Jose Lezcano, Karissa Vincent, and Ben Rogers with dancing by MoCo Arts’ students!