About Arts Alive | Arts Alive! - Advancing Arts and Culture in the Monadnock Region

Advancing Arts and Culture in the Monadnock Region

New: Strategic Plan for 2013-2015 (Scroll down to view)

Arts Alive! is a nonprofit organization working to sustain, promote and expand access to arts and cultural resources in the Monadnock Region. Arts and culture are community assets that enhance financial strength, health and wellness, and social capital in the communities where they are supported.

Arts Alive! is comprised of a broad range of arts and cultural organizations—museums, acting troupes, musical organizations, theatres, galleries—that share a common goal to enhance arts and culture in our region.

Areas of focus

Arts Alive! seeks to develop an infrastructure that will sustain, promote and expand access to arts and cultural resources.

Completed an economic impact study demonstrating the economic value of arts and culture
Participated in a regional cultural needs assessment
Creating a vision and facilitating master plans for arts and culture in the region and developing ties with municipalities
Developing communication channels to increase awareness of and participation in artistic and cultural events
Cultivating funding sources for arts and culture throughout the region
Developing tools that foster collaboration, communication, and cooperation among arts and cultural organizations

How Arts came Alive!

In 2007, a group of private citizens convened a meeting of regional cultural and artistic organizations to discuss plans for an informal collaboration that would facilitate communication and distribution of information regarding programming, fund raising and other activities of mutual interest. The first Plenary Session of the Monadnock arts and cultural organization was held on January 11, 2008, at Antioch University New England, and generated an enthusiastic consensus and collaboration. Arts Alive! was incorporated as a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation in 2009 and received 501(c)3 status in 2010.

A Volunteer Effort

Arts Alive! is governed by a 16 member Board of Directors drawn from towns across the region and a wide range of art and cultural disciplines. The Board is supported by eight work groups addressing a range of mutual issues and initiatives. To date Arts Alive! has developed an online planning/event calendar for participants; held consultations with Keene Master Planning work group to include arts and culture as part of the City of Keene's Master Plan; collaborated with Americans for the Arts to complete an Economic Impact Study for the Monadnock Region; and conducted a cultural needs assessment with Webb Management Services for the planning of a multi-arts center in downtown Keene.

Board of Directors as of April, 2013

Carl Jacobs, Chair; Keene City Council
Maryann LaCroix Lindberg, Vice Chair; VP for Advancement, Keene State College
Alfrieda Englund, Secretary; The Keene Chorale
Matora Fiorey, Treasurer; Director, Surry Village Charter School
Maureen Curtiss, General Manager, Timken-Keene
Alec Doyle, Executive Director, The Colonial Theatre
Katie Gardella, President, Prosper Fundraising
Daniel Henderson, Jr., Corporate Relations, Keene State College
Caroline Hollister, Park Theater
Gail Malitas, Keene Chorale, Monadnock Choral Arts Alliance
Lenny Matczynski, Director, Apple Hill Chamber Center
Melinda Mosier, Senior Program Officer, NH Charitable Foundation
Jim Narkiewicz, President, Monadnock Travel Council, Manager, Day's Inn
Don Primrose, Founder, Hundred Nights, Inc.,The Edge Ensemble
Pelagia Vincent, Hospitality Consultant, Depot Square and Waterhouse Restaurant
Keri Wiederspahn, Director, Sharon Arts Center

Executive Director
Katharine Dean

Funders
Hoffman Family Foundation
Putnam Foundation
C&S Wholesale Grocers
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation-Monadnock Region

Coordinating Agencies
Antioch New England University
Giving Monadnock
Monadnock United Way
New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
SW Region Planning Commission

Participating Organizations

Acting Out, MFS
Actors Circle Theater
Actors Theater Playhouse
Animaterra
Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music
Art for Water
ArtsFest NH
ArtVentures New Hampshire
Branch River Theatre
Cathedral of the Pines
Chamber Singers of Keene
Cheshire Children’s Museum
Cheshire Medical/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene
Cheshiremen Chorus
Children’s Stage Adventures
City of Keene
Colonial Theatre Group, Inc.
Creative Communities Network