New London's Cultural District Commission works to highlight the arts and culture
Sep. 5—NEW LONDON — Two months after a section of the city was designated a cultural district, the city's Cultural District Commission is ready to get projects rolling.
Improving the functionality of the downtown area for events, installing more artwork by local artists and expanding the city's Black Heritage Trail are just a few of the things the commission is working on.
The seven-member commission was assembled last year but first had to work to get designated by the state as a Cultural District, having done so in June. The designation allows New London to use resources from the state's tourism website to promote its destinations and events.
New London has one of three Cultural Districts recognized by the state. The district area is encompassed within a few blocks bounded by State, Bank and Howard streets.
Rich Martin, owner of The Telegraph Record Shop, chairs the volunteer commission. Other members are Sean Patrick Murray, manager of The Social and The Oasis; Jeanne Sigel, development director at the Garde Arts Center; La Chale Gillis, local photographer; Lydia Blaisdell Brunner, a playwright; Melissa Ford, member of the community who has served on previous city commissions and Andrew Camacho, a hip-hop artist and founder of the nonprofit ArtFlame Music Academy.
"It's a really interesting mix of people and represents the city's diversity," Martin said.
Martin added that the city's identity through the arts and culture has not always been acknowledged. The Cultural District designation places those qualities on top of the agenda.
"The arts is tourism, creating spaces to come back to," Martin said. "Tourism spending in the state has not always focused in New London. ... The promise of the Cultural District designation is a new commitment from the state."
Martin said the commission has received $250,000 in COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, on behalf of the city, to put into the district.
Some of that money has gone into hiring a part-time Cultural District Coordinator, Kaitlin Whitehorn, in May to "dot the I's and T's" of the commission's events and assets.
Using COVID-19 relief funds, the commission has created an event program subsidy to help support events in the district that could use additional funds. Most recently, the commission has supported two events for the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival Sept. 9-11: Flock Theater's The Return of the Burning of Benedict Arnold Festival and Arm-of-the-Sea Theater's puppet show at Hygienic Park.
The commission met with Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture, based in Mystic, last week to brainstorm ideas to improve way-finding and infrastructure in the designated district for future events. Martin said the commission is working with the city to get Big Belly waste recycling bins in the district and once those arrive in the fall, local artists will be paid to paint them.
The commission will also invest funds into the expansion of the city's Black Heritage Trail which was unveiled in October 2021 and provides a self-guided tour of 15 different historical sites around the city marked by bronze plaques.
Curtis Goodwin, who spearheaded the city's bid to become a Cultural District, is the project manager for the trail.
Goodwin said the project, which he called the New London Heritage Trail, is entering the next phase, adding an indigenous trail with markers centered around the Pequots. He added the commission and research team is working to make the trail self-narrated with QR codes to help people navigate the trail.
"We're working on momentum for next year," Martin said.
