Portsmouth seeks volunteers to shape new cultural plan: How you can get involved

PORTSMOUTH — If you've ever considered stepping up to make a difference in your community, your chance has arrived.

The Portsmouth Arts and Nonprofits Committee is seeking volunteers for its cultural plan subcommittee, which is tasked with creating a new, updated cultural plan, an important step in assuring the health of a major contributor to the Seacoast community's way of life.

"It's been 20 years since the city created its first cultural plan. It's time for a new plan for the upcoming decades," said Russ Grazier, Portsmouth Music and Arts Center CEO and PANC co-chair. "Right now we're seeking community members who have a strong interest in the arts and culture of Portsmouth, who would like to help create the plan for the coming years."

In the two decades since the last plan was produced, the city finds itself "in a very different world, in a very different  place," making it an important time to shape a plan that serves today's community, said Barbara Massar, Pro Portsmouth executive director and PANC co-chair.

PANC's objective is to create a subcommittee with broad representation, people of all ages, experience, interests, backgrounds and expertise. Both Portsmouth residents and others from surrounding communities may apply.

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"(Non-Portsmouth residents) are welcome ... if they can define their connection to the arts and cultural community," Grazier said. "For example, they may be local workers and employers or artists that actively perform or exhibit within Portsmouth."

The subcommittee's first task will be reviewing and discussing the 2002 plan. From that point, "we can't say," Massar said. "That will be up to the group. They'll be the ones looking at it."

"At this point, everything is up for discussion. They'll be asking the questions 'What is,' 'What if' ... (and) who funds the commission," Massar added. "The good thing is we have something to refer to, the plan that was released in 2002. We have a fine document ... so we're not recreating the wheel this year."

PANC's co-chairs Grazier and Massar will remain involved with the subcommittee, which will have its own chair or co-chairs, Massar said.

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The plan is to complete the project by December 2023, at the same time the parent committee is scheduled to come to an end, Massar said.

The parent committee was formed in early 2021 by then-Mayor Rick Becksted to focus on arts, artists and nonprofit organizations, taking into account the impact of the pandemic, and how to navigate the future.

In 2022, new Mayor Deaglan McEachern and the City Council requested the committee continue its work, creating the marketing campaign "Go Out Portsmouth!," conducting the sixth Americans for the Arts Survey, and launching the cultural plan subcommittee.

Portsmouth's arts and culture organizations and nonprofits were hit hard by the pandemic, and still face stiff challenges around funding and attendance, Massar said.

Given the impact these groups and individuals have on the city's identity and economy, it's vitally important that their future has a well-considered plan, she said.

Arts and culture are an important contributor to the city's economic health, a fact borne out by a previous AFTA survey, Massar said. The last survey, in 2017, determined Portsmouth's arts and culture creative economy contributed more than $58 million to the local economy.

"So, what's next?" Massar said. "To keep things vibrant and make sure what we're doing is relevant."

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Those taking part in the cultural plan subcommittee will take an active part in ensuring Portsmouth remains art-rich, vibrant and pertinent, Massar said.

Those interested in serving on the committee can find a link to the application at cityofportsmouth.com/city/arts-nonprofits-committee-cultural-plan-subcommittee.

"The upcoming 400th birthday (2023) of Portsmouth is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the arts and culture of the city," Grazier said. "When looking back at the past 20 years and seeing the amazing changes that happened — including the growth of the New Hampshire Black Heritage Trail, the creations of 3S Artspace and PMAC, the addition of the Music Hall Lounge, and the transformation of the Prescott Park Arts Festival — it's exciting to imagine what could happen over the next 20 years."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH seeks volunteers to shape new cultural plan