A Community Arts Center for Portsmouth

Portsmouth Arts Committee presents final report,
elects new leadership for next phase of work

The Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee has delivered its final report to the Town Council, which has granted the committee’s request for a workshop to discuss its plans for developing a community center for the arts. The committee also has elected new officers for the next phase of its work.

The Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee has delivered its final report to the Town Council, which has unanimously voted to schedule a workshop after the first of the year to allow a full presentation and discussion of the report. The committee’s report, in the form of a business plan, calls for development of a community center for the arts that would serve all Portsmouth residents, as well as residents of surrounding communities.

“Portsmouth has a unique opportunity to rejuvenate and restore an under-utilized town-owned asset which is currently in a state of physical decline,” said George Furbish, newly elected chair of the committee. “A community center for the arts would enhance the quality of life in our community, providing performances, exhibitions, and programs of arts education for all ages, and help to support and expand existing arts organizations in Portsmouth. The business plan presented to the Council calls for a self-sustaining, financially independent operation using an existing 501c(3) non-profit management entity.”

The Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee, established by the Town Council in August 2008, has spent three years visiting community arts centers in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, evaluating town-owned sites, and developing a business plan that would allow a community arts center to operate without a public subsidy or increased taxes. It also commissioned and raised funds for an independent public opinion survey of Portsmouth households, conducted in January 2010. The study showed significant public support for a community arts center if it could be developed without public funding. The committee’s plan would create the community arts center at the site of the former Coggeshall School on East Main Road in Portsmouth.

“The committee’s report lays out a plan for developing a significant community asset in an affordable way at a site that already serves Portsmouth Little League,” Furbish said. “We look forward to an opportunity to present the plan and to discuss it with the Town Council and Portsmouth residents at an open forum.”

The report is available for downloading (pdf) at www.portsmouthartsguild.org/ArtsCenter/FinalReport.pdf

New Leadership

Since its inception in August 2008, the Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee had been chaired by Eric Broudy, who also served as president of the Portsmouth Arts Guild for six years. Broudy, and his wife Daisy, recently moved out of state.

At the committee’s last monthly meeting on November 3, new officers were elected. They include George Furbish, succeeding Broudy as committee chair; Jennifer Sunderland, succeeding Furbish as vice chair; and Mark Nickel, who continues as the committee’s secretary. Other committee members are Priscilla Wimpress, Tom Perotti and Wanda Perkowska Coderre.

The Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee is seeking additional members for the next phase of its work. Interested parties may contact the chair or a committee member through the Town Clerk’s Office or by e-mail from the website: www.portsmouthartsguild.org/ArtsCenter/

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