Following support from the public at a community meeting last week, a committee will continue its study of the idea.
Prospects for an arts and cultural center in Freeport have a pulse.
Following a well-attended community meeting hosted by the Freeport Community Arts Steering Committee on April 28, a working group will meet sometime in the next month to further study the possibilities for such a facility. Carol Wishcamper, a professional facilitator who has volunteered her time to the steering committee, said last Thursday that material from the community center meeting will be transcribed for the working group to study. About 50 people, including 10 committee members, attended the April 28 meeting, she said.
“The positive news is that there was a green light to go ahead,” Wishcamper said. “It seemed like there was adequate attendance to give them some sense of community support. There’s a lot of information that the steering committee can put together.”
Freeport Players, a community theater group, and the Freeport Economic Development Corp. began collaborating on the concept of an arts and cultural center five months ago. Freeport Players stages most of its plays at the Freeport Performing Arts Center. Freeport Players appreciate the performing arts center as a fine venue for performing arts, but an arts and cultural center could bring in other artists, the steering committee believed.
The Freeport Community Arts Steering Committee presented four concepts for an arts and cultural center to the public at the April 28 meeting. Options included a venue for performance and exhibits; a place for arts education and artist development; an access/networks center for connecting to arts opportunities; and an integrated combination for performances, exhibits, classes, workshops and more. Wischcamper asked those in attendance to form splinter groups according to their interest in those four categories, and the integrated combination venue easily drew the most interest, and split into two subsections. One person volunteered to facilitate each group.
The steering committee, which had been unsure about where to proceed if attendance had been meager, is re-energized.
“Our clear next step is to coalesce the ideas into a bigger picture,” said Elizabeth Guffey, artistic director of Freeport Players. “We will put together what a larger space feels and looks like, and bring it back to the larger group.”
The steering committee laid the groundwork in the months leading to the community meeting, interviewing people in town and producing a thick pamphlet describing six arts centers in Maine and the committee’s assessments of those venues. The committee chose to study the Franco-American Center in Lewiston, Eastport Arts Center, Opera House Arts of Stonington, Denmark Arts Center, Boothbay Opera House and Gorham Community Arts Center.
With each center, the committee focused its research and interviews on the history of the facility, management, facilities/capacity and fundraising strategies.
Steering committee members fanned out to visit the facilities and their analyses from each facility includes:
The Franco-American Center. The facility creates a devoted base lf supporters, and is expensive to operate. Having both an intimate space and a large space provides a perfect place for weddings and receptions, as well as large performances and intimate performance space.
Eastport Art Center. Devon Kelly, the publicity director, emphasized how important it was for the community to “really know what is going on if you want their support.” They do a lot of press releases and have community meetings.
Opera House, Stonington. Having a detailed business plan and “SWOT” analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and tactics) helped with understanding their financial position and competition. Community involvement is also a key.
Denmark Arts Center. A small, vocal group resists the director’s shifting focus to professional artists, wanting to remain an amateur community arts center. The steering committee concluded that the idiosyncrasies of people that populate and run the space has to be honored, not in job description but the personality is important. Be unique in what you offer.
Boothbay Opera House. The mission of the Boothbay Opera House is “Arts Building Community,” and community support is a critical component of the success of the venture. This support is based on the community memory of historic use and efforts to ensure that the site is accessible to meet community needs.
Community Arts Center, Gorham. The organization operated without space, finding its niche in Gorham by providing educational opportunities to adults and children. The addition of a physical space created new opportunities but also new, unexpected costs. However, it has contributed enormously to the visibility of the arts in Gorham.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
