Cultural Leaders Hold Summit on New Hampshire's Future

Leaders of many of the state's major cultural organizations agreed last night to work together to create a unified strategy for shaping the future of New Hampshire. "We're at a crossroads," said Van McLeod, state commissioner of cultural resources. "I believe we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to be engaged at a new level."

In a spirited discussion of possible threats to New Hampshire's character, the attendees underscored the importance of engaging leaders of New Hampshire's 1,041 cultural organizations in collective advocacy and effective communication. Brad Wyman, chair of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), said that the way funding for the land conservation and historic preservation program was recently slashed is symbolic of the need to strengthen awareness and public policies linked to the state's quality of life. Census data from 2000 confirms that the Granite State remains the fastest growing state in the Northeast.

Christine Dwyer, chair of the N.H. Council on the Arts, offered data from the New England Council on the expanding economic impact of the "creative economy." She also shared research findings from a study on state investments in culture funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The study reported that programmatic and advocacy partnerships between organizations as well as engaging boards of directors and legislators were critical to successes in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.

The group endorsed McLeod's plan to invite trustees from all the state's cultural organizations to a larger summit early in 2004 that will continue the discussion and begin mapping a long-range strategy. The meeting will take advantage of the research on the creative economy conducted by the New England Council.

McLeod convened the board members of arts, heritage and library groups for the meeting at the N.H. Institute of Art. Co-conveners of the event were the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, New Hampshire Main Street Center, New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, LCHIP and the New Hampshire Library Association.