Art Associations
Art and Cultural Centers
Organizations
Art Associations
The Button Factory artists are professional artists and craftspeople working at 855 Islington Street in Portsmouth. The public is invited annually to the Artists' Open Studios the weekend after Thanksgiving. 855 Islington Street, Portsmouth, NH, 03801.
The New Hampshire Art Association is a non-profit arts organization that fosters the learning, understanding and sharing of the visual arts. Based in Boscawen, NH, the NHAA has a gallery located at 136 State Street, Portsmouth, NH, 03802, 603-431-4230.
Art and Cultural Centers
The Bell Center for Music and the Arts is committed to bringing high-quality instruction and performance opportunities in music, art, and drama to people of all ages. The Center's faculty are trained professionals, who practice their craft as well as teach it. The Center has over 600 students from 25 communities, who study voice, piano, guitar, drums, flute, opera and theater as well as visual arts. More than 2,000 patrons attended Bell Center events in 2004. Debra Wiley, The Bell Center for Music and the Arts, Post Office Box 726, 47 Fourth Street, Dover, NH 03820. 603-742-2355. info@bellcenter.org.
Concerts on the Hill is a non-profit outreach program of St. John's Episcopal Church, committed to fostering the fine arts on the Seacoast through concerts, workshops, and family events. From mid-September through early June, the series offers eight diverse programs highlighting regional and national talent. Styles include classical, jazz, and world music. At least one concert per season showcases St. John's premiere Letourneau pipe organ and two concerts per season are interactive and educational family events. Director of Music, Abbey Hallberg Siegfried, 101 Chapel Street, St. John's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, NH.
Mill Pond Center for the Arts, a not for profit organization, offers high-quality programs in the visual, performing, and language arts to the community. Mill Pond Center for the Arts' unique residential, studio, and performance facilities encourage both beginning and advanced artists to practice, create, and exhibit their work in a vibrant, aesthetic environment. Mill Pond Center for the arts enriches local culture by attracting community and national talent and partnering with complementary regional arts and educational organizations. Open to the public and nestled on 17 acres in Durham, New Hampshire, Mill Pond Center for the Arts' historic grounds are protected by conservation easements ensuring a lasting, natural legacy. 603-868-8999 millpondcenter@verizon.net
The Seacoast African American Cultural Center celebrates the lives and achievements of black people emphasizing the unique story of African Americans in the Seacoast to infuse young people with an appreciation of their history and culture. The Center offers exhibits, concerts, networking, and events. P.O. Box 444, Portsmouth, NH 03802, 603-436-7629 or visit at Connie Bean Community Center, 135 Daniel St., 2nd Floor, Portsmouth, NH, 03801, 603-430-6027.
The Seacoast Science Centeris a favorite destination for all ages. The Center is located in 135-acre Odiorne Point State Park with stunning views of the Gulf of Maine's rocky coast. Programs, exhibits, indoor tide pool touch tank, aquariums, nature trails, picnic areas, and playground. Rt. 1A, Rye, NH, 603-436-8043, info@seacentr.org Hours: Open 7 days a week, 10am-5pm, April 1-October 31; Winter hours, Open Saturday-Monday, and most NH/ME/MA school vacation days, 10am-5pm. Seacoast Science Center Admission: $4 ages 13-adult, $2 ages 3-12, under 3 free.
The Center for the Study of Community at Strawbery Banke Museum sponsors outreach scholarship and educational programming to promote greater understanding of community and social change. The CSC is a division of Strawbery Banke Museum working with the support of University of New Hampshire Faculty. For more information contact Thad Guldbrandsen, 603-422-7543 tguldbrandsen@strawberybanke.org
Built in 1868, the Pearl is the only historic African-American church in New Hampshire, the only black-owned church in the state, and was one of only two black churches in northern New England until the mid-twentieth century. In 1952, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at the Pearl while a student at Boston University and the local chapter of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) received its charter here in 1958. Valerie Cunningham, Chair, Friends of the Pearl, President, PO Box 5094, Portsmouth, NH, 03801-5094, 603-431-2768, pbhtrail@aol.com.
The Music Hall, a non-profit performing arts venue, presents music, theatre, dance, and film to 70,000 patrons annually. The historic 900-seat theater is the oldest in New Hampshire and the fourteenth oldest operating in the United States. In 2003 the U.S. Senate voted The Music Hall onto a list of "America's Treasures." Box office: 603-436-2400, 24-hour film line: 603-436-9900, Business Office: 603-433-3100, info@themusichall.org.
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Organizations
The Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program is dedicated to building community through poetry by appointing and supporting an outstanding local poet as Poet Laureate for Portsmouth, sponsoring events that feature area poets and authors from outside the New Hampshire Seacoast, and encouraging a love of poetry among people of all ages. PO Box 1196, Portsmouth, NH, 03802, info@pplp.org.
Pro Portsmouth, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and sustaining the vitality of Portsmouth's arts, culture and history through events and community collaboration. For over 25 years Pro Portsmouth has worked towards achieving its Mission by producing community events including Children's Day, Market Square Day, First Night Portsmouth and Summer in the Street. 603-610-5521. bmassar@proportsmouth.org.
The Seacoast Community Chamber Orchestra is a 30-member orchestra founded in 1997 and has performed throughout the Seacoast. It presents a varied repertoire ranging from classical to popular. In addition to regularly scheduled concerts, the Orchestra has accompanied several local choral groups and is available for civic and private functions. Evelyn Laux, President, awlaw@aol.com, 603-431-5735.
The Seacoast Guitar Society is dedicated to promoting and preserving guitar music. The non-profit organization's mission is to work together with the local listeners, media, musicians, students, teachers, music retailers to help us all enjoy more guitar music. The organization's participants want to reach out, to be as inclusive as possible. The Seacoast Guitar Society produces concerts, workshops, recordings, and works to build community among guitar players and lovers. Harvey Reid, Seacoast Guitar Society, Post Office Box 790, York ME 03909. 207-363-1886. info@seacoastguitar.org.
The Seacoast Wind Ensemble is a non-profit group whose mission is to promote excellence in community music-making in the tradition of the great concert bands of the 19th and 20th centuries. Achieving this mission requires appealing to as large an audience as possible, enhancing the cultural offerings of the area, maintaining financial solvency, and maintaining the best reputation possible. It engages in an active effort to involve adults in the community music-making; members find it a fun, rewarding activity that offers a welcome diversion, as well as many social opportunities. Contact: Virginia Schneider, 603-436-9278 ginnamac@comcast.net
Women Singing OUT!, formed in 1999, is a lesbian-based chorus which performs twice-yearly concerts in Portsmouth, as well as for special occasions. Concerts include a diverse mixture of contemporary music, classical and folk, as well as audience participation numbers. The group is comprised of thirty-five women and is conducted by Sonja Pryor. For information, Betts Davis, bettsdavis@comcast.net, 603-742-4835.
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