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Arts & Entertainment

Residents Discuss Ways to Enhance Local Art

The Manchester 2020 Arts Forum was buzzing as residents spoke about how to support the arts in town.

On a gorgeous, sunny evening like Monday night, many folks were probably outside barbequing, watching a ballgame, or strolling through the park. However, 35 people from the local community had other ideas Monday evening, as they discussed ways to further enhance the arts in the Manchester community.

The Manchester Planning Department and the Manchester Arts Commission came together Monday to run the Manchester 2020 Arts Forum at Cheney Hall. The planning department and arts commission gave residents an opportunity to say how the town should support and encourage a vibrant arts community.

There were various responses from the attendees. Some wanted a centralized calendar or catalog where the public can find out what art events and activities are happening in the community. Another idea was to organize some sort of central arts center in town.

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“The arts center could have workshops, art classes, galleries, and an auditorium,” Brenda Lyons, a wildlife art illustrator from Manchester, said. “I’m sure we could find some place in town, maybe some abandoned building near the center. We should have something central because most of the resources are on the edges of Manchester.”

Bob Eckert, of the Manchester Arts Commission, jotted down ideas from the arts forum participants, and he noticed strong enthusiasm for arts in the community. He said the residents believe the community needs to stand up and support a plan.

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“Tonight was the first step for that,” said Eckert, who is the executive director of the Lutz Children Museum. “People asked why is it always the arts getting hurt by budget cuts. And it’s because nobody says no."

“We need to advocate for the arts,” he continued. “Our kids deserve art education. Look at any community and the arts are always very important. It’s great that Manchester and the planning department are recognizing that.”

The planning department will use the citizens’ responses for the Manchester 2020 plan, which will guide how land in Manchester is developed and conserved over the next decade. Mark Pellegrini, director of planning and economic development, said that people tend to focus on enhancing places and buildings; however, he said Monday night's event was a different story.

“We are talking about how do arts contribute to society and how should we incorporate art in Manchester,” Pellegrini said. “We made sure that everyone got a chance to participate and give some input. Certain themes were developing in the groups during discussions."

“We’ll take these ideas they came up with and summarize everything,” he continued. “We can then start figuring out how to incorporate art into Manchester and contribute it to the 2020 plan.”

Eckert said that the planning department is more of a long-term and strategic goal, while his arts commission is looking for more short term and visible results. He said the arts commission will evaluate the citizens’ opinions in the near future and go from there.

“We’ll identify something that we can immediately advocate for,” Eckert said. “One of those no-brainer things where you say, ‘Why aren’t we doing that already.’"

Joanne Russell is the chair of the arts commission, and she feels like Manchester has a lot of arts and culture offerings. However, she believes the resources around town could be better integrated.

“Many people might not be aware of it,” Russell said. “There is potential for Manchester to be an arts destination. But that’s going to need some work and planning.”

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