The Peterborough Arts Collective had an artist meet and greet party at Post and Beam Brewing on Monday.
Attendees mingled in small groups, and filtered up to a table where co-leader Tara Novak had set up paper and markers for the group to list upcoming art events and community needs.
The Collective formed earlier this year as the arts and culture “spoke” of the Monadnock Economic Ecosystem Hub, outlined in a Community Conversation in March. The organization’s Facebook page describes it as “a forum for community members to discuss topics related to the Peterborough art scene.”
According to David Macy, who founded the now-defunct Peterborough Arts Council, the new organization appears to focus more on the activities of individual artists rather than those of area arts organizations, which was the main focus of the Arts Council. Michele Stahl, a former Arts Council director, noted the difficulty of addressing the needs of arts organizations and individual artists in the same forum.
The Arts Council met from the mid-nineties through the early 2000s. Stahl said there were attempts to revive the Arts Council about six years ago, but they faltered without strong, immediate issues to unite around.
The collective first met in June, Novak said, but she quickly understood that the artists she was trying to attract weren’t interested in coming to formal meetings and switched to the “meet and greet” format.
“It’s really hard to get artists to come to a community meeting,” said Katherine Gekas, a local potter at the table on Monday.
“That’s the purpose of this event,” said Carter Hammond, to break the ice in what can be a notoriously introverted community. “If you pressure artists, nobody’s going to do it.”
Novak said she counted about 35 attendees at their July meeting.
The Collective plans to continue to meet at the Post and Beam Brewing the fourth Monday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m., and meetings are open for artists, families of artists and patrons of the arts.