It was a tough year for arts funding, both on state and national levels. How are New Hampshire arts and culture nonprofits adapting? In the spring, the New Hampshire Legislature nearly eliminated the State Council on the Arts, which provides funding to many creative organizations across the Granite State. The decision would have made New Hampshire the only state in the nation without an arts council.

While the legislature ultimately decided to leave the council intact, it pulled its funding. The State Council for the Arts now relies on business tax credits and donations to keep supporting arts organizations and initiatives across the state. Its staff has shrunk from seven people to just one.

The state cuts coincided with the Trump administration’s slashing of federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. While these organizations still exist, their financial resources have been significantly reduced.

How Local Organizations Are Bolstering New Hampshire Arts and Culture Nonprofits

Sal Prizio, who serves as the executive director of the Capitol Center for the Arts and sits on the board of the advocacy group Arts4NH, said his organization and others have had to adapt.

“It is a matter of kind of coalescing all of these efforts and being smart and strategic about what we do as well,” he said. “I think the federal and state happening at the same time is a turning point for us as an industry, and we need to think outside the box. I think we need to shed some of the old ways. I think we need to be more nimble and dynamic as an industry, but also stand up and fight for it, too.”

Prizio has participated in numerous conversations about the industry’s response to cuts and brought others into the dialogue, as well.

In September, arts organizations from around the state gathered in Concord for the Creative Culture Summit, organized by Arts4NH and hosted at the Capitol Center for the Arts.

The summit brought together representatives from New Hampshire arts and culture nonprofits such as theaters, libraries, music schools, historical societies, a brewers’ association and more to discuss challenges facing their sector, build connections and chart a collaborative path forward. Attendees came from as near as Concord and Manchester and as far as Portsmouth, Keene, Nashua and Boston.

Read the full article about New Hampshire arts and culture nonprofits by Rachel Wachman at New Hampshire Public Radio.