Eric Broudy is chairman of the Portsmouth Arts and Culture Committee, which was formed by the Portsmouth Town Council about a year ago to explore the feasibility of constructing a community arts center. Since November 2008, Broudy and his committee have been exploring if the community would support, and pay for, an arts center. Broudy is also president of the Portsmouth Arts Guild. He recently took some time to discuss the project with Providence Business News.
PBN: How did the proposal to construct a community arts center in Portsmouth come about?
BROUDY: The idea developed from a conversation I had with Portsmouth Town Administrator Bob Driscoll. The Portsmouth Arts Guild, which has been operating out of the parish hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the past three years, had been alerted that our time there might be coming to an end. There was some thought that the bishop wanted to merge that congregation with another Episcopal church in the area. We expected we might have two or three years at most before we’d be asked to leave.
I then approached Bob Driscoll to see whether the town had any properties or buildings that we might convert, or build, into a community arts center. To my delight, Driscoll was enthusiastic about partnering with the Portsmouth Arts Guild to create a permanent arts center in town. It was opportunity to do something good for the town, he said. As a result of that conversation, the town council appointed me chair of a new town committee to explore the feasibility of creating such a center.
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PBN: Assuming it is built, what would you see as the role of the center in the community?
BROUDY: The committee envisions a full-service arts center for people of all ages – not just Portsmouth residents, but residents of surrounding towns as well. If the vision is realized, it would be a community gathering place for all the arts – visual arts, theater, music, classes for all ages, art summer camps for children, outdoor summer concerts and art fairs – and a place where artists and those interested in the arts could meet for mentoring, exchanging ideas, inspiration and activities. There would be lectures, workshops, demonstrations. In short, it would become the “go to” place for the arts, art instruction and artistic sharing for Portsmouth and the region.
PBN: Your committee has said more exact cost estimates will come later in the process, but can you offer a rough idea about what building an arts center would cost?
BROUDY: Preliminary estimates, based on some pro bono work from an architect and contractor for a 9,000-square-foot structure – depending on a host of decisions still to come, such as theater capacity, site preparation and various amenities – put the project at about $3 million. A bond issue for that amount equates to about $25 per year for 20 years for the median Portsmouth household. Put another way, it’s the equivalent cost of about two cups of coffee a month. Not too bad for a facility that could enhance in many ways the quality of life for Portsmouth residents and visitors.
PBN: Why seek public funding instead of private money for the project?
BROUDY: Good question, and private funding might yet be an option. But the committee felt that for a community arts center to succeed in Portsmouth, it required the support of the residents, first and foremost. Others, of course, would be supporting the center through ticket sales, show entry fees, memberships and other donor support; but if the town’s residents were not willing to get behind the project, we felt the center wouldn’t thrive.
Admittedly, this is not the best economic climate in which to raise public or private funds for an arts center. However, we also know that when economic times are tough, people turn to the arts for comfort, for inspiration and entertainment to help them cope with life’s difficulties. Thus, in some ways this could be the ideal time to move this project forward.
PBN: What’s the next step in your committee’s review process?
BROUDY: We’re conducting a town-wide survey this month to explore the above idea and assess how much support there is in Portsmouth for creating a community arts center. After the survey results are tabulated and interpreted, the committee will be making its report and recommendations to the town council. If the survey results indicate a positive interest, it will be up to the town council whether to place a bond referendum on the ballot in November.
