ACCESS TO THE ARTS

WCCMA provides low-cost and free opportunities for all to enjoy the arts, nurture their talents, and experience the benefits associated with creativity. However, 80% of WCCMA programs are currently offered in venues outside of the City Center. This lack of a central location limits participation and engagement. With the creation of the Claremont Creative Center, we bring our operations under one convenient roof. The downtown location is walkable for more than 51% of Claremont residents and from Stevens High School and Claremont’s Middle School. With a highly visible, walkable downtown location, patron amenities, ADA compliance, multiple creative spaces, and support systems such as staffed box office and administrative offices, The Claremont Creative Center will allow greater accessibility to WCCMA, provide breadth to its programs, and be a source of civic pride.

Our PROFESSIONAL CONCERT SERIES provides vital connections between world-class guest artists, WCCMA, and our rural community. In our new home, we will use our unique and intimate performance venue to curate concerts by diverse musicians who perform classical, world, jazz, and new music. While in residence, guest artists will weave themselves into the fabric of our community — performing, teaching, leading school residencies — and Claremont will become an artistic home wherein collaborations can flourish and commissioned music will celebrate our region.

As a female led organization, we feel an urgency to introduce students and audiences to a range of cultures and ideas on-stage, in classrooms, in culinary and art experiences, and in our leadership. We are committed to highlighting black composers, composers who identify as female, indiginous performers, and other world cultures. We reflect this commitment in the materials we use with our students: our Art Box program utilizes picture books that feature racial justice, historical figures, and characters from marginalized groups and our World Dinners bring Korean, Norwegian, Italian and other cuisines into the homes of Claremont citizens. Our Artistic Advisory Board is composed of creative thinkers from all over the world.

ENGAGE & EDUCATE

Educate Generations of Artists and Art Lovers

Economic distress plays a profound role in the delivery of quality cultural and educational experiences in our region. A significant portion of our local population (30%+) cannot afford music lessons, art classes, or attend events because of direct (tuition, ticket fees) and indirect (transportation, childcare) costs. We estimate low and moderate income individuals make up 75% of WCCMA’s current participants. Meanwhile, neuroscience demonstrates the arts and creative practices strengthen and support cognitive function and build life-skills (planning, problem-solving, listening, collaboration, responsibility). Participation in the arts cultivates self-respect, confidence, and civic engagement. The Homecoming Campaign and the Claremont Creative Center will allow WCCMA to bridge the widening gap in arts education for the students of our region. With 3 dedicated and fully equipped rehearsal studios, an open arts studio/classroom, music and art library, homework-spaces, instrument storage, and security systems, the Claremont Creative Center will be a safe and welcoming environment for students of all ages to learn and grow, for teachers to offer their mentorship, and for professional artists to share their skills.

COMMUNITY

WCCMA and The Claremont Creative Center will be engines in our region’s creative economy. The Center will integrate a variety of income-producing spaces and technologies to support creative initiatives. The facility will provide jobs in the immediate region, doubling the Claremont arts staff employment for non-public school employees. Shared work and studio spaces will incubate and develop creative businesses. Ancillary spending will impact local businesses: Americans for the Arts reports that for every $1 spent on an arts event, $18 in related spending occurs at local restaurants, stores, and for services such as child care. Regional employers report that they are dependent on a thriving cultural scene for employee recruitment and retention. Finally, the revitalization of a long-empty downtown property has proven to be a stimulus for further development in other communities: in the 5 years since Northern Stage’s Barrette Center opened in White River Junction, 6 new restaurants opened and more than $65Million of building projects were completed or are underway.

An ever-growing slate of world-class artists view Claremont as a creative home and contribute to our local educational systems, civic institutions, and economy. The Claremont Creative Center is designed to create synergy between the performing, visual, and literary arts, supporting the mastery, performance, and production of multiple disciplines. With a flexible, intimate performance venue maxing at 100 seats, practice rooms, instrument storage, gallery spaces, dressing rooms, green room, state-of-the-art lighting, projection, sound, and recording equipment, plus a fully equipped kitchen, there is nothing else like this space in  the Upper Valley Region. This unique space is designed to nurture the artists of today and tomorrow, stimulate community connection, attract a diverse pool of world-class talent, and be a source of pride for our community.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY

Strengthen Organizational Vitality and Longevity

WCCMA is ready for evolution and growth. The Homecoming Campaign will capitalize WCCMA’s operations, expand income sources, broaden our patron base, and allow for new partnerships and collaborations. During the first 5 years in the new space, we anticipate a 25% increase in attendance for programs, a 15% increase in contributed income for operations, and new income based on rentals and program growth. This evolution will lead to a financially thriving organization able to recruit and retain talented staff, teaching artists, and performers to bring skills, energy, and passion to our community.