New Hampshire

This week I've targeted four different organizations across four different states, in four consecutive days (I know, what was I thinking?).  Day 2 took me to New Hampshire and a visit to the Portsmouth Music & Arts Center (PMAC).  What can I tell you about PMAC, and also New Hampshire?  Well, it's really nice to see music and art alive and well in the 9th state to join the Union!  Keep reading and I'll explain :-)

I took a tour of the current home of PMAC (there's one hint).  I was shown the various rooms where different types of music instruction are held.  PMAC is mostly focused on music education, but they do have a growing art space too (which is also relevant since the majority of the items requested by their teachers - paints, brushes, palettes - related to art…although there was also one request for a metronome that I was happy to supply).

One of the great things about PMAC is that they really do strive to make music and art accessible to everyone, regardless of ability or economic status.  And they do all of this even where the local schools have their own music and art programs.  I asked if PMAC supplemented or complimented the schools in this regard.  The answer is a bit of both.  I was told one story of a student athlete who simply did not have the time to commit to a full sports schedule and a full band schedule at school.  So he is still able to have a music education that fits his schedule by enrolling at PMAC.  In that case PMAC is clearly complimenting the schools.  In an art scenario, I was told how students are able to focus on specific types of art projects that their schools simply cannot squeeze in to their standard curriculums.  So PMAC is able to also supplement school programs to really offer specialized learning opportunities.

So what does any of this have to do with music and art flourishing in Portsmouth, New Hampshire?  Well, the really good news is that PMAC has outgrown its current space.  In order to accommodate their growing student enrollment, space and storage needs, and their vision for the future, PMAC is moving to a larger space!  And this leads to their "campaign for the future" - a crowdfunding campaign.

You've all seen crowdfunding campaigns before, but this one has a neat concept that has me hooked.  When PMAC moves to their new space, they are going to have an "Arts Mentor Wall".  PMAC is going to commission an artist to create a wall honoring all music/arts mentors who have been named as part of this campaign (through a $10 donation in their honor).  The more mentions a person gets, the more prominent their name will appear on this wall.  You all know how much I love new ideas for generating support and awareness for different organizations, so you know why I like this idea so much.  It's very creative, and I think I might even have to borrow the concept somehow the next time I run my own campaign ;-)