Team Haverhill Receives Commonwealth Award: On February 4, a large delegation from Team Haverhill visited the State House to be honored with a 2011 Commonwealth Award in the category of Creative Community, recognizing Team Haverhill’s “extraordinary efforts to make Haverhill a better place to live, work, and visit.” The award was presented by State Representative Brian Dempsey, assisted by State Representative Steven Baddour. Keynoting the ceremony was Governor Deval Patrick, who spoke about the powerful role of arts and culture. You can hear his entire speech in this YouTube link: CLICK HERE. Here are some excerpts of the governor’s remarks: “In 1978… I was in Cairo the day that Sadat came home from Camp David… and I remember going to visit the Cairo Museum in Tahrir Square, and the extraordinary pride of people in that basically warehouse-like collection… It was so moving, but also recognizable, to see that regular people—not just the fancy folks but regular people—out in Tahrir Square organized themselves to protect the treasures in that extraordinary facility, that go back to the roots of civilization itself. What it serves to remind us…is that culture and the arts complete us. And the question I challenge you with… is how do we make the gifts, the talents, the beauty, the provocation of culture and the arts reach into every corner, in every community, in every classroom, at every socio-economic level, to complete us all. We will do what we can, good times and bad, recognizing the economic significance of your sector of our economy, but also that social and emotional and human significance. You must also do everything you can to expand your audience to these quiet, sometimes forgotten, corners where it sometimes feels that shadow rather than light gets more time. Because if we get that right, we will surely have borne our generational responsibility.”

Haverhill Downtown Arts and Culture Project Receives Major Funding: Haverhill’s Adams Arts Committee was awarded $40,000. by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) to support an inventive project for economic development.  "Read whole article"

Haverhill’s Adams Arts Committee was awarded $40,000. by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) to support an inventive project for economic development. The “Haverhill Downtown Arts and Culture Project” is a one-year pilot program developed by an unusual civic partnership that will utilize the arts to revitalize downtown Haverhill. The partnership includes the City of Haverhill, the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, Haverhill’s Five Cultural Treasures, Team Haverhill, the Haverhill Cultural Council (HCC), and other “cultural stakeholders” who will support this unique endeavor. “The creative economy is a driver of economic growth and represents 10 to 12 percent of the region’s private sector employment, according to the North Shore Creative Economy Market Analysis Action Plan released in 2008”, said Senator Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen). “This grant will help fund a unique and exciting partnership that makes the most of the creative economy to help revitalize downtown Haverhill.”

The Haverhill Downtown Arts and Culture Project will assist the success of existing downtown, cultural initiatives—such as the GHCC’s Kidsfest, Team Haverhill’s Essex Street Gateway Mural, and the HCC’s 16-wk performing arts series—and cross-promote Haverhill’s “Cultural Treasures” (Winnekenni Castle, Whittier’s Birthplace, Buttonwoods Museum, Firefighting Museum, Tattersall Farm) with downtown businesses. The project will also create an online cultural calendar, monthly newsletters, and a centralized database of arts & cultural organizations and individuals. “Obtaining an Adams Arts Grant is another milestone in the ongoing Renaissance of Downtown Haverhill,” noted Mayor Fiorentini. “This grant will help bolster our arts economy in conjunction with our cultural attractions, our Restaurant Row and our riverfront, which is beneficial for the economic development of the entire city.”

“Arts and culture are playing a key role in Haverhill’s revitalization,” said Anita Walker, MCC’s Executive Director. “This Adams grant will advance these efforts by strengthening the capacity of the city’s leading cultural institutions to engage audiences and draw new visitors downtown.” One of the project partners, Team Haverhill, will be further recognized by the MCC as a winner of a 2011 Commonwealth Award to be presented at the State House on February 9.   

The local volunteer group Team Haverhill has been selected by the Massachusetts Cultural Council to receive a 2011 Commonwealth Award for the organization’s “extraordinary efforts to make Haverhill a better place to live, work, and visit,’’ according to a statement from Anita Walker, executive director of the council. MORE

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