City of Portsmouth Arts & Nonprofits Committee Launches Community Survey to Inform Cultural Plan

Earlier this year the Portsmouth Arts and Nonprofits Committee formed a subcommittee tasked with creating a new Cultural Plan for the City. The subcommittee has just launched a community-wide survey to collect feedback from residents, businesses, and arts/culture/historic site audiences.

The brief survey offers several multiple-choice questions to solicit opinions about Portsmouth’s arts and cultural successes, challenges, and opportunities. Those who complete the survey by the deadline of August 30, 2023, are eligible to win one of five prizes supplied by local arts/culture/historical organizations and restaurants.

The survey is available online at: City of Portsmouth Community Engagement Survey (surveymonkey.com) and should take less than ten minutes to complete.

To ensure the widest possible participation, the survey is also available in paper form at the Portsmouth Public Library, Senior Activity Center, and Community Campus. The Portsmouth Public Library provides free public access computers for residents and non-residents alike. Visit the Reference desk on the second floor to get started.

The last plan was adopted in 2002 and included in the 2005 Master Plan. The goal now is to complete a new plan as a foundational pillar for the 2035 Master Plan to help ensure that City leaders have a strategic roadmap that will guide support and funding policies in the coming decade.

As a result of an RFP process launched in April, the City hired the consulting firm of Arts Consulting Group in Boston MA which is now helping the committee draft a new Cultural Plan by the end of the year to “serve as a blueprint for preservation and expansion of arts and cultural venues, activities, and initiatives for the foreseeable future.”

For more information about the Portsmouth Arts and Nonprofits Committee Cultural Plan and subcommittee, go to: https://portsnh.co/2023CulturalPlan.