Western Oxford Foothills Discovery Research won a federal grant last year intended to “unify cultural marketing efforts in widely scattered rural areas,” and the results are beginning to be seen in the expansion of the www.westernfoothills.com Web site.
The Community Calendar is open to any culturally related nonprofit within the 21 towns of Western Oxford Foothills: Andover, Bethel, Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Greenwood, Harrison, Hebron, Lovell, Newry, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, Stoneham, Stow, Sweden, Waterford, West Paris, Woodstock and Chatham, N.H., which is in SAD 72.
Libraries, historical societies, land trusts, public access stations and any arts or cultural groups in these towns are welcome to register and post events.
“These are precisely the sort of groups that normally have very little money for marketing and regularly struggle to get the word out about their activities,” said Project Director Toni Seger.
“We’re hoping that providing Web access will make information about their events easily accessible.”
A variety of groups have registered at the site, and some have begun posting events to the calendar. They include: the Visual Arts Alliance, Fryeburg Fine Arts Festival, Western Foothills Land Trust, Denmark Arts Center, Main Street Center for the Arts, Hamlin Memorial Library, Brick Church Music Series, McLaughlin Garden, Mainestage Readers Theatre, Promise Singers, NPC-TV, Mahoosuc Arts Council and Norway Revitalization Group.
Visitors to the calendar can look at events by the day, week, month or the particular organization. Contact information is provided for further follow-up.
The Web site also contains a page of links for arts and crafts agencies, artisan exposure and financing, cultural tourism, folk life, history and other useful links. The database it has been collecting for two years is available in searchable format on the site and will soon be available in a print directory form as well.
The purpose of Western Oxford Foothills is to draw attention to available cultural resources and provide opportunities to develop those resources.
“Two years of discovery research has revealed a wealth of talent and creative industry in our area,” says Seger. “It’s a real source of community pride as well as economic stimulation.”
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