The River Valley is a region most closely identified with the paper industry. It is more than that, though.

It is a place of great beauty and creativity.

The recent proposal to establish an arts center in Rumford’s downtown tech center, in partnership with the Portland-based Maine College of Art, offers a tremendous opportunity to establish a base of teaching and learning. It also offers a great platform for locals to look beyond the profile of the mill and grab growing creative economic opportunities.

When Steve Eldridge, Rumford’s town manager, first interviewed for his job he happened to pick up a local arts directory. He was struck by the volume of arts activity and the level of interest residents have in local culture and, now that he is managing the town, he supports the River Valley Creative Arts Initiative group pushing to expand opportunities for the arts and artists.

The long-range plan in Rumford is to set aside the fourth floor of the tech center, an open and well-lit stretch of space in a former mill, for classrooms and studios. It will become a space for teaching, a space for visiting artists and a space of learning.

It will also become a stage for creative economic development.

The River Valley is already home to a number of specialty businesses that rely on premium logs to produce fine furniture and wooden steering wheels for the Japanese market, among other things. And, since the Maine College of Art has a woodworking and furniture design element, the partnership of classroom instruction and manufacturing is not just convenient, it’s smart.

When Gov. Baldacci was in Lewiston last May, speaking at the Blaine House Conference on Creative Economy, he described the creative economy as a catalyst for jobs. Maine will, he assured, “be competitive economically if we continue to capitalize on the synergies between entrepreneurship, education, the arts, and quality of life.”

The arts center concept offers that synergy.

The relatively new Pennacook Art Gallery on Congress Street will benefit from this new venture and, while there will be complementary gallery space at the tech center, the real strength of this project is that it offers artists and entrepreneurs space to explore cultural and economic opportunities.

Later this month, representatives of the Maine College of Art will meet with representatives of the arts initiative group to continue talks on a cultural partnership. River Valley leaders are committed to the project concept, but the college hasn’t fully committed to the plan yet. It should.