“In 1977, a friend who owned a musical instrument store and I called a public meeting to see if there was any interest in an arts council. About 50 people showed up. Many were artists who met each other for the first time in that room,” Mosier remarks. They formed the MAC.

“You don’t have to wait for local governments to support your efforts,” Mosier asserts. “Success depends on working with people who can see the big picture and understand how things connect. Choose your allies and get a seat at decision-making tables.”

In the 1980s she lobbied the state for a hotel/motel tax, which passed. Half of the monies collected go to the state’s convention and visitors bureau; the other half is distributed to municipalities to promote the arts, parks and recreation, and beautification.

As a result, MAC has had a stream of revenue for projects to benefit tourism. Since its founding, the arts council has produced more than a thousand programs with nearly 2,400 artists.

Help for artists

A downtown view of Berkeley Springs.

Unlike in other communities that offer subsidized space, artists were offered no financial incentives to locate to Berkeley Springs, but MAC has helped artists in other ways. Ten years ago when Mosier learned that US Borax wanted to divest itself of a 40,000 square foot cold storage building in the center of town, she asked that they donate it to MAC. The company did.

Retaining its moniker, the council uses the Ice House to provide affordable studio space for artists, instruction in business skills, a co-operative gallery and a rotating gallery. The council doesn’t charge rent for the gallery space, but receives a percentage of sales. Artists provide a docent who runs both galleries. When a school attached to the Ice House is completed, MAC plans to offer teaching space for artists to help augment their income.

“The Ice House has been vital to economic development,” says Mosier. Within 30 days of securing the building the likelihood of developing the downtown began to come to life. The area around the Ice House exploded with economic growth. Downtown Berkeley Springs has become so desirable that prices have soared within the past five years. Once we catapulted to national recognition through John Vallini’s book ‘100 Small Best Art Towns In America: Discover Creative Communities, Fresh Air and Affordable Living,’ artists sought us out,” says Mosier. More than 150 artists call Berkeley Springs home.

The town’s success was opportunistic, Mosier admits. “We didn’t sit down and say ‘This is what we’re going to become.’ We sat down and said ‘Here we are, what do we have that we can promote?’ We have a spa and history. People who are drawn to a spa tend to appreciate the arts.”

They got involved with concerts in the park and then helping to promote the Apple Butter Festival.

Today, Berkeley Springs has seven galleries, 23 owner-operated specialty shops and more art density on some weekends than New York City. “We do a lot of public relations and cite Vallani’s book in all of our publicity,” says Mosier.

Universal truths

There are universal truths in the way Berkeley Springs has developed, she notes. “You find your allies whereever it makes sense. To liven up a dying downtown, the arts are a reasonable choice. They are, by their nature, one-of-a-kind, so that when a town promotes itself as a place to live or visit, the arts provide you with something unique to market.”

The West Virginia Commission on the Arts recently named Berkeley Springs as the state’s first Certified Arts Community. “We consider Berkeley Springs the poster child for an arts community in West Virginia,” says Susan Landis, commission chair.

Like Mosier, Whitney Lamy of Rutland, Vt., chose her allies in promoting the arts in and around that New England town. “Although several arts organizations had been here for decades, we would hear that Rutland was an arts wasteland, that there was a disconnect of the arts community,” she says.

In 2004 Lamy formed the Rutland Area Arts Alliance to dispel that image. Since that time, there has been a strong effort in Rutland, with help from the state, to show how the arts can stimulate economic growth. Rutland was selected by the Vermont Council of Rural Development as one of five communities in the state to implement a philosophy of creative economy. The council hired a strategic planner to work with each municipality.

“In less than a year, individuals within different sectors have come together to stimulate economic development,” says Lamy. “It’s been exciting for me to make the connections, to work with the planning commission, the local college, businesses, Realtors and others.”

This past summer Downtown Rutland Partnership, Chaffee Art Center and the City of Rutland transformed the streetscape into a rail yard of 50 artist-decorated train engines. A local woodworker built the 4x5-foot engines, to be auctioned off in October. “Our purpose was to showcase Rutland as a tourist destination, to celebrate the town’s train history, to foster community pride, to promote public access to the arts and arts education programs, and to develop the creative economy concept in the Rutland community,” Mary Ann Gullette, director of Downtown Rutland Partnership, explains.

“In pursuing our goal, we knew a fine craft gallery would be important,” adds Gullette. She approached member-owned SugarWood Gallery in Farmington, Maine, about opening a second shop in Rutland. SugarWood advertised for artists who wanted to be part owners of a gallery. In August 2005, 17 artists, half of whom were from Vermont, formed a corporation and opened the Center Street Artists in a 2,400 sq. ft. historic building which had been renovated by the Rutland County Land Trust. “With support from local residents, including second homeowners, as well as tourists, the gallery has been doing well,” says Darlene Gregory, a porcelain artist and one of the owners.

Artists have always been in the area, but the community had never viewed itself as an arts community, according to Gullette. One of the keys to promoting the arts, she says, is for artists to see themselves in a different role. “Are we joining the Rotary and Chamber of Commerce; are we attending city council meetings, are we putting ourselves out there? We have to view ourselves as a vital part of the community, so businesses and politicians see our value.

Loretta Radeschi is a Pennsylvania-based writer who has written extensively about fine crafts.

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