Cultural Arts Paint A

Favorable Portrait Of A Town

In this tercentennial year, Newtown is, in a sense, putting together a portrait of itself. It seems to be an exercise in pointillism with thousands of people contributing something to the overall picture, from the scruffy batch of bearded competitors of the Congregational Church to those donning powdered wigs at the Tercentennial Ball; from the many concert artists to the reenactors of the cemetery tour and the coming tableaux vivants; from the vintage baseball players to pyrotechnicians at the town’s big birthday bash in August. In the end, bold streaks of creativity will create a rather flattering portrait of Newtown, and for that we should all thank the writers and artists who have stepped forward to help guide and organize this yearlong appreciation of our town.

Newtown has a long history of private cultural and artistic endeavor — it even had an opera house in Sandy Hook for three years at the end of the 19th Century. (It burned down and was never rebuilt.) The town has been home to actors, writers, and artists with national, even international, reputations. Today several community groups and organizations, including Newtown Friends of Music, the Society of Creative Arts of Newtown, the Town Players of Newtown and the Little Theatre, keep the arts alive and thriving locally. In the context of all this activity and accomplishment, it is surprising to find that only now, in 2005, is the town considering the creation of a permanent Cultural Arts Commission.

The Ad Hoc Cultural Arts Study Committee presented the Board of Selectmen with its recommendation for such a commission this week, emphasizing the need for an authority committed to the support and promotion of the local arts community. A commission would be particularly useful for assessing and promoting plans for the development of cultural facilities and activities at Fairfield Hills and for securing state and federal grants to encourage Newtown’s artistic inclinations.

Demographers and community planners have long known that support of cultural arts is a good investment for any community. It attracts creative people, who attract creative enterprise, which fosters economic growth and prosperity. Newtown’s tercentennial year is as auspicious a time as any to establish a Cultural Arts Commission. Let’s use the occasion to secure a place for the arts in Newtown’s future. Who knows? Maybe someday an opera house will rise again in Sandy Hook.