Arts & Humanities continued...
So What’s The Scene
The “Nashua Arts Scene” is unique in that it combines the backdrop of a progressive urban lifestyle with the special intimacy of a New England hometown. Our artistic and performance venues are intimate, diverse, historic, and an important part of the fine grain fabric of the downtown district and the entire city.
Some Early History of Nashua Arts & Humanities:
From the very first days of the modern community of Nashua in 1823, the arts & humanities were never encouraged as a passing luxury or as a fanciful distraction from the progress of the city. Instead, the arts & humanities have from the very beginning of this city been acknowledged as one of the main pillars of the social and economic advancement & success of the place called Nashua, New Hampshire. The arts have and continue to attract and retain prosperity, diversity, youth, innovation, freedom of expression, creativity, good design, and make a place, a city, worth caring about; that’s beneficial for the heart of the community, and the economy of the city.
The City of Nashua’s heritage as a cradle of the “Arts” in New England is a proud legacy. By 1830, the Nashua Lyceum was chartered; this is believed to be New Hampshire’s first organized Lyceum institution. The Nashua Lyceum offered literary, poetical, philosophical, and scientific lectures and other progressive oratory programs by some of the giants of New England’s intellectual community.
The professional performing arts community served a vital role in the growth of the early 19th century industrial & commercial community. It was reported in the August 1848 Nashua Gazette, “The Bakers: The established company of vocalists will give a concert at the Town Hall next Saturday evening. We notice by the newspapers in various sections of the country, that they have met with a warm reception wherever they have been, and we have no doubt, that the citizens of this place , who know how to appreciate good singing as well as any community we know of, will give them a bumper.”
The Franklin Opera House was the pride of the city as written in 1887, “The favorite opera entitled “Fatinitza” was given last evening by the Bennett & Moulton company…the singing was such as to thoroughly arouse the audience…in short the opera was one of the grandest ever given in Nashua.”
Take Me To Your Art
Related organizations and departments:
City Arts Nashua, Inc.
Nashua Public Library
City of Nashua Parks and Recreation
Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce
Great American Downtown, Inc.
Nashua Symphony Orchestra
Nashua Theatre Guild
Theaters & Performance Halls
The Edmund Keefe Auditorium:
Constructed in 1936 as part of the grand building of the new Nashua High School & Civic Complex, the Keefe Auditorium is Nashua’s largest indoor performance venue. The Auditorium of Classical-Revival architecture and seating some 1200 patrons is located on the south-end of the large School-Civic Building (today’s Elm Street Jr. High School) fronting on Elm Street. For a calendar of scheduled performances, click here
14 Court Street Theater:
Completed in 1971, the Court Street Theater is composed of the original 1870 Central Firehouse and a new International-style architectural addition facing the Library Courtyard on Court Street. This unique space originally housed the Nashua Arts & Science Center, and through the years has served various performing theatrical and dance companies, visual artists, sculptors, Nashua Symphony Orchestra and arts organizations. It seats approximately 150, and continues its proud legacy today as one of Downtown Nashua’s theatrical performance hot spots for a pleasant afternoon or an evening on the town. Go to www.peacockplayers.org
Nashua Theatre Guild:
NTG has been operating for almost 50 years, our mission is to offer the community affordable, high quality theater while enriching the talents and abilities of its members. Go to www.nashuatheatreguild.org
The Hunt Memorial Library Building:
Constructed in 1903 and designed by famed architect Ralph Adams Cram, this extraordinary venue was built as Nashua’s first modern public library building. The grand Gothic-Revival was transformed into The Hunt Building in the 1990’s and today serves as a special and intimate performance space for everything from literary readings, to piano concerts, jazz exhibitions, vocal offerings, and oral history presentations. Seating approximately 50 patrons, and a national architectural treasure, it is the gem of Nashua’s performance halls. Go to www.nashualibrary.org/hunt
Outdoor Stages:
The Greeley Park Bandshell
The Nashua Public Library Courtyard
The Railroad Square Gazebo
Galleries:
Nashua has a long tradition of visual arts. The Nashua Area Artists Association Greeley Park Art Show has been conducted for more than 50 years. Nashua’s unique location in central New England has attracted a splendid diversity of visual artists and sculptors from our within our region, nationally, and indeed internationally.
What’s On View?
Artists have come to live in the Nashua region, drawn by the beauty of the mountains, the seacoast, the urban/industrial backdrop, the mighty and sublime rivers, and the changing seasons; in short for the diversity of inspiration and expression generating from this place. Galleries are increasingly emerging in Nashua, which makes for real excitement in the city.
Museums:
Nashua’s primary museum, The Florence H. Speare Museum and The Abbot-Spalding House, is a historical museum established by the Nashua Historical Society which was founded in 1870. To really know Nashua, you and your family must visit and explore this fine hometown museum.
Nashua The Cradle of American Technology
Also, the story of the American Industrial Revolution, of which Nashua, and Lowell & Waltham MA comprise the elite group of the so-called “First Period” experimental manufacturing townships, can be discovered at the US Dept. of the Interior Urban National Park at Lowell, MA. In addition, for a unique “techno-cultural” experience contact and visit the one-of-a-kind New England Synthesizer Museum located in here in Nashua!
Historical Research & Resources:
Historical, genealogical, and heritage research materials are abundant in Nashua. Whether you are tracing family roots, researching an architectural resource, discovering notable figures, or just fascinated with Nashua culture you can find the answer with enough research.
The Hunt Room at the Nashua Public Library
Micro-Film Archives of the Nashua Telegraph & Nashua Gazette at the NPL
The Nashua Historical Society
The New Hampshire Historical Society
The New Hampshire Historical Society Library