At the Portsmouth City Council meeting on November 17, Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC) shared our vision for transforming the historic South Meeting House into a vibrant new home for visual arts. We’re grateful for the Council’s support, and I want to share with the community what we’re doing, and why it matters.
Since its founding 23 years ago, PMAC has become a core part of the Seacoast’s creative community. Our home at 973 Islington Street is a vital hub for high-quality music and visual arts education, offering intergenerational programming that welcomes people of all ages and abilities. But growth in participation and impact has pushed our space to its limits—especially for visual arts.
Due to these limitations, we are regularly forced to limit programming, add waitlists, and sometimes turn people away entirely. This reality directly conflicts with PMAC’s long-held commitment to making the arts accessible for everyone in our community.
The South Meeting House offers an energizing solution to this challenge. As a dedicated visual arts campus, it’ll allow us to right-size visual arts programming, create new spaces for creativity and exhibition, and preserve a beloved historic building that has long served as a gathering place. PMAC’s Islington Street campus will continue to house music programs.
As we embark on this exciting venture, we’re in the early stages of a campaign to support the South Meeting House project and the broader vision for PMAC’s future. We’re also proud to offer New Hampshire business owners the opportunity to invest in this effort by purchasing state tax credits awarded by the NH Community Development Finance Authority.
Bringing this vision to life will take collaboration, and we’re fortunate to have partners and early leadership supporters who share our commitment to community, creativity, and access. We’re grateful to City staff and elected officials who have helped lay essential groundwork. The Schleyer Foundation, Chinburg Properties, ARCove Architects, and Tangram 3DS are contributing essential expertise in preservation, development, design, and renderings. And the Seacoast community–our home for more than two decades–continues to inspire and energize our work.
PMAC’s next chapter is full of possibilities, and we can’t wait to share it with you. You can learn more about the project here. If you have questions, we invite you to reach out. If you’re excited, please spread the news. This is a story we’re writing together—shaping a future where the arts in the Seacoast continue to thrive and are accessible to all.
With gratitude,
Bill Durling
President, Board of Directors
Portsmouth Music and Arts Center
