Historic Portsmouth landmark will become a new visual arts home for PMAC and the Seacoast community Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC) broke ground at the South Meeting House on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, marking a major milestone in the historic Marcy Street building’s transformation into a new visual arts facility for PMAC and the…

The City Council voted to authorize City Manager Karen Conard to approve the lease of the city’s historic South Meeting House to the Schleyer Foundation. The foundation will restore the building and create a nonprofit visual arts center to be run by Portsmouth Music and Arts Center.

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…

The City Council recently endorsed a redevelopment plan to turn the historic South Meeting House into a community arts facility for Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC). The Schleyer Foundation has proposed to pay for the redevelopment of the historic city-owned structure – which was built in the 1860s – and its ongoing maintenance so it can become a new home for PMAC, they said in documents filed with the city.