What We Do
Our Mission
Main Street Arts strengthens personal and community well-being through diverse arts experiences and social connection.
Our Values
These guide us as we make decisions about programs, spending, human resources, and our physical space. Main Street Arts commits to using these values in our work:
Accessibility: We reduce physical, cultural, and financial barriers;
Openness: We listen to new ideas, reflect, learn, and change;
Play: We are flexible and creative in our approach;
Belonging: We strive to be welcoming so that people feel at home in our programs and spaces.
ACTIONS BASED ON VALUES
Engage with community members by designing accessible programs.
Deepen an individual's confidence in their craft through experiences that prioritize play.
Connect diverse groups of people through the arts to foster a sense of belonging.
Our Vision
Through participating in MSA programs, community members:
Identify ways to access the arts,
Play with the creative process,
Feel confidence to create, and
Experience interconnection with fellow community
members in our region.
The History of MSA
Since 1988, Main Street Arts has anchored cultural life in Rockingham, VT, and the surrounding towns. The only multidisciplinary, lifespan arts education center in Windham County, MSA is an intersection of diverse folks.
The 1850 building at 35 Main Street in Saxtons River had been a butcher shop and then an Odd Fellows lodge. Two Vermont Academy teachers, Mary Hepburn and Karen Lanterman, acquired the building in 1988 and founded Main Street Arts. Hepburn went on to lead the organization for many years. Around 2014, MSA expanded the building to be fully ADA-accessible, including an elevator to the second floor theater. As community needs and demographics have changed, MSA has adapted to meet them, including a period focused on theater programming. MSA developed a new strategic plan following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the mission “to strengthen personal and community wellbeing through diverse arts experiences and social connection.”
Today, MSA offers more than 20 tuition-based classes at our arts center while partnering with local organizations to provide free, community-based programming that responds directly to local needs. Every year, approximately 30 exceptional teaching artists engage around 2,000 participants through high-quality arts experiences.
At MSA, children performing in theater and music programs learn alongside older adults playing in a string band or creating linocut prints. Bringing people together—within programs and across generations—is central to our mission. Lasting friendships are formed in classes, meaningful mentoring relationships develop between participants and teaching artists, and culminating performances create opportunities for people of different ages and abilities to connect. We are deeply committed to making the arts accessible to all by reducing barriers to participation, reaching historically underserved communities, and fostering a welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong.
Know Before You Go
Main Street Arts is committed to making the arts accessible to all. Our facilities feature wheelchair-accessible entrances and restrooms, along with vision-friendly accommodations such as large-print materials.
If you would like priority seating, accessible parking, or any assistance upon arrival, please let us know when making your reservation by emailing us at info@mainstreetarts.org.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
MSA is proud to partner with Senior Solutions on programming.
MSA is the proud recipient of a 1772 Foundation grant from the Preservation Trust of Vermont.
MSA is the proud recipient of grants from the Vermont Arts Council.
