about new bedford creative

New Bedford Creative is housed at the New Bedford Economic Development Council, and tasked with implementing the city’s first-ever strategic arts and culture plan, published in December 2018. The vision of the plan is that “In New Bedford, the creative community is an engaged and powerful partner, inspiring social, economic, and cultural growth. In this authentic seaport city, each and every person enjoys an opportunity to experience a diversity of cultures. Art is everywhere, encouraging fun, provoking thought, and nurturing the soul.”

Funding is provided by the New Bedford Arts, Culture and Tourism Fund, proposed by Mayor Jon Mitchell in the spring of 2016 and signed into law by Governor Baker in January 2017. The New Bedford Economic Development Council has a three-year agreement to manage the fund for the City. This work is led by the Creative Strategist, a 24-member volunteer Creative Consortium, with staff support from the NBEDC and Departments of City Planning, Tourism & Marketing, Parks, Recreation & Beaches, and the Mayor’s Office. Additional funding is provided by Arts Midwest, Barr Foundation, Bristol County Savings Bank, MassDevelopment/TDI, Mass Cultural Council, New Bedford Local Cultural Council, New England Foundation for the Arts, SouthCoast Community Foundation, and Southeastern Massachusetts Visitors Bureau.

A graduate of New Bedford High School, Margo received her Bachelor of Music from Boston University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College. Prior to moving back to New Bedford, Margo worked at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Boston Pops at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Celebrity Series of Boston, and was a lecturer for Northeastern University’s Music Industry Program.

In her role at New Bedford Creative, she manages the City of New Bedford’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Fund, facilitates the implementation of the city’s strategic arts and culture plan, New Bedford Creative: our art, our culture, our future, and oversees the volunteer-led New Bedford Creative Consortium. Currently, she is the lead project manager for MassDevelopment’s TDI Creative Cities initiative, supervises the place-based pilot of ArtsMidwest’s New Bedford Creating Connection initiative, administers two grant programs called Wicked Cool Places and Art is Everywhere, and manages the Seaport Cultural District and Seaport Art Walk.

Margo joined the team in October 2017.

As a long-term resident of New Bedford, Marianella Perry has been able to witness and appreciate the constant artistic and creative growth in the city. Growing up she enjoyed her passion for dancing and participating in performing arts. Her love for music, dancing, acting, and modeling exposed her to many people, arts, food, and cultures through travel. Marianella is fluent in Spanish and prides herself in being a resource to the Latino community. She has dedicated herself to helping others achieve their life goals by providing services as a Realtor® and giving people insight to the beauty New Bedford has to offer its residents. She has a business management degree from Grantham University and extensive experience in procurement, supervising staff, operational management, and customer service.

In her role at New Bedford Creative, she supports the Creative Strategist in the implementation of several projects to fulfill strategies of the city’s arts and culture plan. Currently, she oversees the promotion and administration of New Bedford Creative’s ARPA programs: ARTnet, Wicked Cool Places, and Art is Everywhere. She assists with ensuring that the grant applications and processes are following the ARPA requirements and objectives. Additionally, she helps to distribute awards and monitor grant recipients for compliance with terms of grant agreements. Along with collecting information required by the ARPA programs and compiling quarterly reports to the City of New Bedford, she is the primary point of contact for grant recipients as they implement projects.

Marianella joined the team in September 2022.

Zane Cox was born and raised in New Bedford’s historic Seaport Cultural District. As both a producer and consumer of the arts, he has been able to observe the city’s arts and culture scene change and flourish at a personal level over the past two decades. Since 2018, he has aimed to incorporate his connection to the city and its people into all facets of his work at New Bedford Creative.

In his role at New Bedford Creative, he supports the Creative Strategist in the implementation of several projects to fulfill strategies of the city’s arts and culture plan. Currently, he assists in managing the websites for New Bedford Creative and SouthCoast Spring Arts. He is also the main content creator for Facebook and Twitter. He takes notes at all New Bedford Creative Consortium meetings, and is the point person for many grassroots community building initiatives.

Zane joined the team in October 2018.

New Bedford Creative
New Bedford Economic Development Council

1213 Purchase Street
2nd Floor
New Bedford, MA 02740
508.991.3122

Margo Saulnier, Creative Strategist – msaulnier@nbedc.org
Marianella Perry, Senior ARPA Fellow – mperry@nbedc.org
Zane Cox, Creative Fellow – zcox@nbedc.org

History

New Bedford Arts, Culture and Tourism Fund was proposed by Mayor Jon Mitchell in the spring of 2016 and approved by the City Council in June 2016, and consists of revenue generated from the city’s lodging tax, capped at a total of $100,000. Creation of the fund also required the passage of a home rule petition by the state legislature and the petition’s passage, led by state Senator Mark Montigny and signed into law by Governor Baker in January 2017. The purpose of the fund is to create a dedicated revenue stream to provide for additional planning, programmatic, and administrative capacity to allow the City of New Bedford to take full advantage of its cultural and tourism assets, and to catalyze and manage the growth of the cultural and tourism sectors in the years ahead. The NBEDC has a three-year agreement to manage the fund for the City.

New Bedford Creative Consortium

The New Bedford Creative Consortium is the leadership group whose purpose is overseeing the execution of the citywide strategic Arts and Culture Plan entitled New Bedford Creative: our art, our culture, our future. The Arts and Culture Plan is a huge step forward in building a thriving creative ecosystem in our city, and these are the people dedicated to implementing it. This volunteer group is facilitated by the Creative Strategist, with additional staff support from the New Bedford Economic Development Council and the Departments of City Planning, Tourism & Marketing, Parks, Recreation & Beaches, and the Mayor’s Office.

Eldric Abreu – Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE)
Lee Blake – New Bedford Historical Society
Iva Brito – Indigenous Business Collaborative
Janet Coquillette – Retired consultant to nonprofit organizations
Suzanne de Vegh – New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks!
Rhonda M. Fazio – Interwoven, Dyer Maker Studio, La Rhonda Catering
Steven Froias – New Bedford Now, New Bedford Port Authority, Seaport Cultural District, Love The Ave
Jeff Glassman – Darn It!, Hatch Street Studios
Dena Haden – Co-Creative Center, SuperflatNB, Seaport Cultural District
Wendy Hall – New Bedford Festival Theatre
Victoria Lacy – Abstrakt Music
Viera Levitt – UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts
Lindsay Mis – Massachusetts Design Art + Technology Institute (DATMA)
Joclyne Nunes – New Bedford Whaling Museum
Eric Paradis – Your Theatre, The Steeple Playhouse, New Bedford JazzFest
Penny Pimentel – Zeiterion Performing Arts Center
Dawn Salerno – Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum
Jennifer Smith – New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
Darlene A. Spencer – Cape Verdean Association, Carney Family Charitable Foundation
Patricia Thomas – Culture*Park
Nathan Vaughan – Bristol Community College, Downtown New Bedford Inc.
Samia Walker – EforAll, 3rd EyE Youth Empowerment, Doodles Creative Sessions
Zachary White – Gallery X