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New Bedford Creative’s Media Hub is your spot for the stories that define our city and push the boundaries of possibility into the realm of unlimited creativity. It is designed to deepen the experience of arts and culture in New Bedford and, through words, images, and video, form a stronger connection to the community.

New Bedford Creative is proud to collaborate with New Bedford Cable Network to shine a spotlight on the talented individuals and dynamic organizations to celebrate and amplify the voices of our city’s vibrant creative community, sharing their stories, artistry, and impact with a broader audience. Check out all episodes here!

Summer is Performance Art in New Bedford

Summer is Performance Art in New Bedford By Steven Froias, Contributing Writer Summer in New Bedford unfolds like performance art, rich with color, rhythm, and the hum of community spirit. As the warm months arrive, the city’s creative pulse quickens—each beat powered by passionate artists, performers, and special event organizers. New Bedford Creative’s Wicked Cool ...

Star Store Building on Path to Redevelopment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 2, 2025 Star Store Building on Path to Redevelopment NEW BEDFORD, MA – Mayor Jon Mitchell and the New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC) announced Monday that agreements are in place to reopen the former Star Store building under new ownership as a regional arts hub. The NBEDC and the Arts ...

New Bedford Creative Launches CreativeGround Directory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 19, 2025 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Website: newbedfordcreative.org Click here for link to hi-res photos. New Bedford Creative Launches Exciting New Creative Directory in Partnership with New England Foundation for the Arts CreativeGround NEW BEDFORD, MA – New Bedford Creative is thrilled to announce the launch of the New Bedford ...

ArtWeek SouthCoast Returns May 8–18, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 16, 2025 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Website: artweeksouthcoast.org Click here for link to hi-res photos. ArtWeek SouthCoast Returns May 8–18, 2025 with More Than 50 Arts Experiences Across the Region A Collaborative Celebration of Community, Culture, and Creativity SOUTH COAST, MA – ArtWeek SouthCoast, the dynamic regional arts festival, returns ...

New Bedford Creative Announces 31 Projects Awarded for 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 3, 2025 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to high-res photos. Click here for full list of 2025 grant recipients. New Bedford Creative Announces 31 Projects Awarded Art is Everywhere! and Wicked Cool Places Grants for 2025 NEW BEDFORD, MA – New Bedford Creative at the New Bedford ...

New Bedford Earns Prestigious Grants to Advance Culture, Heritage, and Arts

New Bedford Earns Prestigious Grants to Advance Culture, Heritage, and Arts Awards Highlight City’s Role as a Historic Beacon of Progress and Creativity By Steven Froias Special to New Bedford Creative at the NBEDC NEW BEDFORD, MA – Throughout American history, New Bedford has played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s cultural and social ...

New Bedford Creative to Receive $70,000 Award from the National Endowment for the Arts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 14, 2025 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to hi-res photos. New Bedford Creative to Receive $70,000 Award from the National Endowment for the Arts NEW BEDFORD, MA – The New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC) is proud to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment ...

New Bedford Creative Opens Call for Proposals for 2025 Seaport Art Walk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 19, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to hi-res photography. New Bedford Creative Opens Call for Proposals for 2025 Seaport Art Walk “Revolution/Evolution” will celebrate New Bedford’s Legacy of Change and Innovation NEW BEDFORD, MA — New Bedford Creative invites artists locally, regionally and nationally to submit ...

Spectacular 3-D Projection Light Show Debuts at St. Anthony of Padua Church December 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 14, 2024 Contact: Hendrick Hernandez-Resto hhernandez@nbedc.org 508-985-8206 Click here for link to hi-res photography. Spectacular 3-D Projection Light Show Debuts at St. Anthony of Padua Church December 7 NEW BEDFORD, MA — Local creative enterprise Broken Glass Projection Mapping will present a captivating evening of art, light, and music with the ...

Exploring the Heart of New Bedford’s Fishing Community: The Casting a Wider Net Project

By Steven Froias For #NBCreative NEW BEDFORD, MA – Genesis Galan knew Anthony Nguyen from high school – they shared cafeteria tables, classrooms, and stories, though typically the surface-level kind. When she reconnected with him years later, her former classmate wasn’t just Anthony; he was the Assistant Manager/Cost Accountant at NORPEL in New Bedford, creators ...

New Bedford Creative Grant Programs Now Open for 2025 Applications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 4, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to hi-res photography. New Bedford Creative Grant Programs Now Open for 2025 Applications, Empowering Local Creatives to Shape the City’s Vibrant Future NEW BEDFORD, MA — New Bedford Creative has opened its 2025 grant programs for applications, inviting residents across ...

New Bedford Poet Published in Acclaimed Anthology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 Contact: Erik Andrade erikandrade@protonmail.com 508-971-8725 New Bedford Poet Erik Andrade Published in Acclaimed Anthology Black Fire This Time Vol. 2 and Invited to Join Panel on “The New Black Arts Movement” at the Prestigious Furious Flower Poetry Conference New Bedford, MA – Local poet and cultural organizer Erik Andrade ...

“Aberration” at the New Bedford Art Museum

“Aberration” at the New Bedford Art Museum September 4, 2024 by Amy Desrosiers, Explore New Bedford New Bedford is home to many galleries, museums, coworking spaces, and other visual arts institutions, including open-air spaces that feature rotating or permanent public art installations. For over a century, the city has been a hub for aspiring ...

AHA! Announces its 25th Birthday Bash

Party like it’s 1999 on September 12! New Bedford, MA – All are welcome to the most fantastic birthday bash of the year! On Thursday, September 12, 2024, AHA@25 welcomes all ages to the streets of New Bedford to celebrate its 25th anniversary as AHA! celebrates its history and looks to the future of ...

Seven artists heed the 2024 Seaport Art Walk “Call of the Sea”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 3, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to hi-res photos. Seven artists heed the 2024 Seaport Art Walk “Call of the Sea” – Annual public art installation runs from July 11 through October 31 NEW BEDFORD, MA – The annual Seaport Art Walk in New Bedford has ...

Making Art out of Utility

New Bedford Collaborates with UMassD CVPA Students on Innovative Electrical Box Designs By Steven Froias For New Bedford Creative NEW BEDFORD, MA – In an ongoing effort to infuse art and creativity into everyday urban landscapes, New Bedford Creative’s Creative Consortium and the City of New Bedford have once again thought outside the box. ...

New Slate of New Bedford Creative Peer-to-Peer Sessions Launches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 17, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to hi-res photos. New Slate of New Bedford Creative Peer-to-Peer Sessions Launches: Popular series features creative entrepreneurs sharing knowledge in online workshops NEW BEDFORD, MA – New Bedford Creative is launching its third season of Peer-to-Peer Sessions for 2024 April through ...

New Bedford Creative Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Creative Economy Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 7, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to high-res photos. New Bedford Creative Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Creative Economy Report NEW BEDFORD, MA – New Bedford Creative at the New Bedford Economic Development Council released on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, the groundbreaking creative economy report, The Composition of ...

Embark on a Creative Journey: Explore the 2024 ArtWeek SouthCoast Festival May 9-19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 22, 2024 Contact: Margo Saulnier msaulnier@nbedc.org Click here for link to high-res photos. Embark on a Creative Journey: Explore the 2024 ArtWeek SouthCoast Festival May 9-19 SOUTHCOAST, MA – ArtWeek SouthCoast, an annual festival celebrating the vibrant creativity in our communities, invites you to join them from Thursday, May 9 through ...

Explore New Bedford: Certified Fresh and Bold

By Steven Froias For #NBCreative NEW BEDFORD, MA – The mood in the room was festive on Tuesday, March 19 when the City of New Bedford Office of Marketing and Tourism unveiled “Explore New Bedford.” It was fitting that it was an “In Real Life” event, as the new logo and marketing campaign to promote ...

New Bedford Filmmaker Ethan de Aguiar Debuts New Bedford Film Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 18, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to high-res photos. New Bedford Filmmaker Ethan de Aguiar Debuts New Bedford Film Festival April 18-21, 2024 Inaugural event will celebrate cinematic stories and storytellers in the whaling city and release award-winning ‘Love Letters for New Bedford’ documentary to the ...

New Bedford Creative Announces Historic Grant Awards Totaling $509,200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 12, 2024 Contact: Edwina Klünder eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to high-res photos and videos. Click here for list of 2024 grant recipients. NEW BEDFORD, MA – In a groundbreaking moment for the City’s arts community, New Bedford Creative this week is announcing the release of 82 grant awards, totaling ...

New Bedford’s Brown Suga Stationery Awarded Grant by the Boston Celtics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 22, 2024 Contact: Edwina Kluender eakluender@gmail.com 617-888-5859 Click here for link to high-res photos New Bedford’s Brown Suga Stationery Awarded Power Forward Small Business Grant by NAACP, VistaPrint, and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation Award recognizes Innovation in Stationery Artistry, one of 59 Black-owned small businesses selected in New England NEW BEDFORD, MA ...

The Roaring Twenties continue for #NBCreative

By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large Welcome to another edition of the #NBCreative blog year-end wrap-up. In the last blog post, which you can read here, we revisited three significant arts and culture impacts during 2023. In this one, we’ll look at three exciting initiatives arriving in 2024. Without further ado…. Roll ‘em The founding of ...

Three Noteworthy Impressions from 2023…

By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-Large Capitalizing on the subjectivity afforded by a blog project, I am utilizing the final two posts of the year to articulate reflections that may not find a home elsewhere. This piece is dedicated to three observations from the just-concluded year, while the subsequent one will delve into three aspects of ...

New Bedford Creative Announces Call for Art for the 2024 Seaport Art Walk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 4, 2023 Contact: Margo Saulnier msaulnier@nbedc.org 508-991-3122 Click here for link to high res photos & video New Bedford Creative Invites Artists to Dive into the Melodies of Resilience Call for Art for the 2024 Seaport Art Walk NEW BEDFORD, MA – As the winter chill settles in, New Bedford Creative ...

New Bedford Artist Keith Francis showcases artwork in Padua, Italy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 30, 2023 Contact: Margo Saulnier msaulnier@nbedc.org 508-991-3122 Click here for link to high res photos & video New Bedford Artist Keith Francis showcases captivating artwork “WELCOME!” at prestigious “American Beauty” exhibition in Padua, Italy, alongside artworks by Andy Warhol, Banksy, Annie Leibovitz, Shepard Fairey, and many other luminaries NEW BEDFORD, MA — ...

New Bedford’s Assistant Treasurer Mark Fuller has another #NBCreative life

Pictured above: Mark Fuller, seated on front of stage far left, on the set of Your Theatre’s production of “Anastasia.” By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large When Your Theatre, Inc. begins its first season at the newly renovated historic Steeple Playhouse on William Street this Friday, Nov. 17 with “Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express,” ...

Seaglass brings Sondheim to New Bedford

Featured photo above: The cast of Sondheim Tribute Revue, clockwise: Kaileigh Reiss, Craig Juricka, Kristin Lawler, and Chris Hunter, By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large It takes an equal amount of fortitude and passion to launch a professional theater company in the best of times. And deep reserves of each to keep it going through a ...

New Bedford’s 3rd EyE Youth Empowerment prepares to transform 230 Union Street

BY Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large Exciting news came outta New Bedford in 2023 that requires a closer look and follow-up: 3rd EyE Youth Empowerment made a significant move by leasing a building in the heart of downtown. As we all know, there’s no place like home, and this announcement signifies a transformative step for the ...

Dena Haden’s Italian Adventure

By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large The Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea, also known as the Florence Biennale, is an art exhibition held in Florence, Italy since 1997. It has been held every two years in the exhibition spaces of the Fortezza da Basso. The exhibition is held under the patronage of UNESCO (the Italian Commission), European ...

Enter Stage Write: The Culture*Park Play Lab at Co-Creative Center

By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large NEW BEDFORD, MA – In a world where visual spectacles often take center stage, it’s refreshing to see the spotlight shift a bit towards the power of words and storytelling. Imagine a place where words leap off the page and come alive on the stage, where the raw essence of ...

More Eden Soares Art Arriving in New Bedford

By Steven Froias #NBCreative Writer-at-large NEW BEDFORD, MA – The City of New Bedford is known for its rich culture and historical social significance. In recent years, one artist in particular has been exploring that past and bringing it into the future, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s landscape through his exceptional public art. ...

Love Locks: A Site-Specific Contemporary Artwork Coming to Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large On Wednesday July 26, north end, New Bedford will welcome something entirely new to its landscape. Acushnet Avenue, the north end’s historic commercial corridor, will soon be adorned at the Nye Street Pocket Park with a captivating contemporary artwork created by activist artist Keith M. Francis. This site-specific sculpture aims ...

The ‘Beats’ go on for New Moon Dance Party

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large It started as a simple idea. Sensing a chill in the cultural zeitgeist after the 2016 election, performance artist, DJ and dance enthusiast Andy Anello felt the need to bring people together just to dance away their blues – and connect with one another during a disjointed time. So, he ...

Five years of DATMA

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large In a world filled with constant change, finding a sense of shelter has never been more important. Whether it’s physical, emotional, or creative, shelter provides us with a space where we can retreat, rejuvenate, and discover ourselves anew. For the past five years, the Massachusetts Design, Art, and Technology Institute ...

The Resilience of Public Art in New Bedford’s North End

By Steven Froias #NBcreative writer-at-large In recent years, New Bedford’s North End has witnessed the emergence of various public art initiatives that have not only transformed the visual landscape but also served as powerful tools for change. Two “Art is Everywhere” projects that I revisited in May while on The Ave, as Acushnet Avenue is ...

Eye Dreaming from New Bedford

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large NEW BEDFORD, MA – Lee Blake, President of the New Bedford Historical Society, is excited. Which usually means that something wonderful and significant is about to happen in the City of New Bedford. The cause of Blake’s excitement is the imminent arrival – or rather return – of a giant ...

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: Marketing The Wiz

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock and totally avoiding traditional and social media, you probably already know that the New Bedford Festival Theatre is presenting the exuberant musical “The Wiz” at the Zeiterion beginning this week. Why would you know that? Because the promotion campaign for the production has ...

Catching up with: Hendrick Hernandez

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large NEW BEDFORD, MA – A few years ago I was walking out of a convenience store in my west end, New Bedford neighborhood when I caught sight of a guy in a parked car who had just done the same. There in the passenger seat was the distinctive facial hair, ...

Why James Dean lives at the Zeiterion Theatre

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large If you’ve ever peered into the wings alongside the Zeiterion Theatre stage, you may have glimpsed him. If you’ve ever sat on stage for a Stage Door Live! concert, you know he’s been looking you over. And, if you’ve ever performed on the Z stage yourself, you definitely feel his ...

Get #NBcreative with Your Old House

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large Despite being in the title of the city’s unique monthly celebration AHA! New Bedford – which stands for Art, History, Architecture – that last item seems to me to get short shrift as a subject that’s given a lot of close scrutiny from a cultural perspective. Which is surprising given ...

New Bedford Creative announces over $400,000 ARPA Grant Awards celebrating arts, culture and creative expression

Over 70 projects and individual artists benefit from the City of New Bedford’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) through grant programs ARTnet, Art is Everywhere, and Wicked Cool Places NEW BEDFORD, MA — Over thirty cultural events, programs, and special projects, and forty individual artists will receive Wicked Cool Places, ARTnet, and Art is Everywhere funding ...

IGNITE and engage during AHA! New Bedford

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large The theme of March’s AHA! New Bedford is Women’s Work, especially appropriate as March is also Women’s History Month. One event happening on AHA! Thursday, March 9 stands out for me – The opening of the 5th annual IGNITE: Youth Showcase of Art inspired by the Historic Women of the ...

START THE PRESSES! Simon & Schuster imprint to feature New Bedford artists in new book

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-at-large UPDATE: On The Wall Posters: Street Art is now available for sale! The poster book features artists who worked with Superflat NB to bring public art to New Bedford the past several years. The book is from Adams Media, an imprint of the publisher Simon & Schuster, and is available ...

Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum: A community address

By Steven Froias Writer-at-large for #NBcreative In a recent conversation with a friend, she told me how much she enjoyed taking advantage of working on the porch of the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum during the pandemic. RJD – sensing the need for people to escape from their homes – offered up free wi-fi and ...

New Bedford Mayor Mitchell receives National Award for Leadership in the Arts

Cites New Bedford Creative, City Artists in acceptance NEW BEDFORD, MA – City of New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell got a remarkable surprise when he attended The U.S. Conference of Mayors 91st Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. last week. The Conference of Mayors, with Americans for the Arts, awarded Mayor Mitchell its national award ...

The stars come out for Moby-Dick

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-At-Large One of the most defining dates on the cultural calendar is the first full weekend in January. That’s when the legitimately world-famous New Bedford Whaling Museum annual Moby-Dick Marathon takes place. This year, it happens from Friday, January 6 and continues until Sunday, January 8, finishing around noon on that ...

Close-up on New Bedford Creative

By Steven Froias #NBcreative Writer-At-Large You know when you receive sustained applause, whoops of joy and shouts of appreciation that you’ve done something right. On Sunday, Dec. 4, filmmaker Ethan de Aguiar, co-producer Beatriz Oliveira, and the speakers and performers at the a special private screening of the short film, “Love Letters for New Bedford” ...

‘New Bedford Love Letters’ project to premiere short film, eyes festival run

This article was originally published by Seth Chitwood for SouthCoast Today/The Standard-Times on November 18, 2022. NEW BEDFORD — After the success of the “New Bedford Love Letters” project in September, a new short film around the culmination of New Bedford Creative’s work this year is set to premiere at The Whaling Museum on Dec. ...

New Bedford Creative brings back Peer-to-Peer Sessions for artists this November

NEW BEDFORD, MA — For the second consecutive year, New Bedford Creative is tapping into the knowledge and expertise of the city’s very own creative entrepreneurs to help provide guidance and support to other artists. Peer-to-Peer Sessions returns on Nov. 1, 2022, and will continue on a monthly basis through April, 2023. NB Creative Peer-to-Peer ...

A New Duo in New Bedford

A creative city is energized not only by the residents who have always called it home, but also by the new residents who are attracted to the social and cultural experience of living in New Bedford. Which is the ‘why’ of how Julia Roth and Cedric “Vise1” Douglas became Creative Ambassadors for the city. “I ...

How Rhonda Fazio Nourishes New Bedford

There’s probably no more nourishing New Bedford artist – or Environmental Alchemist, as she refers to herself – than Rhonda M. Fazio. And that is meant literally as well as figuratively. Many know Rhonda through her work with Coastal Foodshed at its New Bedford Farmers Markets and other special events. There, she teaches the “Art ...

Iva Brito: Spirit in Motion

By Steven Froias for the Creative Ambassadors project As a Creative Ambassador, Iva Brito brings both a historical and world view to the role, through a spiritual prism. As a native of Cabo Verde, West Africa, she states that she channels her “nostalgic love of her birthplace through her talents” which results in a Love ...

Gerardo Beltrán Salinas: Bringing Los Primos into the Light

By Steven Froias for the Creative Ambassadors project Perhaps no other Creative Ambassador’s journey to New Bedford has been as epic – and fraught – as that of Gerardo Beltrán Salinas. Beltrán Salinas worked for more than 30 years as a journalist in Santiago de Chile. When he and his family made the decision to ...

The CEDC puts out the welcome mat

By Steven Froias for the Creative Ambassadors project “At the Community Economic Development Center (CEDC), we have worked on many initiatives and projects mostly working to help working-class immigrant families build a better life for themselves here in New Bedford,” states Brian Pastori, who has worked at the CEDC since 2005. He explains that “the ...

There are no Mission Impossibles for Beatriz Oliveira

By Steven Froias for the Creative Ambassadors project There aren’t many people who would accept this mission: to co-create, activate and celebrate in every neighborhood of all 20 square miles of the City of New Bedford during a sprawling three-day arts and culture festival. But Beatriz Oliveira did. And the result was a resounding success ...

Mandy Fraser has a Secret (City)

By Steven Froias For the Creative Ambassadors project It’s common knowledge that whales have a language all their own. But, what’s uncommon is the specific message the “Secret City Whales” have for us. In fact, their words are Love Letters for New Bedford. “Secret City Whales” is the project of Creative Ambassador Mandy Fraser. The ...

Candida Rose Baptista: Love Each Other Through…

By Steven Froias For the Creative Ambassadors project As we travel through this life We realize we’re not alone As we share our good, open up our hearts, We’ll find joy we’ve never known (When we…) Love each other through Till we reach the other side We must Love each other through Now’s not ...

Love Letters for New Bedford launches this September

NewBedfordCreative.org story-telling series and special projects feature Creative Ambassadors NEW BEDFORD, MA — The art of storytelling is as old as cave paintings and as modern as the Internet. The stories we tell define us and illuminate our journey through time. At this time in New Bedford, a new storytelling initiative is about to begin – with ...

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