About Us
City Arts Nashua is a volunteer arts services organization with IRS non-profit designation.
Our Mission
Enrich quality of life by providing leadership to support and strengthen arts and culture.
Our Vision
The Nashua area is a destination for the arts. Visitors come to participate in its wide variety of arts and cultural offerings; people see Nashua as a place where they want to work, play and stay.
Our Beliefs
Arts and culture are the heart and soul of any city. A vibrant arts community and a strong creative economy are necessary for the development and growth of the greater Nashua area.
What We Do
Help expand and provide visibility for greater Nashua’s artistic and cultural community. We promote, advocate, network, produce events and projects, fundraise, and provide fiscal sponsorships. We work closely with the Nashua Arts Commission, with local arts individuals and groups, community organizations, business, government and with State and national arts organizations.
Celebrate Nashua
This educational video consists of over 20 interviews with community leaders discussing the many facets of life worth celebrating. Its purpose is to raise awareness, inform, and celebrate the history, people, culture, and arts of Nashua, by weaving together the beautiful and amazing stories of who we are, who we have become, and who we wish to be, as we journey together in making our city the very best place to live, work and play.
In honor of all those who serve and in memory of Brian McCarthy, President of the Board of Aldermen.
This portion of The Celebrate Nashua Video Project (below) includes an Interview with Kathy Hersh, Past President of City Arts Nashua. You will learn about the significant difference that City Arts Nashua makes to enrich the quality of leadership that strengthens art and culture in our city.
Current Board Members
Lisa Bissonnette - President
Project Manager- R.J. Finlay & Co., LLC. Lisa is a senior member of R.J. Finlay & Co.’s real estate team, working on acquisition, development, approvals and permitting, contract negotiations, asset management, property management, leasing, marketing, disposition, due diligence, and closing. Lisa also serves as R.J. Finlay & Co.’s insurance and risk management liaison, responsible for all aspects of the insurance process including placing and renewing coverage, administrating claims and negotiating settlements. In addition to these responsibilities, she facilitates marketing and special projects for all of the R.J. Finlay & Co. companies. R.J. Finlay & Co.’s flagship commercial building, 30 Temple Street in Nashua, has for several years been the headquarters of City Arts Nashua’s ARTWALK, Meri Goyette’s “Sculptures on Review”, and countless other community events. 30 Temple Street is also the largest free gallery of local art in Nashua. A lifelong patron of myriad forms of art, Lisa is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and attended The University of Edinburgh in Scotland and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Lisa serves on the Board of The Finlay Foundation, a NH 501(c)3 charitable organization.
Bonnie Guercio
Owner, Bonnie Guercio Studio. Bonnie is a professional artist with her studio in Nashua’s Millyard. Bonnie was an arts educator for over 20 years at the Adult Learning Center’s Clearway High School. Though she no longer teaches for the Adult Learning Center, Bonnie continues to work with teens, adults, and children through programs with Home Health and Hospice Care in Southern New Hampshire. Bonnie is dedicated to the idea that the arts are central in making any city a satisfying place to live, work, and play and also that the arts welcome everyone. Bonnie is a Commissioner on the Nashua Arts Commission and is a member of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium Committee.
Marjorie Bollinger Hogan - Treasurer
Owner, NH Flute Connection. Marje is the Music Director of the Merrimack Valley Flute Choir. She has performed with numerous area orchestras and chamber ensembles and is currently Principal Flute of the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic. She has served on the boards of the Greater Boston Flute Association, Flutists’ Guild, and The Nashua Flute Choir. Marje is past president and a founding member of City Arts Nashua.
Allegra Boverman
Photographer. An award-winning photojournalist, Allegra enjoys documenting the special, candid moments of everyday life. She photographs a wide range of topics in a wide variety of unpredictable and unexpected conditions, in a compressed amount of time, with lots of improvisation. Her work - which occasionally includes writing - has appeared in New Hampshire and Massachusetts publications since 2004. She now works with the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper and New Hampshire Public Radio as part of her freelance photography business, and with area universities and colleges, organizations, people and small businesses. Her work has appeared in such news outlets as the Eagle-Tribune's family of newspapers and magazines, the Boston Globe, Nashua Telegraph, Hippo and the Lowell Sun. She leads photo workshops on topics from basic photography techniques to food photography. She has also worked in other media such as painting, drawing, printmaking and etching, all of which she has taught to teens in the past, and silkscreen, batik, woodworking and ceramics. Making art a part of everyday life and helping other artists fulfill their artistic goals with the help of City Arts Nashua are both very important to her, in addition to the arts helping to create more economic development in the City of Nashua.
Sue Hurwitz
Chamber Musician and Enrichment Educator. Sue has 17 years of experience working in Special Education, and is a professional chamber musician. She is the founder of the chamber group Resonance and is the flutist in Lyric Duo, Sunflower Fusion, and the duo, Song of the Lark. She has performed both as a soloist and with ensembles at the Museum of Fine Arts, A Taste of the Arts, the Boston Opera House, the Hunt Memorial Building, the Parish Center of the Arts, and the Seacoast Academy of Music, among many others, as well as a vocal soloist with ActorSingers Chorus. She also is the co-founder of MugaLive! a unique approach combining yoga and live music for all populations, including babies as young as three months up to young adults with special needs, as well as a certified Life Coach, specializing in stage fright and self-confidence. She is a member of the National Flute Association, Chamber Music America, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and a founding member of City Arts Nashua.
Shaunae Nolet - Vice President
Shaunae is the Operations Director and a Performance Coach for Performology working directly with businesses to ensure success through the entire operation utilizing the Performology platform. She is an active Rotarian with the Nashua Rotary Club and serves as the Event Director for Dinner on Main Street, a fundraising opportunity of Great American Downtown. She is a former member of numerous local boards and committees and continues to give back through volunteering. Shaunae is very engaged with the arts community in Nashua and is dedicated to seeing art in action every day.
Gail Moriarty - Secretary
As long as I can remember I have always wanted to make jewelry for a living. But I never pursued my dream. Until one day when we were at a shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and I saw a pair of silver and copper earrings. I thought they were really cool and immediately thought, “Why aren’t I creating things like this? I can do this!” I closed my eyes and jumped in with both feet. I began taking classes, got to work and I haven’t looked back. I’m happy to say that I am now a Custom Jewelry Designer living in New Hampshire. My work is primarily in silver, gold, copper, brass, bronze, metal clay, and any other material I come across that interests me. I turned my dream into my passion and every piece of jewelry I make is created with love, attention to detail, and care. I also specialize in custom wedding jewelry for brides, bridesmaids, ushers, and mothers of the happy couple.
City Arts Nashua Advisory Committee
Katherine Hersh
Kathy retired in 2013 after 12 years as Nashua’s Community Development Director. She is a co-founder of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium in 2008 and served as chair of the Symposium Committee until 2014. Her other priorities as Community Development Director were the Riverwalk, the Heritage Rail Trail, passenger rail, and land protection. Kathy has been involved in Nashua for 30 years, as a member of the Nashua Board of Aldermen, the Planning Board, the Conservation Commission, the Nashua Regional Planning Commission and the NH Rail Transit Authority. Although not an artist herself, Ms. Hersh recognizes the importance of arts to a vibrant, sustainable urban environment.
Meri Goyette 1926-2021
Merri Goyette was one of Nashua’s leading arts advocates and philanthropists. In addition to her work with City Arts Nashua, she was a founding member of the Nashua Arts and Science Center, president of the Hunt Memorial Building Board of Trustees, and co-founder of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. Many of her projects and the organizations which she helped found continue on today. Meri’s significant contribution to the arts and artists in Nashua was lifelong and she inspired passion and commitment in so many others. Along with numerous other awards and citations, Meri was honored with the Individual Arts Patron Award by Governor Maggie Hassan and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and was named Citizen of the Year in 2014 by the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. Meri passed away in 2021 and is greatly missed by the City Arts Nashua community. Read more about her on her Memorial page.
Tracy Lee Carroll
Photographer. Nurtured in a family of artists, Tracy Lee Carroll had the pleasure of growing up in a creative atmosphere. Although she has dabbled in many pallets and is a professional graphic designer, photography is the one craft that continues to have an influence in her life. Combining her love of travel with her art, Tracy Lee seeks to share the beauty she sees in the world. Her work has been published throughout the world in books, newspapers, magazines, CDs, brochures and websites as well as shown in galleries. She also freelances as a photo journalist for NH Public Radio covering NH politics since the beginning of 2008. A native New Yorker, she has called Hudson, NH home for over 23 years.
Casey Holt
Managing Partner, Ideabenders. Casey is a creative polymath currently running Ideabenders, an advertising agency fwith offices in Nashua and Prague, Czech Republic. His company’s work is seen around the world, and is hard to miss in the Nashua area. He is a founding member of City Arts Nashua, gave the organization its name and designed its logo, and devotes substantial support to many forms of artistic endeavor.
Jay Minkarah
Executive Director of Nashua Regional Planning Commission. As the former Economic Development Director for the City of Nashua Jay was the initial driving force behind City Arts Nashua and has remained an active board member or advisor since in formation in 2005.
Liz Racioppi
Owner, Elizabeth Grady Salon. Ms. Racioppi is committed to community enrichment, and has volunteered extensively in numerous charities including the Nashua chapter of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Nashua Soup Kitchen, and the Mass Audubon Society. She is a founding member of City Arts Nashua and past chair and current member of the Nashua Arts Commission. She also served on the Steering Committee for NH Creative Communities and the Nashua Regional Planning Commission Advisory Subcommittee for Granite State Future and the Great American Downtown Board of Directors, and was a recipient of the 2014 Nashua Telegraph 20/20 Award for Emerging Business Leaders.
Sri Seah
Freelance Designer/Programmer. Sri writes about creative entrepreneurship on their website davidseah.com. They have worked with computer graphics creatively since 1981, in the professional video game industry for several years before specializing in interactive museum exhibit design and developing a creative business practice based on their interests in writing and personal development. Seah has degrees in Computer Graphics Design (MFA), Electrical Engineering (MS, BS) from Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. They also are a board member of Float Left Labs, a non-profit web agency based in Manchester, NH that trains students of the digital media arts by mentoring their work for local non-profits.