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Joanne Westerhouse is president of the Sandwich Arts Alliance.
SANDWICH – Joanne Westerhouse first decided the town of Sandwich needed an arts group when she was part of a committee to find a new use for one of the town’s historic properties, the Clark-Haddad building. She suggested it could be used as an arts and culture center, but town officials did not seem to be listening.
Now president of the Sandwich Arts Alliance, Westerhouse said she realized something. “I finally figured out the arts had no voice in Sandwich. There was no organized group,” she said.
She set out to change that.
Having just begun organizing this spring, the Sandwich Arts Alliance already has 80 members in three different groups—Visual Arts, Literary Arts, and Performing Arts—plus a friends group.
Westerhouse said the organizers of the alliance believes there are about 200 artists in town and the group is also open to artists who live outside of Sandwich.
The group was interested in being part of a coalition of groups that would use the historic Wing School, which ceased to be an elementary school this fall.
Westerhouse said that is still an option, although the school administration has announced recently that it is interested in using the school.
The Alliance had its official launch at the Sandwich Fest on June 27.
Listen below as Joanne Westerhouse, president of the Sandwich Arts Alliance, discusses how the group got started.
