You’re a huge fan of all things art, but you don’t have a ton of like-minded friends with a lot of free time to go to exhibits and shows with.
It’s a predicament many of us have found ourselves in time and again, and in the past, the solution has always been to just go alone or stay home. Those days are over.
There’s now a group on the website Meetup for Concord area art lovers, and it’s gaining popularity by the second.
Meetup is a website where people can go to find people with common interests who are looking to do something with someone else. It’s not about dating, just socializing, said Lynne Sabean, the administrator of the Concord Arts Community page on Meetup.
“The basic concept is to meet people online to do something together offline,” she said. “Really, any interest you have, there are probably like-minded people on Meetup that are interested.”
In this case, everyone in the group is interested in the arts. When they go to the site, they can see if others have posted events that are coming up in the near future. For instance, at the time of this writing, there were five upcoming events (three after our publication date of Sept. 20) in the Concord area with a combined 12 members listed as “going.”
Posts include all the basic information about the event: what kind of event is it, where is it, what time is it, is there any cost, what will be discussed/presented/exhibited. Then, people can comment or ask questions, and choose whether they want to attend.
Although there were only 12 confirmed members “going” to events on the schedule as of late last week, the group overall is active and gaining steam – in a little less than two weeks, 117 people joined.
The group’s first official get-together was last week at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester. “It was a little farther of a drive, but it was free,” Sabean said. “We had nine people show up including myself, and we got a custom tour of some of the highlights of the facility.”
Up next for the group is a National Theatre Live HD Broadcast of The Audience at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Wednesday at 7 p.m., followed by a folk music show at the Cap Center on Sept. 29 and a Guest Star Book Club Series event at Gibson’s Bookstore on Oct. 17.
The goal is to make the group as big and active as possible, Sabean said, so don’t hesitate to get involved.
The site is meetup.com/Concord-Arts-Community. You can also find the group (and friends who are in it) through Facebook. Use the red “Join us” button to get started.
