Marguerite Mathews has been a touring artist in New England for 30 years. “For the last 15 of those 30, there has been a marked decline for touring opportunities,” she said. Mathews, who co-directs Pontine Theatre in Portsmouth, says many performing artists have noticed the decline. “There have been ups and downs, but, generally speaking, we’re settling into the fact that it’s a bygone era,” she said.

The tradition of touring has deep roots among New England artists. For years, they traveled from town to town, performing music, theater, puppetry and other folk traditions in libraries, town halls and other small venues. However, as more communities focus their attention on larger venues that draw big-name acts, there are fewer opportunities for smaller performers.

On Feb. 19, a group of New England touring artists gathered at Portsmouth’s West End Studio Theatre on Islington Street to discuss the fate of their craft. “We decided to come together and see if there were any ways to address the issues that were confronting us,” Mathews said.

The first task was to figure out why there had been such a decline in the number of venues hosting touring acts. “Small presenters, like libraries and historical societies, are presenting less because there are more and bigger venues in communities to compete for audiences and media coverage,” Mathews said. She compared the phenomenon to similar trends in retail—big box stores have eclipsed smaller shops because customers prefer one-stop shopping; likewise, customers prefer a single venue for one-stop entertainment.

As a way to combat this trend, local artists hope to mimic small retailers, who have forged together via the Seacoast Buy Local Campaign.

“We’ve started to think about the buy local movement. People really want to support their community. How can we capitalize on that?” asked Genevieve Aichele, artistic director of the New Hampshire Theatre Project. “We need to make some changes to align with that campaign.”

In addition to branding themselves as local artists, the group members hope to establish a network of venues that will welcome their style of “home-cooked art.” The artists would like to meet with presenters and find out what challenges they face. 

Funding will be the other inevitable question mark. According to Mathews, funding from arts councils and charitable organizations has been trending toward bigger venues. “They’re not thinking, ‘How are we going to cultivate the arts community?’ They’re thinking, ‘How are we going to benefit the greatest number of people in the most cost effective manner?’” she said.

According to Aichele, touring artists formerly made a decent living because presenters could afford to pay their performance fees. “Now they wouldn’t pay you anything to perform. I have to charge less than I did 20 years ago,” she said. “What does that mean for the smaller artist that doesn’t want to go on ‘American Idol?’”

Attendees at the last performing artists’ meeting included traditional musician Jeff Warner, entertainment agent Richard Smith, puppeteer and storyteller Pat Spalding, former Portsmouth Poets Laureate John Perrault and Mimi White, performer Julie Goell and Bob Shea, director of Saint Anselm College’s Center for Performing Arts. The group has not yet scheduled its next meeting, but plans to invite presenters and engage some younger artists in future meetings.

“The participants have all been touring for a while, so we have a responsibility to see if there is anything we could do to improve the situation,” Mathews said.