Portsmouth’s Genevieve Aichele named NH Artist Laureate

PORTSMOUTH — New Hampshire’s Executive Council has confirmed Gov. Chris Sununu’s nomination of Genevieve Aichele of Portsmouth as the next New Hampshire Artist Laureate.

Founder and former executive director of the N.H. Theatre Project, Aichele has performed, directed, choreographed and taught theater arts nationally and internationally for more than 40 years.

Under her leadership, the N.H. Theatre Project won the 2021 Governor’s Arts Award for its Elephant-in-the-Room Series, which utilizes performance and audience discussions to address a range of topics, including substance misuse disorder, suicide and self-harm, human trafficking, mental health, school violence, eating disorders, and attitudes around death and dying.

“The arts have positive effects on our lives in ways that people don’t always realize,” said Aichele. “As New Hampshire’s Artist Laureate, I look forward to continuing interacting with people of all ages and backgrounds to help them find ways to draw on the arts as a resource, both to find strengths within themselves and to make connections with others.”

Aichele has won almost two dozen distinguished honors and awards throughout her career from prestigious organizations, including the N.H. Theatre Association and the New England Theatre Conference. She has represented New Hampshire at the International Children’s Festival in Washington, D.C. and on a cultural trade mission to Ireland and the United Kingdom.

A recipient of two N.H. State Council on the Arts’ fellowship grants, she currently is on the Council’s Artist-in-Residence roster. She has completed hundreds of residencies at schools and special needs sites throughout the United States, as well as provided consulting and training services for both corporate and educational clients.

“Art is not only about what an artist creates, it’s also about how that art changes the lives of those who experience it,” said N.H. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Commissioner Sarah L. Stewart. “Throughout her decades as an artist, Gen has demonstrated the importance of the arts, and I know she’ll continue that legacy in her time as New Hampshire’s artist laureate.”

Established in 1997, New Hampshire’s artist laureate position is a two-year honorary term and is served without compensation. Artists are appointed by the Governor and Executive Council through a recommendation provided by the N.H. State Council on the Arts.

Aichele is the tenth artist laureate in the program. For more information, including biographies of Aichele and previous New Hampshire artists laureate, visit nh.gov/nharts .

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth’s Genevieve Aichele named NH Artist Laureate