bringing people together in Hardwick
The Town of Hardwick supports the mission of the Civic Standard. In the recent past, The Town granted their request for ARPA funds knowing they would continue their mission of bringing community together. Their most recent partnership involved staffing and organizing meals for the Emergency Shelter activated on Monday afternoon. We believe in their mission and there is no hesitation by The Town that their efforts will benefit the entirety of the Hardwick Community.
~David Upson, Hardwick Town Manager
WHAT
The Civic Standard is a new name for a project that has been developing for many years. It is a mobile cultural center that exists in various forms and places: as accessible live performance at the local opera house; a harvest celebration at the Grange; a community built carnival midway for the town fair; free soup nights run by high school volunteers; open call band practice; and much more.
Our programming is collaborative: we connect unlikely partners in order to build events that are both common and extraordinary. This is an ongoing project of participation, mutual helpfulness, construction that is never finished. Culture is made together, not packaged and delivered. If you would like to join us, you can. It's that simple.
WHY
People want to gather with their neighbors, both the ones they know and the ones they haven’t met. But in an increasingly divided world, we are rarely in rooms with people unlike ourselves, particularly without spending money. Our mission at the Civic Standard is to provide many ways for the people of Hardwick to do just that. We believe that the very best culture is made from the inside-out, and we work with our neighbors to build cultural events that are of interest to us. Examples of our past events, and events still to come, include Bingo at the Grange Hall with live jazz piano, mystery dinner theater at the Legion, Trivia at the diner, neighborhood bonfires, community meetings, swaps, and old time music jams. Our mission is to make events where everyone is welcome, and everyone comes. It is a simple idea but a timely one, and we believe the Civic Standard could become a blueprint for like-minded projects far and wide.
WHO
This project was founded by Rose Friedman, Tara Reese, and Erica Heilman. It is supported and sustained by a board of directors and a volunteer base of hundreds of members of our greater Hardwick community.
The Civic is led by Rose Friedman & Tara Reese; our graphic design guy and general supporter is Justin Lander; and Helen Sher is our fellow this summer.
Our board of directors is: Erica Heilman, Danielle Livellera, Lauren Antler, Mike Donofrio, Tobin Anderson, Kelly Nottermann
