The Newburyport Arts and Culture Shanties Program is a collaboration between Newburyport Arts Organizations, the City of Newburyport, and BLB Custom Builders. The project is funded through the Creative County Initiative, a partnership between the Essex County Community Foundation and the Barr Foundation. The project seeks to provide a vibrant and historically-based centralized forum for local artists and artisans to collectively join together with the common mission of bringing locally made art to the North Shore region and beyond. By creating an organized artist colony, along with the provision of space to showcase, display, and sell, art, in various shapes and forms, this project aims to foster the growth of an artistically and culturally rich environment that would attract locals and tourists alike, as well as increase profits for artists and local businesses. The goals of the Newburyport Arts & Culture Shanties are to help local artists/artisans and cultural organizations increase recognition and sales; act as a community-building forum through a common artistic mission; and increase traffic to local businesses