Ongoing Initiatives
Student Art Walk
A two-part program with local schools that hangs student art in downtown Rochester NH storefronts and hides painted rocks across the district.
The Student Art Walk turns Main Street into a gallery. Launched near the end of the 2024–2025 school year as a partnership between Rochester Main Street and Spaulding High School, the program has two parts: student artwork displayed in downtown business windows, and painted rocks created in classrooms and hidden throughout the downtown area.
How the walk works
Rochester Main Street provides the frames and an ID card for each piece of art, and downtown businesses lend their windows. The result is a rotating community gallery you can stroll past any day of the week, with displays that swap quarterly. As the program grows, each quarterly art swap gets a formal opening night, so young artists get the thing every artist wants: a real audience.
The painted rocks are the second half. We donate paint and materials to art classes, teachers let students decorate rocks during free classroom time, and those colorful pieces end up placed all over downtown, small treasures for kids to find on an ordinary errand.
Partners and sponsors
The walk began with Spaulding High School and is expanding to more schools and more businesses each rotation. Early hosts have included Jetpack Comics, Stitches Alterations & Needleworks, Smitten Yarn Co., Studley Flower Gardens, Busy Bee Cafe, Postal Center USA, and Stage Door, among others.
Sponsors at $250 cover supplies and the art walk itself. To put your business in the rotation or sponsor a quarter, get in touch.
Student Art Walk: your questions answered
Where can I see Student Art Walk pieces?
In the windows of downtown businesses, including Jetpack Comics, Busy Bee Cafe, and Studley Flower Gardens, and as painted rocks tucked onto benches and railings throughout the district. Displays rotate quarterly, so the walk changes with the seasons.
How can my business join the art walk?
Lend a window. Rochester Main Street provides the frames and an ID card for each piece, and your storefront becomes part of the rotating community gallery. Contact us to be added to the next rotation.
How is the program funded?
Sponsors at $250 cover art supplies and the cost of the formal art walks, alongside individual donors and an Amazon wish list for materials. Every supply dollar shows up on a storefront window.
More ongoing initiatives
Sign & Facade Grant
Matching funds that help downtown Rochester NH property and business owners invest in signage, facades, and exterior improvements.
Richard Southard Historic Preservation Grant
A grant honoring Richard Southard that helps downtown Rochester NH property owners preserve and restore historic architecture.
Rochester Thank A Cop
Community-led since 2018, Rochester Thank A Cop honors Rochester NH police officers with gifts and Paint the City Blue displays each September.
