Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1065740
30 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9 n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m BRAND NEW PHOTO: MARKET NEW HAVEN, INC. AND FULL SEND PRODUCTIONS A R T S & C U LT U R E At long last, has arts/entertainment attained consensus as New Haven's driving brand? By Frank Rizzo W hat's in a name? Or in a brand? Plenty, when it comes to defining a state — does "e Land of Steady Hab- its" ring a bell? Or even a city. True, New Haven was nick- named aer its stately elms centuries ago but when a certain eponymous disease decimated its namesake trees the moniker, newly purposeless, remained. So how now does New Haven identify itself — not to mention promote, market and celebrate? In every way possible, according to the people at Market New Haven, the private-public partnership that beats the drum on behalf of all promotable events, features, venues and other attractions of the city. "People are especially looking for 'experiences' now that are happening all around the city," explains Bruno A. Baggetta, mar- keting manager, who is quick to count down a list of positives that blur into a slurry of words: RestaurantsShoppingLearning- PizzaFarmersmarketsStartUpsMu- seumsMoviesWaterfrontLivable- WalkableBikableCity But it's clear to many that the mix of entertainment/arts is a driv- ing force that just may be the first among equals in giving downtown New Haven its brightest spotlight, if not its zing, joining cities such as Nashville, Santa Monica and Charleston where entertainment/ arts is a major propellant for com- munity and visitors. Elm City boosters have embraced the aspirational description of their home as "Connecticut's cultural capital" for decades. But it is espe- cially in the last five to 10 years that entertainment/arts has experienced a blossoming with a critical mass of large, medium and small venues dotting the city, notably the arrival three years ago of the College Street Music Hall. e onetime Palace eatre will also be spinning off a new entertainment venue with multiple stages just down the street in the coming year. Coupled with the all the other elements that energize to the city's downtown dynamic — not the least of which are its well established, world-class arts and cultural insti- Pop songstress Taylor Dayne rocks the New Haven Green in a free concert last July. Summertime entertainments on the Green are perennially popular — including with suburban spenders that downtown merchants and restaurateurs covet.