LEWISTON — “We are not in Maine because we want the perfect job; we are here to create the perfect life.”

That’s what a Great Falls Forum audience heard Friday noon in a presentation by Jennifer Hutchins, executive director of Creative Portland.

In a talk titled “Art and the Human Ecosystem,” she explained how that city’s municipally-supported nonprofit organization is growing and supporting a creative economy.

“We need to see how all the pieces of the community are interconnected,” she said. Arts and culture are all part of it, she told the audience in Callahan Hall of the Lewiston Public Library. She made it clear that a cultural economy is more than paintings, plays and concerts. She included the creative talents of architects, scientists, professors and many others as important contributors to a creative economy.

Commenting on her observations during a trip to Europe, Hutchins said, “They live arts and culture at their core.”

Hutchins said Maine’s promotional efforts in advertising, websites and other areas seem to put too much emphasis on tourism.

“There’s picture after picture of lobsters and lighthouses, rocky coast and mountains, but not one person (is) in most of the scenes,” she said. “Who’s focusing on the people part?”

Promotion of Maine should tell a better story about our people, what we like about life and careers here, what we value and why we want people seeking those same values to come here, she said.

Hutchins said a key asset of Maine’s residents is their mindset. It’s acceptance of the fact that we have challenges and we can’t change our geographical position. Nevertheless, she said, there are many successful businesses in Maine, and they began with “a person who’s passionate about being here.

“Creative Portland is trying to change the image of Maine as simply a great place to visit,” she told the audience.

Creative Portland gets inquiries about life in Maine from all parts of the country, and Hutchins said a central point of their effort is to respond within 48 hours with personal follow-up by a local volunteer to all inquiries.

“It makes a real difference to have people say to callers that we really want you to come here,” she said.

Creative Portland was established in 2008 by the city’s government, she said. It began with 12 board members appointed by the Portland City Council and a $30,000 budget. It now has 21 board members, two employees, 250 volunteers, and a budget of $215,000.

Its mission was to “go out and grow the creative economy in Portland, Maine,” Hutchins said, adding that they needed “quick and tangible results.”

Toward that end, she said, Creative Portland set out to attract 10,000 highly-skilled professionals to the region and to engage them as supporters of the creative community.

Hutchins has been the executive director of Creative Portland since 2010. Prior to joining the organization, she was the director of communications and external affairs for the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. While there, she co-authored the groundbreaking 2004 report on Maine’s creative economy for Gov. John Baldacci. That effort was launched at a major conference at Lewiston’s Bates Mill.

Prior to that, Hutchins worked as a communications and public affairs professional for nonprofits in Maine and Washington, D.C.

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