History
Ronan Dwyer graduated from the Institute of Art and Design at New England College in 2024 excited to finally graduate and enter the art world. But, by the end of 2024, the abrupt separation of a creative community had taken its toll. Art school had given him a tight knit community of artists ready to learn and grow- but graduation, and subsequently, the real world, had destroyed this resource. Without a unifying factor, building this community from the ground up seemed nearly impossible…
After spending an evening with a close friend from college, Aarynn O’Brien, Ronan made a fly-away comment: “If only we could make a business to support artistic communities.” This would be the beginning of CANE.
By January of 2025, Ronan assembled a small group of artists, and together they would lay the foundation for CANE. Unfortunately, no one in this group had ever made a non-profit, so progress was slow and tedious.
After a month of struggles and learning, CANE posted on Instagram for the first time. Over the following months, CANE would begin to develop a following. While small, this following gave the founders the boost they needed to continue this project.
By June of 2025, CANE received its non-profit status in New Hampshire.
As of December 2025, CANE has received its 501(c)(3) tax exemption status. To learn more, scroll to the bottom of this page. Follow our Instagram or join our newsletter to stay up to date with CANE’s journey.
Scroll below to learn our mission and meet our amazing Executive Board!
Our Mission
Creative Artists of New England (CANE) is a non-profit dedicated to building a community of artists within the states of New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. We are also dedicated to providing resources and opportunities to upcoming and current artists, as well as give opportunities for growth, artistically, financially, and socially.
Our Vision
Our vision is to build a welcoming community for artists of all backgrounds while maintaining an affordable budget for the average person. Many other art associations charge high yearly membership fees and create events that charge a large extra fee; this is not realistic for the average person. We will have a low membership costs and low event costs.
This non-profit will work to bring the arts into areas of New England that have been distanced from it. Community galleries, artist talks, critique spaces, and workshops will form a tighter group of artist relationships and future resources.
Our Values
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CANE will create a community dedicated to making the world a better place through the arts. We will promote and advocate for the arts and create spaces specifically for artists.
CANE will provide educational resources like workshops, artist talks, lectures, and critique spaces to foster environments of education, learning, and growth.
CANE will foster creativity, resourcefulness, individuality, and expressionism to create environments where artists can drawn inspiration from their surroundings and fellow artists.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
CANE is dedicated to diversity and no one shall be discriminated against on the bases of sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, age, marital status, country of origin, citizenship status, education status, and disability status.
Equal Opportunity Employer
CANE shall be an equal opportunity employer, and it shall not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, creed/religious beliefs, sex, disabilities, financial status, or national origin (i) in the persons serviced, or in the manner of service; (ii) in the hiring, assignment, promotion, salary determination, or other conditions of staff employment; (iii) in the selection of members; or (iv) in the membership of its Executive Board.
ADA Compliance
CANE is committed to providing equal access and opportunities for all individuals, including those with disabilities, and is dedicated to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. CANE is continuously working to ensure that our physical facilities, services, and communications are accessible to all.
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All members will refrain from any works that can be discriminatory or otherwise hateful/ignorant. CANE will create environments that are anti-hateful to promote D.E.I.
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All memberships will be affordable. There will be free resources available to all, and more exclusive content for those who pay a small monthly fee/
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There is no tolerance for GenAI-made works (both visual arts, music, and writing). CANE strives to create an environment free from GenAI-made work.
Meet the Board
CANE is made up of eight artists from all over New England who want to help make our local art community better than ever.
To learn more about each artist, check out their bios below.
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@franticfirestarter
Heyo! My Name is Ronan Dwyer or Franticfirestarter. I am originally from Maine and chose to attend the Institute of Art and Design at New England College in New Hampshire from 2020-2024 where I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Printmaking. I also interned under Little Chair Printing located in Portland, Maine. My main mediums are relief and silkscreen printing which are often arranged into a series of posters or hand bound books. Currently my artistic journey has focused on the impacts of grief or shifts in personal relationships. Over the last year I noticed the drastic change from being a part of a small art community in college, full of resources and crit spaces. To then lose most of the community and resources after graduating. I found myself struggling to create because it felt like I had lost my purpose to keep going as an artist and tried forcing myself into art communities I did not belong in or felt comfortable in. This journey made me realize that even though there are all of these art organizations there is still a disconnect between artists of different fields, backgrounds, artistic skill, and financial stability. Considering every possibility, struggle, and needs of the average artist, I decided to grab a group of my peers to create CANE. I hope to see CANE become the community that helps everyone in their journey feel welcome and provide the resources to become successful.
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@akire_ventures
Hello! My name’s Erika, I create art under the name Akire Ventures. I have an A.A. in fine arts and a B.A. in comic arts. While I studied comic arts I’ve never really stuck to creating comics as much as I expected. I have grown to love exploring different mediums and art styles, I have made tattoo designs, oil paint portraits, and various character designs. Experimenting with various mediums and art styles brings me a joy that I really can not express enough. I feel it’s important that an artist never needs to feel like they have to fit in one box or another, especially if there are a multitude of subjects they feel connected to. I started to feel confident in this belief when I was surrounded by other wonderful creatives. I hope that with CANE we can create a large community to help nurture artists to have confidence in themselves to be able to create and hone whatever craft they choose.
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@urquhartillustrations
Hi! My name is Aarynn (pronounced R-N) O’Brien, but I am also known as A. E. Urquhart. I was born and raised in Maine but chose to go to college in NH. There, I attended the Institute of Art and Design at New England College in Manchester, NH (which has since moved to Henniker, NH). In May of 2024, I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (BFA) in Illustration. I work primarily in digital media but I also dabble in multi-media pieces. You can follow my art on Instagram @urquhartillustrations .I like drawing faces, hands, mermaids, and other fantasy elements (I’ve also been known to indulge in the occasional fan art). I enjoy watching movies, reading, painting my nails, spending time with my mom, and playing with my cat. I chose to come work for CANE because after I graduated, I began to miss the sense of community college gave me. CANE’s objectives will benefit a lot of people and help make the world a little bit of a better place. When I’m not working for CANE, I work as a circulation librarian.
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@isa.inspired
Hi, I’m Isabella! I’m an illustrator from New Hampshire with a love for creating literary and educational art. I graduated in 2024 with a BFA in Illustration. I am inspired by many things, including nature, motherhood, family, and a love for storytelling. I’m so excited to be a part of CANE and to help build a community that helps grow, inspire and connect artists of New England together!
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@iiitsjoeyyy
Hiya! My name is Lori, I also go by Joey, and make art under the user @iiitsjoeyyy. I was born and raised in good ol’ Rhode Island and moved out of state to New Hampshire to get a BFA in Animation at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College. Mostly, my art is character design work focused on modern fantasy settings, and hand drawn 2D animation for the same setting. Now that I’m back in Rhode Island I want to work as a part of CANE to bring our urban arts community here in RI closer together with New England, and reconnect with artists around New England to bring people together and make change! In my spare time I’m caring for my family, working as a line cook, playing TTRPGs, practicing my digital art and writing skills, and developing my animation work with the goal to make a long form animated series!
contact: lori@creativeartistsofnewengland.org
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@emilybirdie.design
Hello! My name is Emily, I’m a multi media artist based in CT and NH. Ive been creating my entire life, and studying Expressive Arts with a focus in Art Therapy at Plymouth State University helped me find a connection between art and human connection! As an artist I always strive to utilize my creativity as a way to incite community. From being in school for studies within art and psychology, the combination of human impact and art is something that always carries me though each project. As a multi-media artist, whether it’s through painting, sculpture, or fabric works I put my fullest in my work. Being with CANE with other artists and creatives will be such an exciting time for me to explore different workshops within all age groups! My work experience with non-profit organizations and childcare is something I’ll carry into my work here!!
A Very Special Thanks To…
Charli Lin Perry
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Cacaw! My name is Ca (short for Cane) the Crow. I am an American crow and the mascot of the Creative Artists of New England. I was born in Maine but I spend my time traveling all over New England, as I love the people and the environment. I first came upon CANE after I was summoned by the executive board. They asked for my help to bring luck to their prospective organization, and well, I’m a sucker for the arts. I agreed and now I am their official mascot. I love spending my time flying, eating worms, bothering the executive board, and being a part of CANE’s twitch streams and reels. I can’t wait to meet all the new people through this amazing organization!
Robert Serro
Sophia (Soap) Asbury
CANE’s non-profit status
As of June 9th, 2025, CANE is tax exempt under Internal Revenue code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). Under Section 501(c)(3), CANE was further classified as a public charity under IRC Section 509(a)(2). CANE’s 501(c)(3) non-profit EIN is: 39-2974020.
What does this mean?
Section 501(c)(3) exempts CANE from payment of corporate income tax and also allows CANE to receive public and private grants. Furthermore, this status allows any donor to deduct contributions they make to CANE under IRC Section 170. Learn more, here.
Contact us.
info@creativeartistsofnewengland.org
P. O. Box 146
55 Glass St.
Pembroke, NH, 03275