Nate Rudy, newly appointed executive director of the Waterville Creates organization, speaks in front of the Common Street Arts gallery near The Center building in downtown Waterville about the potential for artistic enterprises.

Rachel McDonald, program manager at Common Street Arts in Waterville, prepares artwork in July as part of the Waterville Arts Festival, sponsored for the first time by Waterville Creates during the Maine International Film Festival. Waterville Creates is seeking to bring the city’s varied arts groups together in collaborative ventures to promote Waterville as an arts destination.

Common Street Art Gallery Project Coordinator Emilie Knight hangs artwork at the new gallery on Common Street in Waterville last summer in preparation for a debut arts event sponsored by Waterville Creates.

Art is displayed on city streets as part of the 2014 Waterville Arts Fest in July, the first collaborative effort under the aegis of Waterville Creates. Now a formal organization, Waterville Creates has picked Nate Rudy, who has been economic development director in Gardiner, as its first executive director. The group plans to work to make the collaborative effort seen in the Arts Fest an ongoing effort in the arts community.