UNH Cooperative Extension
Planning and Land Use
The Cultural Landscape
Art History and Visual Culture
UNH Cooperative Extension
Current Employment- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
- Community and Economic Development Field Specialist for Merrimack County, NH
- email: john.christ@unh.edu
- office:315 Daniel Webster Hwy, Boscawen, NH 03303
Team page at UNH
- Bio page at UNH
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
- Community and Economic Development Field Specialist for Merrimack County, NH
- email: john.christ@unh.edu
- office:315 Daniel Webster Hwy, Boscawen, NH 03303
Team page at UNH
- Bio page at UNH
Events and Activities- Community Business Engagement Program, Penacook, NH (ongoing)
- Housing Academy (collaborator)
- Citizen Planner Initiative (collaborator)
- Presenter at NH Municipal Association Annual Conference and Land Use Law Conference
- UNH Extension webinars on housing, municipal boards, and more
- Community Business Engagement Program, Penacook, NH (ongoing)
- Housing Academy (collaborator)
- Citizen Planner Initiative (collaborator)
- Presenter at NH Municipal Association Annual Conference and Land Use Law Conference
- UNH Extension webinars on housing, municipal boards, and more
Publications- 13 August 2025, "Building Stronger Boards: Strategies for Recruitment, Retention, & Engagement"
- 9 June 2025, "A Foundation for Housing," New Hampshire Business Review
- 13 August 2025, "Building Stronger Boards: Strategies for Recruitment, Retention, & Engagement"
- 9 June 2025, "A Foundation for Housing," New Hampshire Business Review
Planning and Land Use
Plymouth NH Planning Board
- Board member, former chair, 2020-present
- Board member, former chair, 2020-present
Plymouth Economic Development Committee- Committee member 2025-present
- link to Plymouth EDC website
- Committee member 2025-present
- link to Plymouth EDC website
Lakes Region Planning Commission
- Commissioner representing Plymouth, NH, 2023-present
- Executive Board, member at large, 2024-present
- link to LRPC website
- Commissioner representing Plymouth, NH, 2023-present
- Executive Board, member at large, 2024-present
- link to LRPC website
Other Activities - Plymouth Housing Committee, chair, 2022-2024
- Citizen Planner of the Year, Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, 2024
- Presenter at conferences and events
- Plymouth Housing Committee, chair, 2022-2024
- Citizen Planner of the Year, Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, 2024
- Presenter at conferences and events
The Cultural Landscape
Lowell National Historical Park, NPS, partner
- Ethnographic Overview and Assessment, PI
- Completed a funded research project in 2025 for the Lowell National Historical Park through a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and Plymouth State University.
- Ethnographic Overview and Assessment, PI
- Completed a funded research project in 2025 for the Lowell National Historical Park through a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and Plymouth State University.
Representation and Public Space: Then and Now
- Explorations of the "Right to the City" as enacted through activism, the arts, urban planning, and everyday practices of occupying and making meaning in our shared spaces.
- Research has explored the Lowell Public Art Collection, Breathing Lights in the Capital Region of New York, the remembrance of Hannah Duston, and the broader relationship between inclusive development strategies and creative placemaking.
- Take Tompkins Square Park (above) in NYC as an example: Why was a park built in a working class neighborhood of NYC in the 19th century? How did residents occupy this space to demand better living conditions and access to public space? Why did a wealthy philanthropist install a Temperance Fountain? How did the struggle for homeless rights redefine the park in the twentieth century? Why did the artist William Pope.L perform one of his early "crawls" near this storied place?
- Explorations of the "Right to the City" as enacted through activism, the arts, urban planning, and everyday practices of occupying and making meaning in our shared spaces.
- Research has explored the Lowell Public Art Collection, Breathing Lights in the Capital Region of New York, the remembrance of Hannah Duston, and the broader relationship between inclusive development strategies and creative placemaking.
- Take Tompkins Square Park (above) in NYC as an example: Why was a park built in a working class neighborhood of NYC in the 19th century? How did residents occupy this space to demand better living conditions and access to public space? Why did a wealthy philanthropist install a Temperance Fountain? How did the struggle for homeless rights redefine the park in the twentieth century? Why did the artist William Pope.L perform one of his early "crawls" near this storied place?
Plymouth Historical Society
- Board of Directors 2021-2025
- Volunteer work that further developed the opportunity to connect our past and present understandings of place .
- Activities include event organizing, walking tours, historical talks, web admin, and more.
- link to webpage
- Board of Directors 2021-2025
- Volunteer work that further developed the opportunity to connect our past and present understandings of place .
- Activities include event organizing, walking tours, historical talks, web admin, and more.
- link to webpage
Art History and Visual Culture
Landscape Tourism
- This work explores landscape tourism from the 19th century through today with a focus on the transformation of the land into meaningful landscapes through visual representations, tourist infrastructure, and promotional practices, especially in New England.
- Handmade foldout book with birch bark cover created for the Museum of the White Mountains (Plymouth, NH).
- The history of the Pemigewasset House in Plymouth, including a talk for the "Grand Hotels of the White Mountains" exhibit at the Museum of the White Mountains (exhibition link) and collaborative work with Plymouth State University students installed within the exhibition space.
- This work explores landscape tourism from the 19th century through today with a focus on the transformation of the land into meaningful landscapes through visual representations, tourist infrastructure, and promotional practices, especially in New England.
- Handmade foldout book with birch bark cover created for the Museum of the White Mountains (Plymouth, NH).
- The history of the Pemigewasset House in Plymouth, including a talk for the "Grand Hotels of the White Mountains" exhibit at the Museum of the White Mountains (exhibition link) and collaborative work with Plymouth State University students installed within the exhibition space.
Stuart Davis: Artist Activist
- This work explores how the artist Stuart Davis sought to reconstruct democratic life life by aligning his work as an artist with a deep sense of place with his role as a political activist and organizer.
- Dissertation: "Painting an Imaginary World: Stuart Davis and the Politics of Experience in the 1930s" (PDF)
- Article in Oxford Art Journal: "Stuart Davis as Public Artist: American Painting and the Reconstruction of the Public Sphere"
- Article in American art: "Stuart Davis and the Politics of Experience"
- Work including Davis: "A Short Guide to the Art of Slumming, Touring, Wildlife, and Women for Hire in New York's Chinatown and Chinese Restaurants"
- This work explores how the artist Stuart Davis sought to reconstruct democratic life life by aligning his work as an artist with a deep sense of place with his role as a political activist and organizer.
- Dissertation: "Painting an Imaginary World: Stuart Davis and the Politics of Experience in the 1930s" (PDF)
- Article in Oxford Art Journal: "Stuart Davis as Public Artist: American Painting and the Reconstruction of the Public Sphere"
- Article in American art: "Stuart Davis and the Politics of Experience"
- Work including Davis: "A Short Guide to the Art of Slumming, Touring, Wildlife, and Women for Hire in New York's Chinatown and Chinese Restaurants"
Teaching & Academia
- Plymouth State University, NH, 2015-2024, faculty in humanities and social sciences, including geography, political science, community planning, and art history.
- UMass Lowell, MA, 2004-2015, faculty in art history and visual culture in the Department of Cultural Studies.
- Temporary faculty appointments at Saint Anselm College, NH and Tufts University, MA.
- Plymouth State University, NH, 2015-2024, faculty in humanities and social sciences, including geography, political science, community planning, and art history.
- UMass Lowell, MA, 2004-2015, faculty in art history and visual culture in the Department of Cultural Studies.
- Temporary faculty appointments at Saint Anselm College, NH and Tufts University, MA.
