Cultural designation would include Moshup Beach. Photography: Timothy Johnson
The town of Aquinnah will seek a cultural designation for the area around Aquinnah Circle, including the Gay Head Light, from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which promotes arts, sciences and humanities in the state. Gay Head lighthouse committee member Berta Welch told selectmen on Tuesday that the designation may also include the shops at Aquinnah Circle, the Aquinnah Cultural Center and Moshup Beach. The town may define what constitutes the district, although the state cultural council would need to approve the proposal following a site visit.
The effort began last year with a visit to the Island by cultural council director Anita Walker, who toured the Gay Head Light with lighthouse committee member Len Butler and Nancy Gardella, director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.
Speaking for the chamber, the lighthouse committee, and also Arts Martha’s Vineyard, which helped establish a cultural district in Vineyard Haven last year, Ms. Gardella told the selectmen that all three groups would work to promote the new district.