A group focused on the production, promotion and preservation of arts and culture in New Gloucester is breaking out from under the auspices of town government, and looking to bring more like-minded residents into the fold.

Creative New Gloucester, a committee formed to build an inventory of the artistic and cultural assets spread around the rural town, has completed that goal. The committee, after a unanimous vote Monday from the Board of Selectmen, will now be reformulated as a smaller group charged with overseeing the Web site and working with the town’s economic development group.

Meanwhile, the residents who were the driving force behind the inventory will continue to meet, mostly over potluck dinners, in order to plan events that showcase the talent and imagination of local artists. Events like workshops, festivals and concerts.

It is important work, they said, because the artisans, artists and historical preservationists that make up the soul of New Gloucester are not always aware that they are surrounded by kindred spirits.

“We’ve all found a lot of different people in our community (while creating the directory) because it is so rural we don’t get to see them,” said Debra Smith, a visual artist and writer who has been with the group since it formed in the spring of 2007.

The goal of the group is to keep those people connected, to build a sense of unity and community around the arts in New Gloucester.

All the pieces, small and large, that make up the creative side of New Gloucester should come together, Smith said. They range from the well-known, like the Shakers, Pineland and Thompson’s Orchards, to the quilters, photographers and designers working quietly from their homes, she said. But they are all important to the town’s fabric.

“What we have is really vital to its livelihood, its culture and its appeal,” said Smith. “This is a really unusual community in the Greater Portland area because it is really rural.”

“And there are not a lot of job opportunities,” said Betsey Leslie, a fiber artist who raises sheep.

The idea of arts as an economic tool has not gone unnoticed by the group. That is why they suggested to selectmen that the Web site and directory – found at www.creativenewgloucester.org – be shepherded by a smaller group under the advisement of the town’s business and economic development committee.

Eric Ritter, the chairman of that committee who is also a furniture maker and a member of Creative New Gloucester, said the directory will be a useful tool for promoting the town. It will fold in easily with the plans of the larger committee, he said.

It is important that the town government keeps a hand in the matter, said Ellie Fellers, a Creative New Gloucester member. Without the right touch, all the work that went into gathering and formatting the information could go to waste, she said. Both groups will have to work to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“We don’t have a chamber of commerce is this town. We have limited media in this town. We don’t have a lot of coverage for that soft kind of news,” said Fellers. “It would be very easy for it to evaporate.”

But, she said, the potential is out there for the artistic community to grow and grow.

“There are still a lot of untapped people that could be used for the directory,” Fellers said.