It’s not every day that you can walk into the Grange Hall and hear the steel drums of the Drum Workshop, Inc. plinking in one corner, the delicate strumming of the berimbau from the Angola Center for Capoeira drifting in from another, and artists, artisans and performers chatting about the various projects they have on the horizon.

But Tuesday was a different day, as the Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Culture Collaborative, now known as Arts Martha’s Vineyard, held its first public event, a preview of arts and culture events upcoming throughout the summer months.

The collaborative was formed last October with the stated goal of promoting arts and culture tourism and business on the Island. Tuesday’s gathering was meant to let people who work in the service and hospitality industries know about the different cultural and artistic opportunities the Island has to offer to visitors and residents alike.

Thirty Vineyard arts and culture organizations came to participate in the event, with programs varying from music to puppet theatre to historic landmark preservation. Artistic accessories — a salsa dancing shoe in one instance — dotted the tables, and there was also a small intrusion from the otherwise-absent technological world outside: Several booths had laptops and iPads on view, showing enquiring visitors their Web sites, apps, and other multimedia. The event was not without refreshments, either: A table in the back of the room showcased the culinary delights of Vineyard catering companies.

Ann Smith, chairman of the collaborative’s coordinating committee and executive director of Featherstone Center for the Arts, said, “You know, there’s such diversity even within the arts and culture community, and it’s important that people know all that the Island has to offer.”

There seemed to be a widespread feeling among this community that visitors to the Island are fairly uninformed when it comes to Vineyard arts and culture. Ms. Smith especially stressed this point: “Sure, people can come and go to the beaches, or play a round of golf, but we want them to know that they can come and go to the theatre, go to the Yard and see great dance, or listen to poets.

“The goal is definitely to continue to make people aware of what happens here, because an educated consumer makes all business better,” Ms. Smith said.

“If people in the service and hospitality industries know about what we’re doing, [then] when people come in to restaurants, and ask a waiter or a concierge, ‘What do you do on Monday nights?’ they can say, ‘Well, there’s Musical Mondays at Featherstone, or something great on Tuesdays,’ ” Ms. Smith went on to say.

Even though the idea of promoting cultural tourism to the Island was an important draw to all the members of the collaborative, some seemed simply to rejoice in the artistic gathering the event produced. Brooke Hardman is a cofounder and artistic director of ArtFarm Enterprises, an Island organization that takes the model of sustainable agriculture and shapes it to an artistic orientation. “It feels a little bit like a reunion here today,” she said. “A lot of the arts organizations that we work with are here, but there are some new faces too.”

For Ms. Hardman and others, the founding of the collaborative, as well as its first public event, was a long time coming. “It was part of our mission when I founded ArtFarm to work with different organizations, and now that’s happened with the collaborative,” she said.

“It’s just so clear that it was something on everyone’s mind, but it’s nice to see it coming to fruition.”

A culture maker of a different sort, Gerry Moriarty, the founder of FunHunters, an Islandwide scavenger hunt, said, “I feel very strongly that the arts are an integral part of what makes the Island special. There are wonderful opportunities here that people should know about.”

In the middle of a conversation with Ms. Moriarty, there began a great deal of shouting from a group of girls from IMP, the Island’s teen improv theatre group. Soon after, they began a performance on the porch. One of their skits, known as “games” in improv, centered on a crime allegedly committed by one of the members: illegally wearing a peanut butter sandwich. Clearly, the enthusiasm of the event and its imminent reverberations in the artistic community were not lost on these young performers.

Though the collaborative has received a few grants from state and Island organizations alike, those involved aren’t exactly sure how they see the organization evolving in the future. Whether they’ll make such an event as the one at the Grange Hall on Tuesday an annual event or whether there will be another one in August remains to be seen. But the uncertain future doesn’t indicate a lack of interest or enthusiasm; it seemed as though everyone was excited about how such an occasion and organization would both enhance their summer programs and continue to grow over time.

Don McKillop, owner and director of Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery, affirmed this attitude: “I run a for-profit gallery here at Dragonfly, but I’m volunteering for the collaborative and putting in a lot of time because I think everybody’s boat rises with a rising tide, and if people are coming to the Island for arts and culture, they’ll go to performances and galleries. It’s just a great thing to do.”