House Floor Leader Marissa Flores is calling for the CNMI Arts Council and the Commonwealth’s artists and cultural practitioners to be placed under the Marianas Visitors Authority, saying the islands cannot market themselves as a tourism destination without fully integrating the culture that defines them.
Speaking during the public comment portion of Thursday’s MVA board meeting, Flores said the long‑standing separation between the Arts Council and the tourism agency has weakened the CNMI’s ability to present a unified cultural identity to visitors.
“I do feel at this time that the Arts Council should be under the purview of the MVA,” she said. “You cannot sell Saipan and the Commonwealth as a tourism destination without what truly defines us — music, art, food, people, culture, language.”
Flores, who chairs the House Committee on Tourism, said the current structure leaves many artists without a clear role in shaping visitor experiences. Some are invited to participate in events, she said, while others are left out entirely.
“I believe that the artists should be involved in planning, designing, and in conversation with the MVA,” she said. “Artists and artisans in our community don’t really have a place. Under this consideration I’m moving forward on, everybody — all artists attached to us by blood, heart, soul, mind — is involved in this process.”
She said the CNMI’s cultural assets extend beyond performances or food festivals and should be treated as core components of the visitor experience.
“It’s more than just food,” she said. “It’s our language, it’s our ambiance, it’s all of that encompassed into one.”
Flores said she intends to advance legislation or formal proposals to consolidate cultural programming under MVA, describing the shift as necessary to strengthen the Marianas’ branding as a destination that is “far from ordinary.”
She added that the current placement of the Arts Council under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs no longer reflects the role culture plays in tourism.
“For many years, this separation… I don’t know why it was under DCCA,” she said. “I believe otherwise. I believe culture belongs in the same space where we are selling the Marianas.”
Flores said she hopes the MVA board will support the proposal as she prepares to move it forward.
