LEWISTON — The way Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte sees it, the arts have always been a part of Lewiston-Auburn culture.

Almost as soon as the cities were established, church spires began scraping at the sky, war monuments went up and individual artists began popping up on both sides of the Androscoggin River.

The community went through a cultural dark age, it’s true, but those dark times are over and art once again is a significant part of life in the Twin Cities.

“We’ve gone back to our roots,” LaBonte told a group Thursday night at the start of this year’s Maine International Conference of the Arts.

To many, just the fact that organizers chose Lewiston-Auburn as the conference setting this year tells the story.

“We’ve got it going on,” said Becky Conrad, vice president of advancement at Maine College of Art in Portland.

Art “is part of the DNA of this place,” she said. “It’s what Lewiston-Auburn has been historically, and it’s what we’re going to be in the future.”

More and more, Conrad said, people from outside the community are starting to see the Twin Cities through a cultural lens.

“Lewiston-Auburn has a rich cultural heritage, as well as a legacy of industrial innovation,” said Julie Richard, executive director of the Maine Arts Commission. “It seems like the perfect location for our second arts conference.”

Working in partnership with L/A Arts, The Dolard & Priscilla Gendron Franco Center, the Bates Mill Complex and Arts and Culture L-A, the conference opened Thursday with a reception and two short performances, including one by Auburn’s Edward Little High School student pep band.

“It’s kind of mind-blowing,” said Louise Rosen, consulting director of L/A Arts, as the conference got underway. “I don’t think everybody realizes what the cultural output is here.”

The conference had a number of keynote speeches, including one by poet, essayist and Bates College professor of English Crystal Williams, who delivered a talk titled, “Practical Approaches to Creating Impact: Getting to Cultural Equity.”

Twenty break-out performances are planned throughout Friday — performances 10 minutes long that are meant to provide a sampling of Maine arts and culture.

For more information about the conference, including a schedule, visit mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/General/MICA