The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund Awards More Than $600,000 in Grants



(LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ) — The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund awarded $664,500 in grants to 30 nonprofits statewide. Since its founding in 2020, the Fund has awarded more than $7.4 million to more than 200 organizations across New Jersey. The Fund, hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation, offers critical grant dollars for many of the state’s smaller nonprofit organizations in the arts, culture and historical sectors.

The most recent grants were awarded in two phases. Eleven nonprofits received grants from the Fund for the first time, and for the first time, one round of grants was dedicated to history organizations.

“The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund directly addresses disparities in funding that were present before the pandemic and have increased in its aftermath,” said Sharnita C. Johnson, Vice President of Strategy, Impact and Communications at the Victoria Foundation and Co-Chair of the Fund. “The smaller cultural organizations supported by the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund serve multiple functions in their communities.  They are important anchors central to community wellbeing and quality of life in the areas they serve.”

The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund is an unprecedented collaboration between private and public donors. Jeremy Grunin, President of the Grunin Foundation and Fund Co-Chair, said they are grateful to be entering their third year of grantmaking, as the effects of the pandemic are still being felt in the sector.

“NJACRF continues to evolve to best support New Jersey arts, culture and historical organizations,” he said.  “The folks in this sector have tirelessly shown their dedication to their profession by carrying out their work even when they had limited capacity and resources. They know how important the arts, culture and history are to the wellbeing of individuals and the entire community. Their work did not stop, and neither will ours.”

The Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM), in the Skillman section of Montgomery, was among the grantees.

“Our work gives voice to individuals who were relegated to the margins, by unearthing, preserving, and sharing their stories with the broader community,” Catherine Fulmer-Hogan, Board President of SSAAM said. “This work is essential if we are to imagine and advance a more just and equitable future. We are incredibly grateful to the NJ Arts and Culture Renewal Fund for seeing the value in our mission and for supporting us in its advancement.”

Smaller arts and culture organizations contribute greatly to our understanding of each other and of our world, said Lynne Toye, Executive Director of the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund. 

“By supporting organizations that tell inclusive stories, we are helping to provide opportunities for representation of all who contribute to the rich and diverse cultural community of New Jersey,” she said.

Grants ranged in size from $2,000 to $50,000, with an average grant size of $22,000. Grants were awarded to:

Atlantic County

* Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation Inc., Atlantic City

* Atlantic City Arts Foundation, Atlantic City

* South Jersey Cultural Alliance , Hammonton

Cape May County

* Harriet Tubman Museum, Cape May            

* Center for Community Arts, Inc., Cape May 

Burlington County

* Alice Paul Institute, Mount Laurel

* Whitesbog Preservation Trust, Browns Mills section of Pemberton  

Camden County

* Lawnside Historical Society, Inc., Lawnside   

* Camden County Historical Society, Camden

* Camden Fireworks, Camden   

* Superior Arts Institute , Camden                    

Cumberland County

 * Millville Army Airfield Museum, Inc., Millville           

Essex County

* Montclair History Center, Montclair 

* New Jersey Historical Society, Newark          

* Newark Arts, Newark

* Dance New Jersey, Verona

Hudson County

* Surati for Performing Arts, Jersey City

* Jersey City Arts Council, Inc., Jersey City        

Mercer County

* Sixth Regiment of the US Colored Troops Civil War Re-actors, Trenton                   

* Young Audiences NJ and Eastern PA, Princeton

Middlesex County

* Lost Souls Public Memorial Project Inc., East Brunswick                  

* Redhawk Indigenous Arts Council, South Amboy

Monmouth County

* New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Allenhurst

* Jazz Arts Project, Inc., Red Bank        

* Monmouth Arts, Red Bank    

* T. Thomas Fortune Foundation, Red Bank

Somerset County

* Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, Skillman section of Montgomery           

Sussex County

* Sparta Historical Society Inc., Sparta

* Peters Valley School of Craft, Layton section of Sandyston              

Union County

* Institute of Music for Children, Elizabeth

The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund was created by a coalition of New Jersey funders aligned to ensure a coordinated approach to sector support with a commitment to equity in grantmaking. The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund provides financial support to catalyze an equitable statewide recovery and build cultural sector resilience. The Fund is hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation.

The Princeton Area Community Foundation promotes lasting philanthropy and builds community across Mercer County and central New Jersey. As a community convener, philanthropic resource and manager of charitable funds, it helps people and companies make effective charitable gifts and awards grants to nonprofits. Since its founding in 1991, the Community Foundation has made grants of more than $192 million and provided an additional $32 million in support to our nonprofit fundholders. With over 450 charitable funds, in 2022, the Community Foundation awarded more than $19 million in grants to support the critical work of nonprofits in making the communities they serve more responsive to the needs of their residents.