The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund is awarding $2.2 million in grants to 96 nonprofit organizations across the state.

Since its founding in 2020, the fund has awarded a total of more than $6.7 million in grants to more than 180 nonprofit arts, culture, and history organizations statewide.

The fund recently received a $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support grantmaking. The fund awards grants to organizations that contribute to cultural equity and community well-being, a mission that aligns with the philanthropy goals of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The fund has also received significant support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the fund is a collaboration between private and public donors. Established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has provided needed support for many of the state’s nonprofit organizations in the arts, culture, and history sectors. The fund has prioritized support to small and mid-size organizations, led by or serving people of color that were found to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

“The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund started as a recovery fund two years ago to help arts, cultural and historical organizations survive the COVID pandemic. We have now transformed into a renewal fund, focusing on the resiliency and future of the sector as its needs change and evolve,” said Jeremy Grunin, Co-Chair of the fund steering committee. “This sector is essential to our social and emotional well-being, keeping us connected, fostering unity, and improving mental health. Through equitable grantmaking, the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund is helping smaller arts, cultural and historical organizations continue to thrive during challenging times, which in turn, positively impacts the entire New Jersey community.”

An early gift from the Grunin Foundation was a catalyst for other foundations and institutions to join in supporting the fund. In addition to the Grunin Foundation, major institutional supporters include the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, Merck, the Prudential Foundation, Amazon, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation.

“In this round of our grantmaking, the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund received $5.8 million in requests, indicating the great need that still exists among arts and culture organizations across the state,” said Sharnita Johnson, vice president of strategy, impact and communications at the Victoria Foundation. “The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund directly addresses inequity and historical disparities in funding and intentionally fills the resource gap.”

In the most recent round of awards, grants ranged in size from $1,500 to $50,000, with an average grant size of $23,000. Grants are being awarded to:

Mercer County

Art Against Racism, Princeton
Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton
Artworks Trenton Inc, Trenton
Capital Singers of Trenton, Trenton
Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts Society, Trenton
Hopewell Valley Arts of Council, Hopewell
James R Halsey Foundation of the Arts, Hamilton
Passage Theatre Company, Trenton
Storytelling Arts, Inc, Princeton Junction
Stretto Youth Chamber Orchestra, Princeton
Trent House Association, Trenton
Trenton Circus Squad, Trenton
Trenton Music Makers, Trenton
West Windsor Arts Center, Princeton Junction
Westrick Music Academy, Princeton Junction
Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania, Princeton

Hunterdon County

ACME Screening Room, Lambertville
Roxey Ballet Company, Frenchtown

Middlesex County

American Theater Group, East Brunswick
coLAB Arts, New Brunswick
Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick
Raices Cultural Center, New Brunswick

Somerset County

Arts Ed NJ, Warren

Burlington County

ArtPride New Jersey, Burlington
Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown
Roebling Museum, Roebling
West Jersey Music Academy, Moorestown

Atlantic County

Atlantic City Arts Foundation, Atlantic City
Inlet Public Private Association Inc., dba Absecon Lighthouse, Atlantic City
MudGirls Studios, Linwood

Bergen County

Arts Horizons, Englewood
CavanKerry Press, Fort Lee
Epitome of Soul, Ridgewood
MarbleJam Kids Inc, Hackensack
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Inc, Fort Lee
The Art School at Old Church, Demarest

Camden County

Camden FireWorks, Camden
IDEA Center for the Arts, Camden
Ritz Theatre Company, Inc, Haddon Township
Superior Arts Institute, Camden

Cape May County

Greater Cape May Historical Society, Cape May

Cumberland County

Bayshore Center at Bivalve, Port Norris
Levoy Theatre Preservation Society, Millville
Millville Development Corporation, Millville
Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, Millville
Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Millville

Essex County

Arts Ed Newark/Newark Arts, Newark
Arts for Kids Inc, West Orange
Barat Foundation, Newark
GlassRoots, Newark
Ivy Hill Vailsburg Center for Arts Culture and Community Activism, Newark
Jazz House Kids Inc, Montclair
Luna Stage, West Orange
Montclair Film, Montclair
Newark Boys Chorus School, Newark
Newark Public Radio, Newark
Newark School of the Arts, Newark
Project for Empty Space, Newark
Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts, Inc, Montclair
Trilogy an Opera Company, Newark
University of Orange, Orange
Vanguard Theater Company, Montclair

Hudson County

Art House Productions, Jersey City
Educational Arts Team, Jersey City
Jersey City Arts Council, Jersey City
Jersey City Theater Center, Jersey City
Kennedy Dancers, Inc., Jersey City
Nimbus Dance, Jersey City
Riverview Jazz, Jersey City
Speranza Theatre Company, Jersey City
Surati for Performing Arts, Jersey City
The Grace Theatre Workshop, Inc, Union City
Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium, Hoboken
Union City Music Project, Inc, Union City
Victory Hall Inc, Jersey City

Monmouth County

Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal
Jazz Arts Project, Inc., Red Bank
New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Allenhurst

Morris County

ARTS By The People, Morristown
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, Morristown
The New Jersey Play Lab, Randolph
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Florham Park

Ocean County

Barnegat Bay Decoy & Baymen’s Museum, Tuckerton
John F Peto Studio Museum, Island Heights

Passaic County

Friends of Yogi, Inc, Little Falls
Inner City Ensemble, Paterson

Salem County

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center, Elmer

Sussex County

Peters Valley School of Craft, Layton

Union County

Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Union
Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, Summit
Institute of Music for Children, Elizabeth
Keys 2 Success, New Providence
People Helping People, Inc, Rahway
The Theater Project, Union
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit
Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, Berkeley Heights