Four Grants and Awards for Theater and Performing Arts Programs in New Jersey

Posted by Mainstage Center for the Arts on November 5th, 2019

Research supporting the importance of art has become more and more well known. The arts play a crucial role in shaping our perspectives and enriching our lives. Art is a way for people to express themselves. It is also an important tool that helps students amplify their academic learning. It helps preserve a unique culture. In addition, art is also an important economic driver and prosperity generator for states. Keeping these benefits in mind, many organizations, including government bodies, offer grants and awards for theater and performing arts programs. If you are an artist in New Jersey looking for funding, here are some of the grants that the New Jersey State Council on the Arts provides:

1. Folk Arts Apprenticeships

This award is given to talented individuals in the field of folk art as a way to preserve value, traditional art forms. It provides stipends to master folk artists who work with apprentices to help develop their skills. The application process requires the apprentice to apply along with the master artist, together as a team.

2. Individual Artist Fellowship Awards

Carried out in partnership with the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, these are some of the most competitive arts awards given to artists from New Jersey who work in 12 different art disciplines. The award is given after the applicants’ bodies of work are judged by an independent peer panel. The process is completely anonymous, thus eliminating bias.

3. New Jersey Writers Project (NJWP)

The NJWP is co-sponsored by the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey. This project strives to place poets, prose writers and playwrights in more than 100 different schools around the world. It provides residencies that involve the artists teaching, training as well as writing.

4. Clement A. Price Arts Management Internship Program

This program is named in honor of one of the most prolific names in the arts field in New Jersey, Dr. Clement Alexander Price (1945-2014), who was also a former Council Chair. Co-sponsored by Rutgers University, this program aims to provide practical knowledge to graduate and undergraduate students who want to pursue a career in the arts. It also provides them with an opportunity to contribute to the work of the Council.

Receiving a grant would be promising for aspiring artists. If you want to set your career in arts on a successful trajectory, these are some grants for which you should apply. They will help you immensely in furthering your talents.

Authors bio: The author is a blogger. This article is about grants for performing arts and theater programs.