Somerset County: Local Arts Program Grant Funding Opportunity

submitted by the Somerset County Freeholders

Guidelines and application forms for the 2015 New Jersey State Council on the Arts State/County Partnership Local Arts Program Grant are available online at http://bit.ly/LAPGrant2015 Two grant-writing workshops will be offered in early October.

Local non-profit arts and other non-profit, non-arts organizations planning an arts program – theater, dance, music/concerts, visual arts, literary or film arts – may apply directly to the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission (SCC&HC). Grants funded through this program will be available to support cultural programs and events from January through December 2015.

Eligible organizations must be designated non-profit, based in Somerset County and planning an arts/cultural program, project or service within Somerset County that is accessible to the general public. Funding is competitive and organizations must demonstrate managerial competency, fiscal stability, artistic excellence and the capacity to execute the proposed program or project.

Applicants are required to provide a match for funding requested. Applicants may request funding for General Operating (GOS) support if their organization’s mission is solely arts-dedicated, or Special Project (SP) support or Arts in Non-Traditional Venues (ANTV) support, both of which are available to arts and non-arts organizations alike for the purpose of offering an arts program/event/series in Somerset County in partnership with other organizations or artists.

Two free technical-assistance grant-writing workshops, geared only to this Local Arts Program grant to familiarize and assist potential applicants with the application process, will be offered Tuesday, Oct. 7, from2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and from 6 to 8 p.m. for those who cannot attend a daytime session. Pre-registration is required at least two days prior to the scheduled session.

To register, call SCC&HC Administrative Assistant Cathy Bunting at (908) 231-7021. All applicants are strongly advised to attend one session. Both workshops will be held in the second-floor Engineering Conference Room in the Somerset County Administration Building, 20 Grove St., Somerville, NJ 08876. Free parking is available in the attached parking deck off East High Street.

A formal Letter of Intent is due by Oct. 17 to the SCC&HC as a preliminary requirement of the grants process, in which the potential applicant states, in a paragraph or two, the purpose for which the organization intends to apply for funding and approximately how much money will be requested.

The application deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6. Guidelines and the application form are available athttp://bit.ly/LAPGrant2015

For more information, contact Pat McGarry in the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission office at(908) 203-6020 or by email at CulturalHeritage@co.somerset.nj.us