The Place for Jersey City News
Log In / Register
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Jersey City Times
  • News
  • Diversions
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Other Fun Stuff
  • In Our Midst
  • Food And Drink
  • Education
  • Neighborhoods
    • Downtown
      • News
      • Guide
    • Heights
      • News
      • Guide
    • Journal Square
      • News
      • Guide
    • Bergen Lafayette
      • News
      • Guide
    • Greenville
      • News
      • Guide
    • Westside
      • News
      • Guide
  • Opinion
  • Columns
    • Eye Level
    • Mamarama
  • Event Calendar
  • Support our Mission
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Aaron Morrill

What’s Next for the Arts and Culture Trust Fund?

November 19, 2020/in header, News, Performing Arts, Visual Arts /by Aaron Morrill

Artists, arts advocates and local culture vultures cheered when on November 3rd Jersey City voted to create an Arts and Culture Trust Fund, the first of its kind in New Jersey. Now, with the vote a done deal, the arts community is debating how the fund should operate. There is no shortage of ideas.

The brainchild of the Jersey City Arts Council and Mayor Fulop and then promoted by a wide range of artists and organizations including The Jersey City Arts Fund Committee, the fund will draw on a property tax levy of between .5 and 2 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value for every home in Jersey City. It is intended to support both  local arts organizations and individual artists.

Choreographer Kyle Marshall who runs an eponymous dance company believes the fund should address the needs of a wide spectrum of artists, including those who are independent and unaffiliated with an established not-for-profit organization. “If it’s only for large organizations, it’s not going to help individual artists.” He points out that “artists come from a certain demographic.  They are often lower income.”

Marshall imagines funding for arts educators, materials for classrooms, the awarding of scholarships and even tickets for shows that will expose artists to the work of other artists. He hopes that the fund might consider “micro-grants” that help artists with single projects or even with a month of studio rent. Beyond the money, there is validation that comes with receiving a grant. “Getting that first grant is really important” he says.

When asked how the fund would insure that grant money is spent effectively, especially in the case of individual artist without the financial controls of an established 501(c)(3) organization, Marshall suggests first that there be a “rigorous” vetting process that is “based on the work.”  Then there should be follow up.  He suggests dribbling out the grant in separate payments. Ultimately though “people need to trust artists.”

How do distribute the money equitably in a diverse city with wide ranging tastes and needs is occupying the thoughts of several local arts administrators. For Sam Pott, founder and artistic director of Nimbus Dance, “the arts, especially when supported by a public funding source such as this, should not exist in an elite ‘ivory tower,’ inaccessible to regular citizens… disconnected from normal folks.”

For Olga Levina, artistic director of Jersey City Theatre Center, the question is “how do we bring people together in a diverse city like Jersey City? It’s not just an elite art scene coming together but actually giving true value to people.”

Meredith Burns, executive director of Art House Productions, is concerned about losing public support if the process goes awry. “We need to be as equitable and transparent as possible.  We understand that this is taxpayer dollars.”

To avoid favoritism, Burns and Pott are proposing that the city create two committees; one possibly modeled on the Open Space Trust Fund, with representatives from each ward who would decide on priorities and another committee from outside such as the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, that would vet the grant applications for artistic merit. Both Burns and Pott are concerned about the potential for favoritism in a “small town” like Jersey City where everybody knows one another.

Before a single dollar can be granted however, a process will have to be set up and turned into law. Converting the vision to paper will fall to Ward B Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, the fund’s point person at City Hall.  She is open-minded as to the ultimate grant making process.  From her perspective “everything is on the table.”

Prinz-Arey hopes to put an initial ordinance before the city council in December establishing the fund. A second ordinance, probably in January or February, will be needed to set the levy amount. Finally a few months later, the council will vote on an ordinance that sets up the committee structure and the process to parcel out grants.  Much remains unknown, including when monies will begin rolling in from the levy.

Prinz-Arey is excited that Jersey City will now begin to close the gap with Newark, which receives funding from the massive $4 million allotted by the state  to Essex County. In comparison, Hudson County gets only $250 thousand. According to Prinz-Arey the fund will enable Jersey City groups to “build out their capacity” and better compete for larger grants.

Like Burns and Levina, Prinz-Arey is cognizant of the fact that an arts fund will have to prove itself. “When the money is granted out they are going to have to show impact.” But the economic case for arts funding is solid she says. “When you have a strong arts community there are ancillary benefits for business community.”

Nonetheless, the arts community is aware that people are watching. Levina recalls one anti-referendum activist telling her “Olga, when and if it passes, I hope you think about the mother in Greenville who gives her hard earned money. I’ll be very upset if the money goes Downtown.”

 

Featured image: “Bouquet” – oil on canvas by Laurie Riccadonna

Tags: Arts and Culture Trust Fund, Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, Jersey City Council on the Arts, Mayor Steven Fulop, The Jersey City Arts Fund Committee
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
You might also like
Charges of Political Opportunism and Racism Dominate As City Council Approves Board of Education Referendum
Mayor Fulop Mayor Fulop and Councilman Yun Design $250 Million Plan to Fix School Budget Over Next Three Years
Bodycam Tapes Show Bravery of Jersey City Cops, Fulop says
City Gears Up For “Aggressive” Anti-Virus Campaign”
Jersey City Projected to Lose $70M in Coronavirus Crisis
County Slots Homeless into Motels
Christ Hospital Hospital Only for COVID-19 Patients Planned in Hudson County
Defender of the Heights: Jersey City Mourns Passing of Ward D Councilman Michael C. Yun

News Briefs

Assemblyman Nicholas A. Chiaravalloti (D-Hudson) is joining Governor Phil Murphy at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City for the signing of Bill A4410 / S2743, which will permanently codify the Community College Opportunity Grant Program into law. Students enrolled in any of the state’s 18 community colleges may be able to have their tuition waived. Students must be enrolled in at least six credits per semester and have an adjusted gross income of $0 -$65,000 in order to be considered. 

Jersey City Library Director Jeffrey Trzeciak is leaving to take a job in his hometown, Dayton, Ohio after serving for just 15 months.

An ordinance creating a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) scheduled for introduction this week has been pulled, pending further discussions.

Ahmad Broadway, age 26, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in the January 11, 2019 shooting inside the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City that injured two people. 

The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force and the Jersey City Fire Department are investigating a two-alarm fire that killed an 84-year-old woman Thursday morning at 270 Clerk Street in Jersey City. 

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has announced the indictment of three people in connection with the July 6, 2020 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Tyeah Garner on Rutgers Avenue in Jersey City. Heavenley Cherry, 19, and Jahquell Carter, 25, both of Jersey City, were charged with Murder and other related crimes. Izmae Tinker-Trent, 19, of Jersey City, was charged with Hindering a Murder Investigation.  

The Jersey City Education Association has started a GoFundMe campaign to support the family of 11-year-old Desire Reid and eight-month old Kenyon Robinson who died in a house fire on Martin Luther King Drive on Wednesday night. Here is the link.

Vaccine-eligible individuals can make an appointment online by visiting hudsoncovidvax.org.

The 2021 tree planting applications are available. If you have an empty tree pit on your block or a street you can fill out the form and the city’s arborists will handle it.  bit.ly/adoptatreespri…

Keep abreast of Jersey City Covid-19 statistics here.

Governor Murphy has launched a “Covid Transparency Website” where New Jerseyans can track state expenditures related to Covid.  Go here.

For info on vaccinations, call Vaccination Call Center and our operators will assist you with scheduling one: 855-568-0545

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

Sat 27

Walk-Bye Kids’ Photo Challenge

February 27
Jersey City NJ
United States
Sat 27

Black History Month Group Exhibition

February 27
Jersey City NJ
United States
Sat 27

Still I Rise Exhibition

February 27 @ 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat 27

Paulus Hook Farmer’s Market

February 27 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States
Sat 27

The Empowering: A Social Justice Exhibition Curated by Danielle Scott

February 27 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States

View More…

CONTACT US

    ADS/INFO

    For information on advertising opportunities, please contact - ads@jcitytimes.com

    For information on writing opportunities, please contact - info@jcitytimes.com

    Download our media kit here

    ABOUT US

    About Jersey City Times

    Contact Jersey City Times

    Social

    Archive

    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    Copyright © 2020 JCityTimes.com. All Rights Reserved - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme
    Councilman Solomon Calls for Better Emergency Alerts Class Schedules Tweaked for More Student Support
    Scroll to top
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Support Jersey City Times WITH A MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION

    for the price of a tall coffee at Starbucks!