(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- bergenPAC, a premier performing arts center and education resource in northern New Jersey, has been awarded a $132,699 grant for programming and educational outreach in 2016. The grant will enable bergenPAC to continue to offer a wealth of entertainment in the performing arts and to increase its quality educational offerings to the residents of northern New Jersey. Dominic Roncace, CEO, has issued the following statement:
“bergenPAC is very grateful to have the renewed support of the New Jersey State Council on The Arts (NJSCA) to provide world class performances to the members of our diverse community and to continue our very necessary work for underserved children to learn and succeed through the arts. While we appreciate their consideration, we also feel our vital impact on our local community, Bergen County at large, and the state warranted a more substantial grant. At the very least our grant should have been comparable to similar Performing Arts Centers in the state.
The level of funding bergenPAC received is not on-par with the rest of the grant allocations, nor where it deserves to be. Of the counties with major Performing Arts Centers, Bergen County ranked dead last in the amount of funding received from NJSCA. For example, Essex County received approximately $5,600,000, Mercer County $1,500,000 and Middlesex County $1,100,000. Of the total $15,700,000 in grants NJSCA disbursed, Bergen County received just over $600,000 and bergenPAC only received approximately 22% of that.
In addition to being located in the county with the largest tax base in the state, bergenPAC is the only Performing Arts Center in the county of over a 1,000,000 people. We create a significant positive economic impact within our communities which unto itself should surely merit a larger award. Also, through scholarships and our substantial Arts Access Program, no one is denied access to the performing arts because of an inability to pay.
The mission of bergenPAC is to make the performing arts accessible to all. bergenPAC has built a creative home and education center that guides and liberates the imagination of our young, inspires and expands the lives of our adults, and attracts established and emerging artists of excellence and relevance.
As a non-profit organization, grants like these help substantially, and are necessary to our ability to fulfill our mission. In future years, we hope to receive a more equitable contribution from the New Jersey State Council on The Arts to help the arts to continue to thrive in Bergen County and our beautiful state.”
To find out more about bergenPAC, visit www.bergenpac.org or call 201-816-8160.
About bergenPAC
Founded in 2003, the 1,367-seat Bergen Performing Arts Center, or bergenPAC, is the area’s cultural mecca. Housed in a historic Art Deco-style theater boasting one of the finest acoustic halls in the United States, bergenPAC attracts a stellar roster of world-class entertainment. The jewel in our crown is The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC – the innovative, educational performing arts initiative that reaches more than 30,000 students annually. The Performing Arts School provides community youth, age 2 months to 21 years, with unique, “hands-on” training in music, dance and theater by industry professionals. It is through the ongoing generosity of sponsors, donors, members and patrons that the not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation bergenPAC and The Performing Arts School are able to thrive and enrich our community.
