(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- A recent New Jersey arts and culture survey revealed that 240 organizations have suffered a combined loss of more than $100 million since March due to COVID-19 related cancellations and postponements of cultural events and activities. The survey, conducted by ArtPride New Jersey in collaboration with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Dance New Jersey, and South Jersey Cultural Alliance, disclosed the need for more than $8 million to sustain operations through the end of 2020.
“People from all walks of life continue to turn to the arts for relief, entertainment, and a feeling of community,” notes Allison Tratner, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. “Even as artists and arts organizations creatively shift online, the financial losses from the inability to sell tickets, subscriptions, and in-person experiences continue to mount, making the future of this essential industry truly uncertain.”
More than 25 percent of the “COVID-19 Impact Survey on Arts & Cultural Organizations in New Jersey” respondents – which represent groups from nearly all 21 counties in the fields of visual arts, music, dance, performing arts, art education, and more – indicated they were uncertain of their ability to survive continued loss into the next calendar year.
When New Jersey’s nonprofit arts sector is thriving, it annually employs 22,000 creative workers with more than 8.5 million people attending cultural events throughout the Garden State. Additionally, as an industry, the nonprofit arts sector typically drives more than $662 million to the state's economy each year.
“New Jersey’s complete economic recovery will not happen without a thriving cultural sector,” says Adam Perle, President & CEO of ArtPride New Jersey. “This is imperative to remember as policymakers consider all recovery and stimulus efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
To view the survey infographic and other research that demonstrates the important connection between the state’s creative industry and its communities, visit ArtPrideNJ.org/research. For more information on how the arts make New Jersey a special place to live, work, and visit, go to KeepJerseyArtsAlive.org.
The ArtPride New Jersey Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that promotes the value of the arts to New Jersey’s quality of life, education and economic vitality through research and a variety of programs and services. For more information about ArtPride, visit ArtPrideNJ.org.
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the N.J. Department of State. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council receives direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated, renewable Hotel/Motel Occupancy Fee, as well as competitive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
