(BERGEN COUNTY, NJ) -- The local arts community and supporters of the arts are asked to rally for five percent for the arts in Bergen County., New Jersey.  Join the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's ArtsBergen, ArtPride New Jersey and a myriad of arts organizations, artists and creatives to advocate a 5% allocation of Bergen County’s $261 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding for the arts.

Show your support for the value of the arts and their essential role in Bergen County’s COVID-19 recovery.  ArtsBergen encourages you to contact Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III and the County Commissioners with a couple of easy clicks at http://bit.ly/FivePercentForTheArts.  The more emails County representatives receive, the more support is shown.

Arts Underfunded in Bergen County

The arts in Bergen County have long been underfunded.  The NNJCF's ArtsBergen submitted a formal letter to the County Executive and the County Commissioners, with feedback from the local arts community.  The letter proposed 5% of ARP funds be used for a significant grant program supporting arts organizations/artists, creation of a Destination Marketing Organization, and creative placemaking and public art events.     

The arts impact New Jersey significantly:

* Over $23 billion of the state's economy emanated from the arts. (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2017)

* Over 70,000 creatives in the state were impacted by COVID-19 and unemployed. (Lost Art: Measuring COVID-19's devastating impact on America's creative economy. Brookings, 2020)

*  Over $3 billion was lost in revenue, resulting from COVID-19's impact on the state's arts community. (Lost Art: Measuring COVID-19's devastating impact on America's creative economy. Brookings, 2020)

The ARP provides an opportunity to “build back better”, while positively impacting local jobs, the economy, and the community.  "Rallying together, we elevate the arts, as an effective and vital sector boosting local economies, aiding in good mental health, and building back the community.  This is well worth ARP funding.  Please share this appeal with your friends, constituents, and colleagues, who support the arts!" said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on civic engagement, education, the environment, philanthropy, public health, and the arts.  NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life.  The Foundation's partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other, by sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources. 

ArtsBergen, a Northern New Jersey Community Foundation initiative, is an arts alliance in Bergen County, New Jersey supporting and encouraging creative placemaking, the practice of integrating arts and culture into a neighborhood, town, or region to build community and livability and boost local economy.  The initiative's mission is to energize and unify artists and arts organizations and connect the Bergen County community to the arts.