(MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ) -- Middlesex County has announced the 2023 Arts & History Grant Awards in the amount of $2,326,367 to 93 municipal agencies and local nonprofit arts and history organizations. Funding support includes: Core Partners, General Operating Support, Program Support, and Historic Preservation & Capital Grants. The grant cycle opens each summer with the announcement of the grant guidelines and a series of Grant Writing Workshops, which were held virtually last year.
Funding for these grants is made possible by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. Middlesex County funding partners include the New Jersey Historical Commission and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Total grant funding amounts by discipline:
Theatre: $927,782; Dance: $331,775; Multidisciplinary: $308,625; Festivals/Folklife: $262,500; Music/Choral: $187,735; History: $127,400; Historic Preservation and Capital: $70,000; Visual Art: $66,750; Public Art: $30,250; and Literary: $13,550.
Core Partners are organizations with which the County has long-standing, consistent commitment, and collaboration. These institutions have demonstrated capacity for large-scale programming that serves Middlesex County residents and significantly increases economic and community engagement. Additional considerations for this designation include close proximity to the County’s Administration and Arts Institute offices in New Brunswick and shared physical resources and services.
With a strong tradition of supporting arts, culture, and history, Middlesex County aspires to reach all County residents through these funded programs and directly through virtual and in-person programming providing by the Arts Institute of Middlesex County. The Arts Institute oversees arts, culture, folklife, and history for the County with offices in the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and at the East Jersey Old Town Village. The Institute provides technical assistance workshops, arts and history lectures, artist interviews, folklife events and workshops, cultural foodways tutorials and kits, makerspace workshops, arts education programs, public art partnerships, and a variety of interactive arts and wellness programs for seniors and veterans.
Middlesex County is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, three universities, 19 park systems, and world-class healthcare and research facilities making it one of the nation’s most dynamic regions and a leader in technology, transportation, the arts, and food innovation. As one of the most diverse populations in the country, Middlesex County is home to over 860,000 residents living throughout 25 municipalities. The County's award-winning Middlesex County Magnet Schools system and two-year Middlesex College uphold its position as #1 in the state for best schools, offering secondary and postsecondary education and workforce development programs that create a unique ecosystem in which opportunities abound. Conveniently located between New York and Philadelphia, Middlesex County is a leading destination for businesses and residents alike to live, work, and play – and has been since the 17th century.
