(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- Arts Ed NJ has been approved for a $100,000 Grant for the Arts Projects Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant was awarded to expand statewide support for arts education by publicly sharing information about arts education and its benefits in New Jersey, including data about student access to, and participation in, arts education.
Stakeholder convenings and professional learning offerings will address the importance of the arts in helping students and educators cope with post-pandemic trauma, leveraging the learnings from the 2021 Arts Education Census data, and newly released Interactive Arts Education Dashboard to educate about the critical need to operationalize diversity, equity & inclusion in arts education. In addition, a school board candidate survey about candidates’ stance on arts education will help voters make informed decisions at the polls this November.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects, including Arts Ed NJ’s Arts Ed Now initiative, demonstrating the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture, and design.”
Arts Ed Now is among 1,130 projects across the country, totaling more than $31 million, that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2023 funding.
“We are so proud to have continued support from the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Arts Ed NJ Executive Director, Wendy Liscow. “This nuanced, responsive, and powerful initiative provides practical tools that support students, educators, schools, and arts organizations throughout the state of New Jersey in their quest to advance arts education. This grant is a testimony to years of hard work of all our partners across New Jersey who have fought to make New Jersey a leader in arts education. Our recent Arts Education Call To Collaboration with 150 partners is a great example of what that looks like. Just check out the resulting Action Roadmap."
Arts Ed Now is an impact movement for promoting strong preK-12 arts education in New Jersey. NJ students need the benefits of arts education including building confidence, fostering a sense of belonging, and especially reconnecting to school and each other during these challenging times. As a statewide community of champions, we are committed to increasing participation and the impact of arts education for every student in every school in New Jersey.
Arts Ed NJ was founded in 2007 with the mission to provide a unified voice for a diverse group of constituents who agree on the educational benefits and impact of the arts, specifically the contribution they make to student achievement and a civilized, sustainable society. A major component of Arts Ed NJ’s work is the Arts Ed Now campaign which offers customizable grassroot tools to increase participation in arts education at a local level and garners public support to ensure every NJ child receives the quality arts education mandated by the state. Arts Ed NJ’s Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning Center supports the advancement of practices that are healing centered, culturally responsive, and grounded in the best practices offered by our social emotional learning framework.
