(HAMILTON, NJ) -- New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts congratulate the 2023 Cultural Access Award recipients that were announced and presented at the 14th Annual Excellence in Cultural Access Awards on June 15, 2023. The event took place at Grounds for Sculpture.

”Accessibility has been a longstanding priority of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and thanks to our partnership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, we have been able to make significant strides in arts access,” said Mary Eileen Fouratt, Access Coordinator at the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. “The thoughtfulness and devotion displayed by this year’s Award recipients is truly inspiring, and the State Arts Council is grateful to have them as part of New Jersey’s vibrant arts community.”

The Cultural Access Network Project (CAN) – a program of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey Theatre Alliance - was formed more than 30 years ago and provides a wide range of services and programs to assist theatres and cultural organizations in making their programs and facilities accessible to seniors and people with disabilities. The program is guided by a volunteer steering committee representing arts patrons, state and county officials, arts administrators, and managers from organizations serving people with disabilities.

“This year’s award recipients exemplify a commitment to ensuring the arts are accessible to everyone. Their role model programs put cultural accessibility at the forefront of their organization,” says John McEwen, Executive Director of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Recipients are awarded based on their work in accessibility and offering equality and opportunity for all individuals with disabilities. Awards recipients include:

CHAMPION AWARD RECIPIENT: Maureen Heffernan of Hamilton, NJ has spent more than 30 years in the field of Arts Education, working first as a teaching artist and then as a non-profit arts administrator where she has worked with young people, their teachers and their families throughout the tri-state region. She was the Executive Director of The Institute for Arts and Humanities Education and served as the Director of Arts and Education for Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania. In her work in the field of Arts Education, she is deeply interested in the places where this work intersects with other fields especially around creativity, innovation, and sustainability. Maureen has a strong passion for, and a commitment to providing opportunities for all people to access their creativity that we might use that power to build stronger communities.

"I am truly honored to receive a Champion Award from the Cultural Access Network and my colleagues there. They have been personal heroes to me for the work they have so humbly and continuously done for so many years to bring accessibility to the arts to so many throughout the state of New Jersey and to serve as leaders throughout the United States in this ongoing and very important service work," says Heffernan.

INNOVATOR AWARD RECIPIENTS

Epic Actors Workshop, located in Old Bridge and New Brunswick, NJ brings together the gems of South Asian Theater through an annual theater festival. In 2006, the organization developed a new software to project supertitles in real time during performances. This real-time captioning is made possible using the script translated in any language projected on a screen above the stage. This tool provided accessibility for hearing impaired audiences to the theater experience. Now they can change the color and size of the front and color of the background instantly as the size and capacity of the auditorium changes—improving the visibility of captioning.

The Moorestown Theater Company (MTC), located in Moorestown, NJ, is the first of the 250+ community theaters in New Jersey to become a chapter of the nation-wide Penguin Project. Celebrating their 21st Season in 2023 and being the reigning “Outstanding Community Theater Of The Year” (from the NJ Association of Community Theaters), MTC always likes to think outside of the theater box. MTC produced a Penguin Project musical, Annie JR., with 14 neurodiverse Actors and seven neurotypical Mentors. Participation in this program has significant therapeutic value by enhancing socialization, communication, and self-esteem. MTC plan to produce a second Penguin Project children’s musical in April 2024.

"The Moorestown Theater Company is honored to have the New Jersey Theatre Alliance bestow its 2023 Cultural Access Network 'Innovator Award' on our organization," said Founding Producing Artistic Director Mark Morgan. "MTC is so proud to be the first New Jersey Chapter of the nationwide 'Penguin Project', which has 52 Chapters in 22 other states. Founded in Peoria, IL in 2004 by Dr. Andrew Morgan [no relation to MTC's Mark Morgan], Penguin Project Chapters produce a 'JR.' musical for Neurodiverse children between the ages of 6 to 21.  MTC presented Annie JR. in April 2023 with 14 Neurodiverse 'Actors' and seven Neurotypical 'Mentors'.  Thank you John McEwen and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance for this prestigious award." 

Julie Averbach of Short Hills, NJ is the founder of smARTee, a virtual arts enrichment platform that broadens access to world-class art museums for seniors, including seniors with disabilities. These tours simulate in-person visits to world-renowned museums and sites that are often inaccessible for older adults and address common barriers to cultural participation, such as transportation and limited mobility. Virtual tours enable accessibility options of volume control and closed captioning, and feature zoomed-in details of artworks, allowing participants to observe art more closely without visual strain. With demonstrated impact and peer-reviewed empirical support, smARTee has established proof of concept that virtual arts participation has positive mental health benefits for older adults, including those with disabilities.

"I am truly grateful and honored to be recognized for my nonprofit project, smARTee. SmARTee provides free live virtual art museum tours for older adults, promoting arts access and emotional well-being. In joining the Cultural Access Network, I’ve gained so much knowledge and inspiration to fuel my efforts in expanding smARTee. Looking toward the future, I’m eager to continue leveraging technology as a medium for arts access, and to partner with more older adult organizations nationally to host virtual art tours,” says Julie Averbach founder of smARTee.

Winners will enjoy statewide recognition, and each Innovator Award recipient received a $500 grant to help their organization in the advancement of cultural access.

To view the full awards ceremony visit, njtheatrealliance.org/2023-excellence-in-cultural-access-awards.

Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey. Funding for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, is provided in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, and contributions from numerous individuals, corporations, and foundations including The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Grunin Foundation, MidAtlanic Arts Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, City National Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The Union Foundation, New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, and OceanFirst Foundation

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. 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 believes the arts are central to every element we value most in a modern society including: human understanding; cultural and civic pride; strong communities; excellent schools; lifelong learning; creative expression; and economic opportunity.

Photos courtesy of New Jersey Theatre Alliance