Photo of audience members at Nicholas Music Center on Douglass Campus by Lynne DeLade/Rutgers University

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Mason Gross School of the Arts (MGSA) is among 39 cultural organizations that received grants from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) in December 2025 to support efforts to expand arts access and audience attendance.

MGSA received a $500,000 grant under Phase II of NJEDA's Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (A.R.T.) program. According to the NJEDA, "The A.R.T. Phase II program aims to catalyze community placemaking efforts by leveraging New Jersey's arts and cultural sector as a creative force for change, and by supporting non-profit organizations focused on public art installations and arts-based initiatives."

The school's initiative, MGSA Access New Brunswick Project, has been launched with the goal of improving audience attendance at public performances and exhibitions at the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center on Douglass campus, at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, and at the Civic Square Building, both in downtown New Brunswick on Livingston Avenue.

The grant will allow MGSA to provide up to 12,000 complimentary performance tickets to New Brunswick Public School students and parents for events taking place in 2026, educational and Spanish-language materials related to selected performances, and auxiliary field-trip events. MGSA is coordinating at least 15 engagement opportunities across 2026, its 50th anniversary, and is planning to develop resources to make MGSA spaces feel more accessible and less intimidating to first-time visitors.

Stephanie Cronenberg, MGSA's interim associate dean for academic affairs and director of research, says the NJEDA grant "makes it possible for MGSA to embody its mission of 'cultivating partnerships with schools and communities throughout New Jersey' and to continue serving our neighborhood community as a reflection of the community engagement goals of the MGSA Future Roadmap and the Rutgers-New Brunswick Academic Master Plan.

"We want to help our entire community feel comfortable and welcome at our arts events, many of which are free and unticketed," Cronenberg adds. "We are pleased that this grant allows us to deepen our ongoing relationship with New Brunswick Public School students, wherever they are on their artistic journey."

Mason Gross School of the Arts is a vibrant community of artists and scholars committed to pursuing excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. Its mission is to create socially relevant art, foster diverse programming and curricula, cultivate community partnerships, and advance the arts through teaching, creative activity, advocacy, and research that contributes to the public good. Comprising approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students across programs in music, theater, dance, filmmaking, and art & design, Mason Gross is housed within Rutgers–New Brunswick, a premier Big Ten research university that serves some 50,000 students and is the flagship campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.