The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Mercer County Executive Daniel Benson and the Board of County Commissioners have made funds available for support of the Arts through a Local Art Partnership (LAP) grant administered by the Cultural & Heritage Division.
Donor Name: Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission
State: New Jersey
County: Mercer County (NJ)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/01/2024
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
This State block-grant program, funded in large part by the National Endowment for the Arts, provides essential support for the local arts community. The grants are intended to promote the growth and public accessibility of high quality, diverse, community arts organizations and projects.
Grant Categories
- General Operating Support
- General Operating Support grants are available only to non-profit organizations whose missions are exclusively devoted to the public presentation of, and/or education in, the arts. GOS funds provide support for the overall operations of these organizations for the calendar year. Although there are specific uses for GOS funds that are considered ineligible, GOS funds may be used for most activities that support the organization’s arts mission.
- Special Project Support
- A special project is a public arts activity or event that occurs during the grant year with specific start and completion dates. The project may contain multiple events or activities, but these must be clearly related by discipline or theme. The special project MUST be separate from the regular programming of the applicant organization and should have its own mission and goals. It may be considered a permanent “additional project” within the sponsoring institution or it may be a one-time occurrence. The project should be wholly dedicated to the arts and the sponsoring organization should clearly demonstrate a commitment to support of the arts project through the allocation of resources and funds raised in the community.
- Examples of a special project include a concert, an exhibition, an on-line painting demonstration, a mixed media presentation, a special run of a theatrical production, a festival, or workshops, lectures and demonstrations in one of the arts disciplines.
- All events funded through Special Project grants must take place within Mercer County and must be open to the general public.
Grant Period
The Grant Period for all FY25 grants under this program runs January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Eligibility Requirements
- Mercer County-based nonprofit organizations, units of local government, libraries, and/or institutes of higher education that have been offering or presenting arts programming for at least the past two years are eligible to apply for Mercer County’s LAP grant support. K-12 schools and school districts are not eligible, but may partner or collaborate with an eligible applicant group on a project.
- At the time of application, an organization must be incorporated as a non-profit in the State of NJ and designated tax-exempt by determination of the Internal Revenue Service (in accordance with Sections 501(c) 3 or (c) 4). Organizations whose filings with the IRS for tax exempt status are in process and on schedule to be determined by October 2024, may be considered for a LAP grant if they identify a current 501(c)(3 or 4) New Jersey non-profit to serve as a fiscal agent. In sucha case, a letter of agreement from that fiscal agent mustbe included with this application, along with a copy of the agency’s IRS determination letter.
For more information, visit Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
