The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson and the Board of County Commissioners make funds available for support of the arts through a State/County Block Grant/Partnership for County Arts Agencies (CAAs) from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Donor Name: Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission
State: New Jersey
County: Mercer County (NJ)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/07/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Applications are carefully evaluated to ensure that programs offered are of high quality, represent the County’s diverse population, and encourage community participation with maximum availability and accessibility to all county residents. This Local Arts Program Grant (LAP) is awarded to the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission and is administered by the Mercer County Division of Culture & Heritage. The LAP Grant is intended to both promote the growth of and expand the public impact of community based arts organizations and arts projects.
Categories
- General Operating Support (GOS)
- 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.
- Special Project Support (SP)
- This category is open to any organization that meets the basic eligibility requirements of the LAP grant. 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
Priorities
In addition to the evaluation criteria, importance is placed on:
- Innovation in programming or projects
- Collaborations or partnerships, especially between culturally diverse organizations and artists
- Demonstration of benefits to culturally diverse or underserved populations
- Inclusion of and service to artists who are disabled
- Demonstrated efforts to expand outreach efforts and programming to attract new audiences
Disciplines
Arts programs and projects must fall under at-least one of the following disciplines:
- Dance
- Instrumental or Vocal Music
- Theatre or Musical Theatre
- Visual and Media Arts
- Folk Arts and Crafts (if they reflect authentic traditions practiced by master artists)
- Literary Arts
- Composition
- Multi-Disciplinary
- Multi-Media Projects
Funding Information
Total amount requested may not exceed $7,000.
Grant Period
January 1 – December 31, 2027.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for the Mercer County Local Arts Program (LAP) grant, applicants must be nonprofit organizations, libraries, or institutions of higher education based in Mercer County. These organizations must have been offering or presenting arts programming consistently for at least the past two years.
- For the 2026 through 2028 (26–28) grant cycles, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) has reinstated eligibility for units of local government. These entities may now apply directly for LAP funding. While local government applicants may choose to partner with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to serve as a fiscal agent for a proposed project, this partnership is no longer a requirement for eligibility. Colleges, Universities, and Other Educational and Religious Institutions:
- These organizations are eligible if:
- The organization is applying for project support for an art activity, project or program
- The art activity, project, or program is marketed to and open to the general public
- The activity is supplemental to any curriculum and separate from any religious observance
- Neither the grant nor the matching funds are used to pay salaries of faculty or members of the clergy.
For more information, visit MCCHC.
