The New Jersey Historical Commission and the New Jersey Council on the Arts recently announced several million dollars in grants to local arts and historical organizations.
Mercer County historical groups received $310,692 out of $2,332,659 distributed across the state. Arts organizations in Mercer County received $1,544,135 of $15.7 million in total grants. Both sets of grants are funded by a state hotel and motel occupancy tax. The New Jersey Council on the Arts also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Among the 75 organizations state-wide to receive Historical Commission grants 12 are in Mercer County. The general operating support grants, which support educational programming, preservation efforts, and research and scholarship, are the largest grant appropriation given by the Historical Commission.
“This financial support reaffirms our commitment to New Jersey’s historical organizations and their important programs,” Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno said in a statement. “It also recognizes the impact these organizations have on economic growth and job creation.”
The largest grants went to the Historical Society of Princeton with $69,780, Historic Morven ($65,000), and the Old Barracks Association ($57,871).
Other recipients include:
The 1719 William Trent House Association – $23,702
Crossroads of the American Revolution –– $9,295
Genealogical Society of New Jersey –– $6,639
Howell Living History Farm –– $23,841
Lawrence Historical Society –– $5,000
Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission –– $11,502
Preservation New Jersey –– $26,400
Trent House Association –– $6,623
Trenton Historical Society –– $5,039.
Nineteen Mercer County-based arts organizations received grants from the Council on the Arts, which awarded 217 grants in total. The biggest grants went to McCarter Theater with $626,820, Young Audiences of New Jersey with $241,276, and the American Boychoir School with $147,120.
The funds, announced at the Council’s annual meeting at the War Memorial in Trenton on July 31, were in the vast majority of cases identical to those granted last year. Among the six new grantees, however, was the Trustees of Princeton University, which received $30,000.
Other recipients include:
Arts Council of Princeton –– $46,158
Boheme Opera Company –– $19,313
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers –– $3,200
Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra ––$31,968
Grounds For Sculpture –– $42,964
International Sculpture Center –– $34,248
Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission –– $92,577
Opera New Jersey –– $62,905
Passage Theater Company –– $22,092
People and Stories Gente y Cuentos –– $15,248
Princeton Girlchoir –– $30,000
Princeton Pro Musica ––$14,647
Princeton Symphony Orchestra –– $45,592
The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey –– $19,007
Princeton Festival –– $19,000.
