The New Jersey State Council on the Arts voted to extend current general operating and general program grants for a year, thereby postponing new applications for funding until Fiscal Year 2014
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno oversees the arts agency in her role as Secretary of State. TRENTON — The New Jersey State Council on the Arts has found a way to reduce the onslaught of paperwork from some 200 applications for new grants it expects to receive in February.
Put it all off for a year.
At a hastily called meeting in Trenton last Friday, the arts council voted to extend current general operating and general program grants for a year, thereby postponing new applications for funding until Fiscal Year 2014. Eight of the 17 council members attended the meeting, and another five connected by telephone. The resolution, the only item on the agenda, passed unanimously.
The current grants — which comprise the majority of the council’s $16 million in funds — are in the third year of a three-year commitment.
The decision was prompted in part by the recent departure of the council’s executive director. It means the arts council will base next July’s grants on independent peer reviews of applications submitted in February 2009.
According to a letter from interim executive director Julie Ellen Prusinowski sent to organizations on Monday, the council "strategically decided" a one-year extension of current grants will "lessen the administrative requirements yet maintain the integrity of the council’s grants process."
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who oversees the arts agency in her role as Secretary of State, said through a spokesman that she supports the council and its efforts to "most effectively fulfill its responsibilities to New Jersey’s arts community."
In a typical year, the arts council staff would start preparing for applications for the next round of three-year grants around this time of year. That process includes convening committees of nearly 100 independent peer reviewers who grade applications and make funding suggestions to the council. The council uses the peer review comments as the foundation for its grants decisions.
The council is short-handed because of the departure of executive director Steve Runk, who announced his resignation in April but remained on staff through September so he could assist the council with last summer’s grants. It would be a challenge for the council’s 11-person staff to handle this "rigorous and thorough" process without a leader, Prusinowski’s letter said.
Prusinowski said the postponement affects only current general operating and general program grantees. New applications will be considered, as will applications for education, project and staffing grants. She also said the council will require "an enhanced interim report" from its grantees "in order to have the most up-to-date information regarding fiscal and program planning."
WBGO Jazz 88 president and CEO Cephas Bowles said it was a smart move. Organizations are evaluated annually, so delaying the new application for a year won’t harm the process, he said.
"Every year I have to justify to the state arts council their investment in WBGO is valid and worthy," he said. "Eyes have been on (us) them since 2009, and will continue to be in 2011 and 2012."