4 Camden County Nonprofits Receive Arts & Culture Grant

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — The New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund has awarded $1.3 million in grants to more than 60 nonprofits statewide — including 4 in Camden County — still coping from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Camden County Historical Society, IDEA Center for the Arts, The Nick Virgilio Haiku Association and Symphony in C are among the latest grant recipients for Camden County.

According to Cynthia Primas, the president/CEO of the IDEA Center in Camden, the grant will allow her nonprofit create job opportunities for artists.

"The NJ Arts and Culture Recovery funds we received from the Princeton Area Community Foundation will allow us to hire artists who are struggling to maintain their footing but want to continue serving our Camden youth and their families in this extremely uncertain time, many of whom cannot afford to pay for the creative services we offer,” said Primas. “We are truly grateful to be able to sustain and maintain our mission to expose the community to the life affirming quality of the arts and we are honored to be recognized by the Princeton Area Community Foundation for the work we do."

This is the second round of grants awarded by NJACRF, which is hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Earlier this year, the fund provided $2.6 million in grants to more than 100 other arts, culture and historical nonprofits statewide.

COVID-19 shuttered venues and forced furloughs and layoffs of more than half of the state’s creative workforce. The state’s nonprofit arts industry reported pandemic-related losses of more than $100 million as of December.

In response to the needs of the arts community, NJACRF was established last year with a gift from the Grunin Foundation, based in Toms River. A coalition of funders quickly followed with their support, to ensure the recovery of the industry.

Most recently, Merck became a leadership donor, and the 1772 Foundation and Turrell Fund became major donors to the fund, which has raised a total of over $4.5 million. But the needs of the community across the state are great and fundraising continues, according to NJACRF members.

“COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the health and economic wellbeing of many communities in New Jersey,” said Carmen Villar, vice president, Social Business Innovation, Merck. “We are proud to support the NJACRF’s work to ensure equitable recovery of the vibrant arts and cultural sectors for all communities in our state.”

The fund is chaired by Jeremy Grunin, President of the Grunin Foundation, and Sharnita C. Johnson, Program Director – Arts, of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and members include Prudential Foundation, Stone Foundation of NJ, E. J. Grassmann Trust, NJ State Council on the Arts, and the NJ Historical Commission. Other major donors include the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Amazon and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.