$7,500 Grant A 'Lifesaver' For Gloucester Township's Mainstage

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Mainstage Center for the Arts Founder Ed Fiscella calls a $7,500 grant the theater group will receive from the New Jersey Arts and Cultural Recovery Fund (NJACRF) a lifesaver.

It is part of $2.6 million the group is providing to organizations and individuals in the cultural sector hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. And Mainstage has been hit hard.

“It has been exactly one year since we stopped our overall operation and have been relying on savings and fundraising to get us through,” said Fiscella, who is also the Producing Artistic Director. “The small number of online classes that we have been holding have basically been just paying for the teaching artist who teach the class but nothing else.”

Mainstage also received a $90,500 grant from the New Jersey Arts Council, which Fiscella said helped cover about half the money the theater group spent during the year with no income to support it.

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He told Patch that although it doesn’t cover all of Mainstage’s losses, it gives them a chance to survive until it can reopen this summer. Mainstage plans to hold an in-person Summer Stage program before getting back to its regular programs.

“Many have helped us through fundraising and so many have been truly understanding of our situation,” Fiscella said. “We had raised enough money in the fall to keep us going through to the end of December 2020 and then out of nowhere, this grant was approved. It was a godsend, and we believe, also a validation by the State Arts Council of what we do and the programs we provide to children.”

Mainstage stopped performing shows and having classes on March 15, Fiscella previously told Patch. In nearly a year since that happened, Mainstage has had to furlough almost its entire staff, with the exception of a handful of teachers. They are not the only group in the arts world that is struggling.

As of December, New Jersey’s nonprofit arts industry reported losses of more than $100 million because of pandemic-related closures and cancellations, and more than half of the state’s creative workforce has been laid off or furloughed, according to NJACRF.

“All of our administrative staff is either volunteering or working at severely reduced pay, but with that said, there are still monthly payments to be made, and planning taking place,” Fiscella said. “The grant has helped us to cover some of the losses we suffered during this past year, but we are using the funds to secure a safe reopening.”

This includes the installation of air purifiers throughout the building and the acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitizing supplies.

“We are really optimistic about the future and trust that the vaccines and responsible actions of those in our community will bring the COVID numbers down and allow us to open up safely,” Fiscella said. “I believe we quickly will return to what we do best, and that is providing opportunities for children and family in the arts. We have been really heartened by the number of emails and social media posts that we receive from people telling us how much they appreciate what we do and how their children cannot wait to return, not only to the activities they love, but also to see so many Mainstage friends again.”

NJACRF was established last year, and it is hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Established with a gift from the Grunin Foundation, based in Toms River, NJACRF quickly gained support from a coalition of funders who came together to ensure the strength and survival of the nonprofit arts, cultural and historical sector statewide.

Most recently, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Amazon have made leadership gifts to NJACRF, and PNC Bank and TD Charitable Foundation became major supporters of the fund, which is working to help save the nonprofit industry that employs thousands of people, provides educational programming in schools and communities, and serves as an essential component of local and state economies.

“NJARCF is doing extraordinary work ensuring the arts and culture sectors of New Jersey not only endure the pandemic, but, also, afterward, rebound in an equitable manner,” Amazon New Jersey Public Policy Manager Jillian Irvin said. “The grants being announced today will ensure these vital community touchstones remain after COVID-19 is gone, and continue contributing to New Jersey’s rich cultural tapestry and local economy.”

NJACRF has raised more than $3.7 million and fundraising continues to meet the growing financial need. The fund is chaired by representatives of the Grunin and Geraldine R. Dodge Foundations, 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 and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Applications and program guidelines for the next round of grants are now available. To learn more or apply, visit www.NJArtsCulture.org. Grant decisions are made through a multi-step, equity-centered process to ensure funds support underserved communities in New Jersey.

For more information visit www.NJArtsCulture.org. Make a gift to the fund here.