(TRENTON, NJ) -- The New Jersey State Council on the Arts held its first public meeting of 2024 on February 20th, where just over $1.7 million was awarded to 161 New Jersey artists through the Council's Individual Artist Fellowship program. In 2022, the Council voted to authorize an unprecedented investment of $2 million in the Fellowship program. Through this continued commitment of funding, this year's Fellowship cohort is the largest one the Council has added to its distinguished list of Fellows in over 30 years.
The Fellowships are competitive awards to New Jersey artists in 12 rotating disciplines granted solely on independent peer panel assessment of work samples. The anonymous process is focused on artistic quality, and awards may be used to help artists produce new work and advance their careers. New Jersey artists applied for awards this year in the categories of digital/electronic, film/video, interdisciplinary, painting, printmaking/drawing/book arts, and prose. This program is carried out in partnership with Mid Atlantic Arts.
Click here for a PDF file with the complete list of the 2024 Fellowship and Finalist Award recipients.
“The continued creativity of our state’s artist community never ceases to amaze me,” said Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, who oversees the Council in her capacity as Secretary of State. “Artists bring together communities, provoking emotion and thought, and impacting our everyday lives."
Speaking to the significance of direct funding for artists, Council Chair Elizabeth Mattson said, “Artists are at the heart of everything we do – not only as an agency, but as an industry. Just as arts organizations are always in need of operating funds, these awards allow artists more freedom and flexibility to focus on creating and sharing their work.”
The New Jersey State Council on Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council believes the arts are central to every element we value most in a modern society, including: human understanding; cultural and civic pride; strong communities; excellent schools; lifelong learning; creative expression; and economic opportunity.
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