A $56,030 grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts will benefit programming at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University in Atlantic City. Photo courtesy of Stockton University.

(GALLOWAY, NJ) -- The New Jersey State Council on the Arts recently awarded more than $500,000 to Stockton University to support arts programs. The grants include a record amount of $145,730 for the university's Performing Arts Center, $56,030 for the Noyes Museum of Art at Stockton University and $300,000 for the co-sponsored "State of the Arts" television program that airs weekly on New Jersey Public Broadcasting Service. The money will be renewed annually for the next three years.

The grants are part of more than $30 million the council awarded to approximately 900 arts organizations, projects and artists throughout the state. The funding comes from the revenue generated through the state’s hotel/motel occupancy fee.

“The investment made in our state’s artists and organizations has a direct, positive impact on New Jersey residents, families, businesses, and communities,” said Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who oversees the council in her role as Secretary of State. “It’s an honor to work closely with the council to help our state’s creative industries thrive, and to ensure New Jersey’s diverse constituencies can access the many benefits of the arts.”

Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the dance tradition of “stepping.” The group will perform at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Nov. 16. Photo courtesy of Stockton University.

Anjanette Christy, the director of Stockton’s Performing Arts Center, was thrilled with the increase in funding to support the center’s programming, which features more than 30 theater, music and dance events for the 2024-25 season. For more on the schedule, go to the center’s website.

“We are very pleased that the council took into account the rising costs of business, plus our initiatives to ensure that the PAC is a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible venue,” Christy said. “This support will enable us to showcase diverse and exceptional talent while expanding our programming and outreach to serve all communities, including those historically underrepresented. We are deeply grateful to the New State Council on the Arts for their generous funding.”

Michael Cagno, the executive director of the Noyes Museum, said the funding will help support a variety of exhibitions and programs with community partners at the museum’s locations in Kramer Hall in Hammonton and at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University in Atlantic City. For more information about the latest exhibits, go to noyesmuseum.org or artsgarageac.com.

Stockton has partnered with PCK Media since 2011 to co-produce “State of the Arts.” The weekly television program, which is broadcast on NJ PBS and has won several New York and Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards, debuted in 1981 and the Council on the Arts has supported it since 1985. PCK Media is an award-winning documentary production company based in Trenton and founded in 2010.

The council is the largest funder of arts in New Jersey and most of the grants provide the type of funding most challenging for nonprofits to find — multiyear, flexible support the help pay for basic operations.

“The grants voted on reflect the council’s commitment to listening to field needs and then taking action,” said Allison Tratner, the council’s executive director. “Over $20 million in operating support was approved, signaling a historic mark of progress for the council and our sector. We are extremely grateful to the Murphy administration for the ongoing support of New Jersey’s vital arts community.”

Stockton University is ranked among the top public universities in the nation. Our more than 9,000 students can choose to live and learn on the 1,600-acre wooded main campus in the Pinelands National Reserve in South Jersey and at our coastal residential campus just steps from the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City. The university offers more than 160 undergraduate and graduate programs.