Jazz Arts Project awards mini grants to musicians in need.

September 1, 2022

For Immediate Release:

The non-profit organization, Jazz Arts Project has awarded individual cash relief grants to 41 New Jersey musicians and teaching artists as part of the New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation (NJACRF-PACF). This program was created to provide more than $500,000 in direct relief to sector workers in the arts who were most vulnerable to the disruptions and the lingering economic setbacks brought on by the pandemic. Jazz Arts was one of only 14 organizations statewide selected as an intermediary regranting agency in order to access a well-established network of individual artists in need. 

Jazz Arts distributed more than $25,000 in mini relief grants to musicians and teaching artists and provided a limited number of emergency grants to those in most need due to catastrophic or dire circumstances.  One recipient wrote: “I was pleased to receive a check from Jazz Arts Project in yesterday’s mail.  This is a wonderful help in these crazy Covid times we are living in.  However, more than the monetary amount, it just feels good to receive recognition for years and years of effort!”  

Another wrote: “I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate the recent check granted to me by your organization, through the NJ Arts and Cultural Renewal Fund!”  He also said: “These funds will indeed be very helpful to me and my family as well, as we continue to work through the challenges the past few years of pandemic have brought us. I am  honored to be a recipient, and I hope you will accept my deepest thanks for your generosity.”  

Jazz Arts Project is an organization which has been closely associated with musicians and teaching artists for more than 17 years as a presenter of live music, as an employer, and as champions and supporters of their work. We know first hand, their value to our culture and to our communities and we know the daily struggles encountered as artists dedicated to keeping the music alive especially during the pandemic. Jazz Arts Artistic Director Joe Muccioli said "The arts and culture sector overall—especially our musicians and teachers—have been hit quite hard over the past few years. The pandemic has led to so many catastrophic and life changing challenges for families and individuals who count on performing and teaching in order to make a living. Hopefully these awards will bring at least some relief and help us to transition back to normal."  By awarding Emergency and Relief Funds directly to musicians and teaching artists who reside in the state of New Jersey, we continue an adjacent and parallel endeavor to our mission as an advocate for the arts in our communities.  

The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund was created by a coalition of public and private funders to ensure the survival and strength of the state’s arts and cultural sector facing economic devastation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants through the NJACRF-PACF aim to catalyze an equitable statewide recovery and build cultural sector resilience with a special focus on smaller more vulnerable nonprofits hardest hit by sector disruptions. NJACRF is committed to an equity-centered grantmaking process to ensure that the funds support the organizations across the entire state, prioritizing those that operate in underserved communities. The fund was established with a lead gift from the Grunin Foundation and is hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Chaired by representatives from the Grunin Foundation and the Victoria Foundation, coalition leadership includes the Grunin Foundation, Prudential Foundation, Stone Foundation of NJ, EJ Grassmann Trust, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJ State Council on the Arts, NJ Historical Commission, and specialists in statewide cultural philanthropy.

For further information:

www.NJArtsCulture.org                       www.JazzArtsProject.org