TRENTON — Seven Cape May County arts groups are set to receive 13 grants for the 2010 fiscal year from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts totaling nearly $325,000. That sounds like a lot of money, but county arts groups received over $500,000 last year.
Below are the awards to local groups:
General Operating Support
• Ocean City Pops Orchestra, $15,000
• Cape May Stage, $14,457
• East Lynne Theater, $7,332
• Center for Community Arts, $18,398
• Friends of Cape May Jazz, $38,896
• Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, $55,633
Local Arts Program
• County Culture & Heritage Division, $50,158
Co-sponsorships
• Cape May Stage, $45,500
• Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, $15,000
Staffing Assistance Initiative
• Cape May Stage, $10,750
• Center for Community Arts, $30,750
• Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, $3,575
Staffing Preservation Support
• East Lynne Theater, $3,952
According to Joe Pannullo, executive director of Cape May Stage, the co-sponsorship grant allows his group to participate next March in the New Jersey Theater Alliance Family Week, which provides the opportunity for young people to receive free tickets to performances and special events including classes, workshops and more.
Pannullo said that the staffing assistance grant was part of a four-year award that enabled Cape May Stage to hire an office manager to help with administrative duties and the general operating support grant provides funding for ongoing administration and programs.
While Cape May Stage appreciates the support from the state, Pannullo noted that funding was down from last year’s totals. For example, the theater company received $65,000 in FY 2009 funding for its Family Week co-sponsorship — nearly $20,000 more than this year. Similarly, it received over $4,000 more in general operating support last year.
Other groups were also affected. The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts lost about $25,000 in general operating support and the Center for Community Arts lost nearly $5,000.
The trend is not just a local phenomenon.
Arts funding was cut by 25 percent in the state budget signed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. Statewide the Council awarded over $14 million this year — more than $4 million less than in FY 2009.
When faced with budgetary problems, funding for the arts is usually the first targeted for cuts.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
