Local Arts Grants Program

Our FY24 Local Arts Grant applications are now closed. You will be notified via email in November. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Bethany Russo, Grants Administrator at brusso@morrisarts.org.


Morris Arts is pleased to announce the continuation of the Local Arts Grant Program made possible by, and contingent upon, funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA). In spirit of our mission to build community through the arts, we offer Local Arts Grants to provide access to quality arts experiences in Morris County communities. Each year, the program supports more than 1,500 arts activities and programs that serve over 100,000 children and adults.

Is your Morris County organization interested in receiving a grant from Morris Arts? Is your Morris County organization seeking funding for an arts project?

Local Arts Grant funding is available for Morris County organizations that provide the community with arts events that are artistically excellent, provide public benefit, and are accessible to the public. Morris Arts offers General Operating Support (GOS) Grants for arts organizations and Special Project Support (SPS) Grants for other types of organizations that have significant arts programs. New and emerging organizations are eligible to apply for a Mini Grant. Applications are reviewed by an independent panel and funding awarded on a yearly basis.

Applicants must show the ability to complete all reporting necessary in accepting public funds by the deadlines specified, including a Local Arts Grant Application for funding, a Commitment Letter, and a Final Report. Organizations already receiving funding from NJSCA are not eligible for a Local Arts Grant.

Local Arts Grant awards CANNOT be awarded:
A. To individual artists;
B. To those organizations funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts or any other County Arts Agency;
C. To pay administrative salaries;
D. For capital improvements, projects, or acquisitions, including the purchase of permanent equipment;
E. For hospitality costs and travel;
F. To replace deficits or funds normally budgeted for the requested program or project;
G. For the purpose of sub-granting to another organization; or
H. For fundraising projects or events, or for scholarship funds or fellowships.

Applicants are evaluated based upon the following criteria:
A. Artistic merit of the applicant, its program and/or special project;
B. Ability of the applicant’s staff (volunteer or professional) and Board to responsibly administer the organization and/or special project;
C. Demonstration of the applicant’s sound financial planning and management of financial resources;
D. Responsiveness to the needs of the community;
E. Outreach efforts to the culturally diverse, special constituency, and young (18 and under) audiences in Morris County, particularly in the past calendar year; and
F. Efforts to comply with ADA standards

Current Funding Period | January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023
Next Funding Period | January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
2024 Application Available | Closed; will be notified November 2023

The Local Arts Grant application must be completed online on our grant portal through Foundant. Applicants can register for a free account and edit and save their application until the deadline.
Note: in order to view the application, applicants must create an account. 

FY 2024 Application (including Mini Grants) Deadline | Friday, September 15th
Notification of Award | November 2023
Grant Agreement Due | November 2023
Funding Period | January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
1st Payment Sent (80% of award) | February 2024
Final Reports Due | January 2025
2nd and Final Payment Sent (20% of award) | February 2025

 

ALSO AVAILABLE!
Local Arts Mini Grants

Morris Arts offers $1,000 in Mini Grants for arts projects to new and emerging organizations as part of the Local Arts Grant Program. Organizations can apply for only one Mini Grant per funding period. Mini Grants are intended as an introduction to the Local Arts Grant Program. A grant received in one year is no guarantee of subsequent funding.   

Applicants must show the ability to complete all reporting necessary in accepting public funds by the specified deadlines, including a Mini Grant application for funding, a Commitment Letter, and a Final Report (within 30 days of completed project). Organizations already receiving funding from NJSCA are not eligible for a Local Arts Grant. Applicants must have sufficient cash flow to support their organization, program project, or event. Mini Grant awards are paid in full upon approval of application. 

If interested in applying for a mini grant, please click here and create an account on our online portal, Foundant to access the full guidelines and form.

Application: Now Closed
You will be notified via email in November. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Bethany Russo, Grants Administrator at brusso@morrisarts.org.


Morris Arts Awards Local Arts Grants for Funding Year 2023

Morris Arts is pleased to announce that 32 Morris County arts organizations received Local Arts Grants totaling $120,500 for Funding Year 2023. Grants range from $1500 – $9000. These grants help support visual arts, theatre, dance, instrumental and choral groups, museums, and broad-based community arts programming which, in turn, enable thousands of people throughout our county to experience the arts in a multitude of ways. Funding is made possible through the Local Arts Program of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA)/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
2023 Local Arts Grant Awardees include:A Work of Heart Productions (Madison), All Children’s Art Center of New Jersey (Boonton), Art in the Atrium (Morristown), ARTS By The People (Morristown), Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey (Dover), Boonton Holmes Public Library (Boonton), Cornerstone Family Programs/Morristown Neighborhood House (Morristown), County College of Morris Foundation (Randolph), Dance Innovations Performance (Chatham), Fairleigh Dickinson University – WAMFEST (Madison), First Night Morris County (Morristown), Friends of the Roxbury Library (Succasunna), Good Grief (Morristown), Hanover Wind Symphony (Madison), Harmonium Choral Society (Morristown), Huaxia Chinese Chorus (Parsippany), Lakeland Youth Symphony (Parsippany), Levitate Creative Services ,LLC (Dover), Lyrica Chamber Music (Chatham Township), Morris Choral Society (Morristown), Morris County Historical Society (Morristown), Morris Music Men (Chatham), Morristown Festival of Books (Morristown), Morristown National Historical Park (Morristown), Museum of Early Trades and Crafts (Madison), New Jersey Jazz Society (Madison), Opera at Florham (Convent Station), Roxbury Arts Alliance (Ledgewood), Skylands Songwriters Guild (Ledgewood), The Masterwork Chorus (Morristown), Town of Dover (Dover); and Visions and Pathways (Morristown).  

Additionally, $2,000 in mini-grants was awarded.

All Local Arts Grantees must include the following updated credit/logo from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts 

 

  Made possible by funds from Morris Arts, a partner
  of  the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

 

along with the Morris Arts logo

All Morris Arts logo files can be found here

Questions? Contact Weusi Baraka, Director of Arts in Community, at wbaraka@morrisarts.org or (973) 285-5115 ex. 14.

The Local Arts Grant Program is administered in Morris County by Morris Arts and it has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.