TRENTON, N.J. - The New Jersey Cultural Trust held its Annual Meeting today at Howell Living History Farm in Lambertville, NJ. In its fifteenth annual round of grants, the Trust awarded $311,795 for ten capital projects located throughout the State.

Jill Morton, chair of the Cultural Trust remarked, “With today’s grant awards, the Trust has distributed over $7.5 million in fifteen rounds of grants to 338 qualified organizations reaching every New Jersey county. We are delighted that this round of awards goes to projects that will enable New Jersey arts organizations to become more accessible to visitors with disabilities.”

Cultural Trust grants are intended to enable qualified organizations to increase their financial stability and expand capacity. In this grant cycle, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts received 28 applications requesting more than $853,000, of which ten were recommended to the Cultural Trust for support. The current grant round for the first time provides funds for qualified arts organizations to undertake projects that address unfulfilled goals in their approved ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) plans.

To assess the applications, the Council published guidelines and evaluation criteria and engaged qualified panelists to review the proposals. The panel results were reviewed by committee and ultimately recommended for support by the board of the Council on the Arts and forwarded to the Cultural Trust for consideration. The Trust approved grants that cover a range of proposals from plans to looping equipment to assist individuals with hearing loss.

In other business at today’s meeting, the Board designated one organization as “qualified” and renewed qualification for fifty two organizations bringing the total number of qualified organizations to over 275. The Board also approved its slate of officers for the year. Bette Daniele was elected as chair, Deborah Bozarth as vice chair, and Carol Cronheim as secretary.

The New Jersey Cultural Trust is a division of the Department of State. The mission of the Trust is to ensure a stable and healthy cultural industry in New Jersey that is sustainable under fluctuating economic conditions. The Trust Fund is a permanent, interest-generating fund that serves as an additional source of revenue to nonprofit arts, history, and humanities organizations for specific purposes that are crucial to ensuring fiscal and operational health, stability, and durability. The New Jersey Cultural Trust was established by P.L. 2000, c: 76 which is now N.J.S.A. 52:16A-72 et seq. and was signed into law on July 25, 2000.