New Jersey State Council on the Arts

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is a division of the New Jersey Department of State. Since its creation in 1966, the Council’s volunteer members and professional staff have worked to improve the quality of life in New Jersey through strategic support for the arts.

With annual appropriations from the State Legislature and annual federal grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Council designs and carries out a dynamic program of financial and technical support services for New Jersey artists and nonprofit organizations.

One vitally important way that the Council achieves its goals of service to the needs of the entire state is through a battery of cosponsored programs, strategic partnerships, and initiatives in priority areas, such as increasing arts participation, strengthening the arts industry, fostering cross sector collaborations, supporting arts education, and more.

Among its programs, the Council administers the Public Buildings Arts Inclusion Act through which works of art are commissioned and installed in new state construction as well as the 1987 Cultural Centers Bond Act through which cultural centers are built and improved.

The Council's programs and services have earned national recognition for excellence, innovation, and responsiveness to community needs.