LOCAL ARTS PROGRAM (LAP) GRANT

Purpose of Arts Grant

 The Local Arts Program Grant (LAP) enables the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) to support local arts development within each of New Jersey’s 21 counties through a competitive grant application process by awarding funds to officially designated county arts agencies (CAAs). The Warren County Division of Cultural & Heritage Affairs (WCCHA) is the agency officially designated in Warren County to apply for, receive and administer this annual Local Arts Program Grant/Re-grant program. The annual total grant award supports local arts development through planned programming and other services provided by the division of WCCHA and re-grants through a formal application/independent peer review panel process to support eligible local arts organizations and other non-profit organizations within Warren County that provide public art projects/programs, services and development. Grant awards are competitive and seek to encourage artistic excellence at the local level.

 Cultural & Heritage does not offer General Operating Support (GOS) grants.
The regrant program support with NJSCA funds will be offered to county-based non-profit organizations with arts-based missions or arts activities.

Accessibility & ADA Compliance

 Local Arts re-grantees must provide to the County Arts Agency (WCCHA) written compliance with the ADA as part of its re-grant requirement. WCCHA can require the ADA Checklist or an ADA Plan as evidence of the re-grantees efforts to comply with Federal ADA guidelines. (See application for more information.)

Update 10/10/2024: The  NJSCA confirmed that regrantees receiving the Local Arts Program (LAP) Grant can use a portion of their awarded funds towards accessibility-related expenditures (please refer to the "Ineligible Expenses" list on page 4 of the WCCHA LAP GRANT FY 2025 application ("Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds") for expenses that will not be covered by the LAP grant monies).

Logo

 The WCCHA logo will be sent to Re-Grantees via email with awards packet. Key press clippings, programs and handouts will need to appropriately credit and document the NJSCA and WCCHA and are required elements of the Final Report.

Update 10/10/2024: For clarification, the logo may be used, but also refer to the following: the NJ State Council on the Arts, Warren Co. Cultural & Heritage Affairs, and the Board of County Commissioners. The logo will be updated for 2025 to reflect all three.

  
LOGO (updated for 2025)
PDF Version

 REMAINDER OF 2024 SCHEDULE

Grant period is January 1 to December 31, 2024

Digital copies of the Final Report forms can be located at the bottom of this page (2024).
To request hardcopies of final report forms, please contact Gina (908) 453-4381, x. 223.

LAP 2025 Schedule

This grant schedule may change if meetings, reviews, and receipt of State funds are delayed. In the event that there is a delay or change in the schedule, all applicants/re-grantees will be notified.

TYPES OF ARTS GRANTS

 Warren County Cultural & Heritage Division of Land Preservation received the largest arts programming grant of $200,000 for the second consecutive year from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) ever awarded. This award is made possible by increased funding to NJSCA by the National Endowment for the Arts for distribution to arts organizations and Cultural & Heritage County Organizations in New Jersey.

Funding for Warren County Arts' re-grantees and non-profit Arts Organizations will be distributed as non-matching funds for FY2024. Arts grants applications are available in the fall of each year for organizations that provide arts programming for the residents of Warren County at an accessible site.

 This Arts Grant program is sponsored by the Warren County Cultural & Heritage Division of Land Preservation, supported by the Warren County Board of County Commissioners, and funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The funds are also derived from a dedicated New Jersey tax on hotel and motel occupancy and do not impact property or income taxes. 

LAP AWARDS (2024): $111,511 

Regular Mini- and Educator Mini-Grants

All available funding for 2024 has been expended and mini-grants are closed for the year. 

 Please complete the "Mini Grant Request" form and accompanying written request on the last page of the 2024 Grant application. You will not need to submit a full application, and requests will be accepted between February 1 and October 1, 2024.
Please label either "Regular Mini-Grant" or "Educator Mini-Grant."

 All Mini-Grant awards are based on available funding and is on a first-come/first-serve basis.

• Regular Mini-Grants: There is a one-time limit per organization limit, per fiscal year of up to $2000. Written requests must be on official letterhead.
• Educator Mini-Grants: While Warren County school districts are not limited, there is a one-time limit per individual teacher, administrator or staff member. Written requests must be on official letterhead.

Update (1/23/24): Pertaining to Colleges, Universities, and other Educational & Religious Institutions, organizations can receive grant funding if:

• the activity is marketed to and open to the general public
• the activity is supplemental to any curriculum and separate from any religious observance
• neither the grant nor the matching funds are used to pay salaries of faculty or members of the clergy, unless it can be clearly
• CAAs (County Arts Administrators) may fund k-12 schools and school districts. The NJSCA encourages the CAAs to direct schools to seek artist residency to support through its Artists in Education program.

Update (2/1/24): All mini-grant recipients will be required to provide the WCCHA office with audience/participant numbers, and a brief follow-up synopsis following their funded programming. Forms will be provided to all mini-grant recipients in the fall.

Update (3/28/24): For all applicants for mini-grants (either regular mini-grants or "Teen Arts" mini-grants), please put written request on letterhead of your school or organization. For educators, please include as a title for your written request: Teen Arts Mini-Grants.

Update (4/10/24): For all applicants receiving grant monies for the arts: Once you submit your request/grant agreement and other payment documents (as needed per organization) that we send you from the office, please return the required documents with original signatures (mail, drop off only). They are sent to our clerk who processes them. The County will send you a voucher to sign (original signature and original document) that you will have to return. Then payments will be processed when the County cuts their checks.

Update (8/16/2024): Monies still available for both mini-grants in 2024.  Also, please note changes to due dates for LAP and mini-grants for 2025 (see documents below).

 Update (8/26/2024): All mini- and educator-mini grant recipients will need to submit the following once their program/event/project is completed (submit after programming/event has concluded, no later than mid-December 2024). There is no form for this final report. 

1. Number of participants (children, adult) that benefitted (county volunteers, staff, performers separately from participants)
2. Paid receipts and invoices
3. Up to four (4) photographs (4"x6" or 5"x7" color, good quality)-- please be aware that the photos may be used by WCCHA and/or the NJSCA, so therefore do not take photographs of minors' faces.
4. Short summary of programming/event and how it was received by the participants.

Please send final report to Gina Rosseland.

_________________

Please email all requests and final reports to Gina Rosseland.
If you have any questions, please call the office (908) 453-4381, x. 223.

Keep a copy of all documents for your records.

ARTS GRANT DOCUMENTS

The forms are downloadable (PDF, Excel).
If you require a hardcopy, please contact Gina Rosseland (908) 453-4381, x. 223.

All grant monies for the current grant cycle must be expended by December 31, 2024.

Updated: 10/10/2024