Voices from the Field Blog

Volunteer Shortage Stretches Arts Organizations

If you have enjoyed a cultural experience in New Jersey, chances are volunteers helped to make it happen. Across the country, however, volunteerism is down. According to a December 2021 Gallup Poll of 811 adults, the percentage who reported time spent volunteering fell to 56 percent, continuing a downward trend from 65 percent in 2013 to 64 percent in 2017. From ushers to docents to studio...

“My Hometown” – Arts, History, Tourism, Economic Development, and More, with Help from The Boss

"Son, take a good look around. This is your hometown…" (My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen, 1984) Who knew that almost 40 years after The Boss released this iconic song, arts, history, tourism, economic development, and community revitalization would come together under those words to give the borough of Freehold dynamic new meaning? On March 8, I attended the news conference at the Freehold Fire...

When We All Vote

The election campaign is heated, and for the very first time, voting started early in New Jersey. Due to pandemic-prompted mail-in votes, New Jersey joins the nation in getting a jump on the November 3 election. Tired of people asking you to vote? Not me! I am energized by the amount of civic engagement around this election where there is so much at stake. I am delighted to see every single friend...

New Jersey Arts Enduring the COVID Crisis

Until around March 13 – as close to the Ides of March as one can get – the nonprofit arts sector in New Jersey had major bragging rights. And it still does. I know you miss arts experiences as we knew them before the quarantine shutdown. The music that lit up the night and made you dance. The anticipation you sensed when you entered a theatre, excited about what you were about to experience on...

The Force Is with New Jersey

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” - George Lucas We all need a little bit of the “force” right now. Here are 5 advocacy areas that ArtPride New Jersey is focusing on in the reality of the coronavirus situation. ArtPride will continue to voice concern about the welfare of the field to the New Jersey legislature throughout the spring as NJ State budget deliberations continue...

Restoring Mandated Funding…A 10-year Arts Advocacy Crusade

Are we ready for 2020? You bet! In 2019, ArtPride pushed hard to correct a problem that has throttled funding for the arts, history, and tourism for 10 years. In December, through aggressive and strategic advocacy, Assembly Bill A3101 passed unanimously in the NJ State Legislature. This bill amends the 2003 law that created the NJ Hotel/Motel Occupancy Fee, which specifies funding levels for state...

Unintended Consequences of Legislation – S4204 and Independent Contractors

S4204/A5936, introduced on November 7, will codify how the government determines whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. This bill is an attempt to increase the focus on misclassification of workers, to not only protect them, but to increase state income tax revenues, and bolster unemployment insurance and workers compensation. A similar law in California, AB5, will go into...

Hey Bartender! Make Me a Creative Placemaker.

So by now, you may have heard of this thing called “creative placemaking,” and it’s got something to do with public art and making places better. That’s nice, but isn’t that what communities have been doing for a long time? Why are so many people – especially funders – talking about it? Is it just old wine in a new bottle? Even though it might look like something you’ve seen in the glass, it’s a...

One Big Tool for the Arts Advocacy Toolkit

Did you attend an arts event last year? A performance, exhibit, music festival, or poetry reading? If you did, you are in great company. New Jersey nonprofit arts groups drew more than 7.5 million people to their programs in 2015—that’s four times more than all New Jersey professional sports events! And those same groups and audiences generated a half billion dollars for the state’s economy. When...

The Arts in New Jersey are a Multimillion-Dollar Business

According to Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 – a national economic impact study released June 17 by Americans for the Arts– the nonprofit arts and culture sector in New Jersey is a $519.8 million industry, supporting 14,342 full-time equivalent jobs and yielding $41 million in local and state government revenue. ArtPride worked with Americans for the Arts and five local partners–Cape May, Cumberland...