Temp: 31 °F
By ROBERT BAXTER
Courier-Post
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts returned to South Jersey last week on its annual listening tour. Wednesday's meeting in Cape May produced the predictable litany of needs - money, money, money - from the region's cultural groups.
The tone of the discussion has changed since the tense encounter between the council and South Jersey's cultural leaders during last year's meeting in Vineland.
That meeting took place against the backdrop of a Courier-Post series about the council's previous funding policies that tipped the balance in favor of arts groups in North Jersey. Since then, the South's cultural community has received its full 25 percent share of the council's $20 million appropriation.
Kenneth Endick, chair of the grants committee, took a humorous jab at the newspaper during the council meeting that preceded the round table. Endick confirmed the council' s current initiatives for South Jersey would be funded despite recent budget cutbacks.
Looking right at me, Endick said he would be leaving Cape May faster than a cannonball if he announced there was no money for South Jersey. "And," he added, "Robert Baxter and the Courier-Post would light the fuse!"
After the meeting, Endick confirmed the council has almost $575,000 to fund a staffing initiative, a survey of cultural facilities and a plan for technical assistance. All three will be announced at the council's May 21 meeting in Hackettstown.
The staffing initiative has stirred up considerable interest. Twenty-four arts groups have filed applications totaling $1.2 million for the initiative. The council will be able to fund less than half.
Finding new sources of revenue and upgrading arts facilities dominated the afternoon round table in Cape May' s Convention Hall, chaired by acting executive director David Miller.
The aging Convention Hall provided a noisy commentary on the region's need for new facilities. Speakers could barely hear each other over the din created by the air conditioning. The Cape May music festival and other events must contend with the hall's dead acoustics.
The council heard the old refrain. South Jersey needs to develop a stronger base of corporate and private funding for the arts. Staffing also surfaced as a need and so did marketing.
Most of these issues will be addressed by the Business/ Arts Summit April 25 and 26 at the South Jersey Performing Arts Center on Camden's Waterfront.
Business and cultural leaders who attend the summit will learn about the ongoing attempt to launch a community foundation to support South Jersey's non-profit groups.
Robert Baxter is the arts critic for the Courier-Post. He can be reached by telephone at (856) 486-2436 or by fax at ( 856) 663-2831 and by e-mail at rbaxter@courierpostonline. com.
