South Jersey artists are applauded around the world. Now the region's cultural stars will be honored in a South Jersey Hall of Fame.

The concept has been endorsed by the board of directors of the South Jersey Performing Arts Center on Camden's Waterfront. The center will provide a home for the Hall of Fame in the lobby of the new Studio Theatre.

The board invites the public to submit the names of outstanding cultural figures who deserve to be honored there.

"We want to give the people who live in South Jersey the chance to appreciate the achievements of artists from this region," explained Michael Willmann, CEO of WMSH Marketing Communications in Haddonfield and a member of the SJPAC board. "We want to honor artists like Walt Whitman and Steven Spielberg and remind people of their association with South Jersey."

The idea for the South Jersey Hall of Fame surfaced last year during the Regional Business/Arts Summit. Now it's taking center stage at Friday's summit at the SJPAC.

The goal of this year's summit is to increase awareness of the arts and their impact on education, community and economic development. It is organized and produced by the Arts and Business Partnership of Southern New Jersey.

For the Hall of Fame, executive directors of five cultural centers have agreed to serve on a selection committee chaired by Willmann.

Barbara Fenhagen of the SJPAC, Mark Fields of the Glassboro Center for the Arts, Virginia Steel of the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, Mark Packer of Appel Farm Arts and Music Center and Alan Willoughby of the Perkins Center for the Arts will join Willmann in selecting honorees.

They are seeking nominations from the public. Anyone who wants to nominate a South Jersey artist can contact Willmann by sending an e-mail to waterfrontartctr@aol.com or by writing to him c/o South Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden 08103.

The names will be added to a list of South Jerseyans already suggested for the Hall of Fame:

•„Painter James Audubon (Camden).

•„Pop singer Frankie Avalon (Merchantville).

•„Soprano Julianne Baird (Haddonfield).

•„Actor Roscoe Lee Browne (Woodbury).

•„Conductor Arthur Cohn (Haddonfield).

•„Author James Fenimore Cooper (Burlington City).

•„Owners of the Latin Casino Dave Dushoff and Dallas Gerson (Cherry Hill).

•„Singer/dancer Lola Falana (Camden).

•„Rap artist Dionne Farris (Bordentown).

•„Actress Linda Fiorentino (Voorhees).

•„Actress Calista Flockhart (Medford).

•„Actor John Forsythe (Penns Grove).

•„Rock artist Bill Haley (performed at Twin Bar in in Gloucester City).

•„Drive-in inventor Richard Milton Hollingshead Jr. ( Riverton).

•„Inventor of Victor Talking Machine Eldridge R. Johnson (Camden).

•„Actor Michael Landon (Collingswood).

•„Actress Ali Larter (Cherry Hill).

•„TV host Kurt Loder (Ocean City).

•„Actor Richard Ruccolo (Marlton).

•„Musician and poet Patti Smith (Deptford).

•„Film director Steven Spielberg (Haddon Heights).

•„Journalist I.F. Stone (Haddonfield).

•„Author Gay Talese (Ocean City).

•„Jazz saxophonist Greg Osby (Cinnaminson).

•„Poet Walt Whitman (Camden).

•„Actor Bruce Willis (Penns Grove).