TINA MARKOE KINSLOW/Courier-Post Barry Taylor, president of Wheaton Village in Millville, wants to find ways to expand regional arts funding.

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By ROBERT BAXTER
Courier-Post Staff

South Jersey cultural institutions hit the proverbial brick wall when they search for contributions to support their ambitious programs.

The region lacks the large corporations, cash-rich foundations and wealthy private donors that abound in North Jersey. Most cultural groups in the South don't even have a full-time development officer.

"We have a crisis here," said Barry Taylor, president of Wheaton Village in Millville. "There are limited corporate and foundation sources in South Jersey, and the farther south you go, the more limited they are."

If the region's arts institutions are to grow and prosper, added Taylor, they need to expand their funding sources.

The problem will be the focus of Friday's South Jersey Summit on Arts Funding, sponsored by the Courier-Post. It will be held at the Ritz Theatre in Oaklyn.

Statistics illustrate the troubles. North Jersey arts groups nab 94 percent of corporate dollars, 90 percent of foundation funds and 96 percent of individual contributions in the state, according to a draft report of a finance study sponsored by the South Jersey Cultural Alliance.

"Shocking" is how Taylor describes the study conducted with the support of the New Jersey State Council of the Arts. He knows firsthand the problems facing arts groups in South Jersey.

With an annual budget of $3.2 million and programs that reach nearly 200,000 people, Wheaton Village ranks as the largest cultural institution in South Jersey. After losing its development officer in January, Taylor stepped in to write the proposals and make contacts with corporate and foundation donors. He has to fight for every dollar Wheaton receives.

Development officers search for donors and prepare grant applications for corporation and foundation support.

Few South Jersey arts groups have a full-time development officer, said Taylor. The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts in Cape May recently added a full-time staff person. Aside from the Haddonfield Symphony, Noyes Museum in Oceanville, Appel Farm in Elmer, and Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, the only other institutions that have full-time development staffs are affiliated with colleges or universities.

And when he seeks support from corporations or foundations based in Philadelphia or North Jersey, Taylor comes up against what he calls "the guidelines wall." Philadelphia's William Penn Foundation, for example, will write a check for a group based in Camden County, but refuses to fund arts groups in the other seven counties of South Jersey, including Cumberland County, where Wheaton Village's Museum of American Glass and Glass Factory are located, according to Taylor.

Johnson & Johnson says it has a number of family foundations with billions of dollars in assets, but those foundations almost without exception fund arts projects near corporate headquarters in Princeton and New Brunswick or give major grants to national arts institutions.

There are exceptions. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in Morris County and PNC Bank in Philadelphia have displayed a willingness to fund arts projects in South Jersey. Last year, Wheaton Village received $140,000 in grants from 15 foundations and $100,000 from 100 corporations.

"Raising money is a challenge, an ongoing challenge," noted Taylor. "The competition is so extreme, we need to make many applications."

Wheaton Village, unlike smaller South Jersey cultural institutions, boasts some advantages in its quest for funding. The Museum of American Glass is recognized by glass centers around the world. Potential funders are also impressed by the high rating and hefty $600,000 grant Wheaton Village receives from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Taylor and his staff spend one to four days on each application. Most foundations accept a standard application form, but almost all want to fund a specific program. They tend to look for specific projects, such as Wheaton's childhood education program or special exhibits in the museum. Corporations, on the other hand, like to sponsor events such as Wheaton's annual fall crafts fair.

"They like to attach their name to an organization that serves the community," explained Taylor. "They also like to give charitable gifts to specific projects that they can be identified with."