Environment Grant Provides for Creation of Art

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation announces the New Jersey Department of the Environment Community-Based Arts awarded a grant of $22,000.  The Foundation became one of only five organizations in the Garden State selected to receive the award.  The grant pairs artists specializing on topics about the environment to create art installations in specific sites in the state’s coastal zone.  The award is made possible by funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Environment and the Arts

The Foundation’s project engages and informs the public about the environment, coastal hazard impacts and flooding along the Hackensack River.  The artwork will be considered for installation at the Hackensack Water Works property on Van Buskirk Island County Park.  Thirty years ago, the property, located on the National Register of Historic Places, became abandoned and neglected.  Flooding events contributed to creating impassable roads and bridges.  The flooding also pushed as much as a six foot flood surge into the park.

The New Jersey Department of Environment Protection awarded the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation a grant that pairs an artist to create art for possible installation on Van Buskirk Island County Park.

The Foundation’s NJ Department of Environment Protection grant award pairs an artist to create art for possible installation on Van Buskirk Island County Park.

For several years , the Northern NJ Community Foundation’s Arts Bergen and Climate Action Mobilization Project (CAMP) initiatives worked with many communities along the river.  The communities include Oradell, Teaneck, Hackensack, River Edge, New Milford, Bogota, and Ridgefield Park.  This work involved community-driven creative placemaking projects using local artists.  These projects also engaged residents and visitors in awareness activities about the environment.

With the grant, an artist works with the Northern NJ Community Foundation.  The artist interprets artistically and showcases the various impacts of the flooding.  The artist also uses flood data collected on Van Buskirk Island County Park by the NNJCF’s Green Team from Montclair State University’s PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies.  Find more information online about the Northern NJ Community Foundation’s project focusing on the environment and climate action through art.

Call for Artists

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts issued a call for artists, as part of the Community-Based Arts grants program. Artists must be at least 18 years old and be residents of the State of New Jersey.  They may also live within 100 miles of the New Jersey state border.  Selected artists receive a stipend of $13,000 per project.  In addition, the stipend may cover project costs, supplies, travel, and artistic fees.  For information about this environment and arts directed project, go to the New Jersey Climate Resilience Community Based Public Art Projects: 2023 page.

The selected artists also work with the grant recipient organizations to develop and implement a project that is artistically excellent.  Furthermore, the project needs to communicate coastal hazard impacts, risks and actions to reduce climate change’s risk. The deadline to submit an application is September 26, 2022.

 

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