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Department of State

New Jersey Cultural Trust

The Hon. Tahesha Way, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State
Naval Air Station Wildwood

New Jersey Cultural Trust

The New Jersey Cultural Trust was created in July 2000 as a public/private partnership to help ensure a stable and healthy nonprofit cultural industry in New Jersey that is sustainable even in the toughest of economic times.

The Trust provides grants to support capital projects, endowments and institutional and financial stabilization of arts, history and humanities organizations in New Jersey. Funding for the grants comes from interest earned on the Cultural Trust Fund, which is a permanent investment fund.

Qualification Workshops

Want to learn more about the Cultural Trust, what it means to be qualified, and how to apply? The Cultural Trust will hold Zoom workshops about qualification on May 2 at 10 a.m. and May 21 at 3 p.m. Workshops are free but registration is required.

Register for the May 2 workshop

Register for the May 21 workshop

To learn more about qualification, go to the Grant Opportunities page.

The Mission

The mission of the Cultural Trust is to ensure a stable and healthy cultural industry in New Jersey that is sustainable under fluctuating economic conditions through the establishment of permanent, interest-generating funds to be an additional source of revenue to nonprofit arts, history and humanities organizations.

Board of Trustees

Bette C. Daniele, Chair
Carol Cronheim, Vice Chair
John Paul Nicolaides, Vice Chair for Finance
Jill Morton, Secretary
Deborah R. Bozarth, Board Member
Tom Carroll, Board Member
S. Nadia Hussain, Board Member
Rabiya S. Kader Esq., Board Member
Claire Knopf, Board Member


ex officio members
Tahesha Way, Secretary of State
Elizabeth Maher Muoio, State Treasurer
Elizabeth Mattson, Chair, NJ State Council on the Arts
Peter Lindsay, Chair, NJ Historic Trust
Maxine Lurie, Chair, NJ Historical Commission

Contact Us

General Contact
609-292-6403
cultural.trust@sos.nj.gov

Isabel (Izzy) Kasdin, Executive Director
609-633-0522
isabel.kasdin@sos.nj.gov

Avery Wehrs, Grants and Operations Coordinator
609-777-3657
avery.wehrs@sos.nj.gov

Press Releases

  • 01/08/24 - New Jersey Cultural Trust
    New Jersey Cultural Trust Approves over $790,000 in FY 2024 Capital Historic Preservation Grants

    Advancing its ongoing commitment to ensuring a stable and healthy cultural industry, the New Jersey Cultural Trust Board approved a total of $798,395 in grants supporting capital projects at 21 nonprofit cultural organizations during an open public meeting held virtually on December 15, 2023.

  • 12/07/23 - New Jersey Cultural Trust
    New Jersey Cultural Trust Celebrates Historic Appropriation, Interest Income at Annual Meeting

    The financial outlook for the New Jersey Cultural Trust is the strongest it has been in over a decade, Board members and staff said November 15, 2023, at the Cultural Trust’s Annual Meeting in Trenton.

  • 10/04/23 - New Jersey Cultural Trust
    New Jersey Cultural Trust to Adopt Expired Rules as New Rules; Public Comment Period Open

    The public comment period is now open for the New Jersey Cultural Trust’s proposed adoption of rules.

  • 02/07/23 - New Jersey Cultural Trust
    New Jersey Cultural Trust Approves Over $500,000 in FY 2023 Institutional and Financial Stabilization Grants

    Funding to Strengthen Organizational Capacity of 16 Diverse Arts Organizations Statewide

    • Sign Up To Receive the Cultural Trust’s Emails

    Page Last Updated: 12/26/23

     

    NJ Cultural Trust Grant Opportunities Trust Information Featured Grant Recipients

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