As the largest funder of the arts in New Jersey, the Council is committed to providing annual and multi-year grants to New Jersey’s arts organizations, arts projects, and artists. Strategic, responsive, and responsible grantmaking is the Council’s highest priority, ensuring programs and services are equitable, accessible, and have the greatest possible statewide impact. All grant programs are accompanied by Grant Guidelines and a series of technical assistance opportunities either in-person, on the phone, or online.

Throughout its history, the Council has supported a variety of grant programs for organizations and artists that have enabled our state’s cultural community to benefit all New Jerseyans. Previous State Arts Council grant programs can be found in the State Arts Council Grant Programs Overview. If you have questions about the Council’s programs and services, please contact our staff.

The majority of Council grants provide the funding most challenging for nonprofits to find: multiyear, flexible support to help organizations pay for basic operations in service to their missions. This portfolio of grants includes General Operating Support (GOS) and General Program Support (GPS). GOS grants support the overall operations of organizations with exclusively arts missions, and GPS grants support the operating costs of full-time, public arts programs. GOS and GPS grants are awarded with a three-year commitment, with applications accepted at the top of each cycle.

The Council anticipates opening the next GOS/GPS application in Fall 2026, with grants from that process announced in July 2027.

Since 1979 the New Jersey State Council on the Arts has worked in collaboration with the complete network of 21 officially designated County Arts Agencies (CAAs) to provide the people throughout the state with access to quality arts experiences in their communities. The Council awards multi-year Local Arts Program Grants to the CAAs to support their local arts development programs, activities, planning, administration, and professional development; and to regrant funds to community-based arts organizations and projects, which have local impact.

Find your County Arts Agency.

Based on changing needs in the field, these programs can focus on a number of areas, including, but not limited to arts education and lifelong learning, professional development, cultural access, public art, economic development, and more.

Project grants supported in FY26 include the Creative Aging Initiative as well as a number of cosponsored projects and specialized services that can be found in Programs & Services.

In FY26, the Council is supporting New Jersey artists through the Individual Artist Fellowship as well as the NJ Heritage Fellowship. Individual Artist Fellowships provide the means to sustain and strengthen the careers of artists at the heart of our state’s creative industries. Heritage Fellowships recognize artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to New Jersey’s traditional arts heritage.

The Council will announce the 2026 Individual Artist Fellowship awards at our public meeting in February 2026.

The Council released the Rules & Instructions for the FY27 Folk & Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Project grant on November 20, 2025. Please see “Current Grant Opportunities” above for more information.

Each grant program includes a customized set of guidelines and technical assistance, to support public understanding of program goals, timelines, and requirements. Applications for Council grants go through a rigorous review process, which is designed to be transparent, free from conflict of interest, and based on the assessment of panels of specialists from across the nation. Managed by Council staff, the panel process includes an orientation focused on anti-bias, and is guided by a set of published criteria points on which applications are assessed. Strategic efforts are made to engage specialists from diverse racial, gender, educational, artistic, and geographic backgrounds for all grant programs.

On the basis of the panel assessment outcomes, the Council’s Grants Committee makes recommendations to the full Council, which ultimately votes in public session on the distribution of grants. In alignment with the Council’s commitment to achieving greater equity in grantmaking, as well as an evolving understanding of access and impact, grant amounts are based on a multifaceted strategy that takes into account many factors, including available funds, panel score, budget size, history of funding, and more. Per the State’s annual budget, the Council is required to grant at least 25% of its Cultural Projects Appropriation to the eight counties that comprise South Jersey.

Important Resources for Organizations and Individuals Interested in Pursuing a Grant Opportunity with the State Arts Council:

The majority of Council grants are submitted in the State of New Jersey System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE).

SAGE Instructions: Accessing SAGE and Logging In
SAGE Instructions: Creating Your Application and Tips
NJSTART Quick Reference Guide
NJ Division of Revenue
NJ Division of Consumer Affairs (Charities Registration)

FY26 Grants by County
FY26 Grants by Discipline/Category

For a listing of previous Council grants to organizations, projects, and individual artists, please see Past Council Grants.