NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – Middlesex County is pleased to announce the 2020 Arts & History Grant Awards in the amount of $2,003,955 to 101 municipal agencies and local nonprofit arts and history organizations.

Currently, three types of funding opportunities are available: General Operating Support, Program Support, and Historic Preservation & Capital Grants. The grant cycle opens each summer with the announcement of the grant guidelines and a series of Grant Writing Workshops held at various locations throughout the County.

Funding for these grants is made possible by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders through the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. Middlesex County funding partners include the New Jersey Historical Commission and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. “History inspires us to learn from the past and make the most of our present, while the arts encourage us to form new perspectives and ideas,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Kenneth Armwood, chair of the Business Innovation, Education and Opportunity Committee. “These grantees will do a lot to enrich the culture of Middlesex County, and we’re proud to help their programs grow.”

The following is a list of total funding amounts by discipline:

• Dance Total Amount Granted: $ 223,000
• Festivals/Folklife Total Amount Granted: $139,775
• Multidisciplinary Total Amount Granted: $283,750
• Music/Choral Total Amount Granted: $99,105
• Public Art Total Amount Granted: $17,475
• Theatre Total Amount Granted: $1,075,850
• Visual Art Total Amount Granted: $37,750
• Writing/Spoken Word Total Amount Granted: $3,750
• History Total Amount Granted: $73,500
• Historic Preservation and Capital Total Amount Granted: $50,000

With a strong tradition of supporting arts, culture and history, Middlesex County aspires to reach all County residents through these funded programs and through the Division of Arts & History’s own programming, including arts and history workshops and lectures, folk life events and workshops, makerspace workshops, the traveling “I Like Me” K-3 program, and a variety of interactive arts and wellness programs for seniors and veterans. The Division Historic Sites and History Services, located in Piscataway, creates public programming and exhibits on regional and state history that make significant contributions to the field.