As a cultural agency at risk for loss of all of our funding, I looked to Art pride for guidance on advocacy - and their assistance was timely, professional and relevant. Art Pride should be credited with saving that arts and history money in NJ from total collapse! No other organization could have done this as they have the knowledge we need and the trust of the field.
Art Pride has been a tremendous resource for providing the members of the arts community with statistics and supporting materials to help us be better advocates for the arts. It has served as a catalyst for professional development programs and has been a valuable partner in the Discover Jersey Arts campaign, which has enabled arts organizations to better market their programs.
Art Pride NJ is an arts advocacy group that truly fulfills their mission to help expand awareness of and growth for the arts in NJ. As a member of a NJ non-profit dance company, and an audience member at arts events in NJ, I know Art Pride is always trying to raise the level of awareness of the importance of arts in NJ, not only for economic reasons, but also for our quality of life. They regularly galvanize the public to send messages to government officials (via e-blasts, mailings, etc) in support of the arts and make it easier to do so with the tools they provide on their website.
ART PRIDE NJ is a tremendously effective outreach and advocacy organization that is dedicated to advancing and preserving ALL of the arts organizations and artists in NJ. The staff keeps abreast of a wide-range of issues, challenges and opportunities that impact "the arts" and arts education throughout NJ and the region and the nation. Because they do this so well, the rest of us arts enthusiasts are better educated and better prepared to be supporters of arts opportunities in NJ
They have helped arts organizations including Newark School of the Arts through their email alerts, advocacy efforts, and job opportunities posting which we used. Most recently, NJ State held up grants already awarded to arts organizations by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. ArtPrides emails, surveys and prompt forceful action, I believe, was the reason for a quicker release of the funds. A few more weeks, and many smaller arts organizations would have had to close their doors.
ArtPride NJ is an outstanding advocate for the nonprofit arts and cultural organizations throughout New Jersey. Their tireless work in communicating the value of the art as an economic engine, an important aspect of community revitialztion, quality of live and life-long learning. The arts enhance appreciation for diversity, promote civic involvement during a challenging time in this country. ArtPride provides the tools for the arts community to raise legislative and public awareness that the arts are part of the solution in meeting the economic and political challenges of our day.
Art Pride has an amazing team of people devoted to keeping the arts alive in New Jersey. Personally I know scholarship recipients of Art Pride who have traveled to a national conference on advocacy in the arts. It was an invaluable experience to them and they have continued in their communities to be a leader in the arts. I have great faith in this organization's ability to achieve their mission. My only criticism is that I feel their website does not communicate the organization's strength.
Artpride is an absolutely indispensable organization that advocates tirelessly for arts and cultural organizations in the state of New Jersey. They update the public about important arts legislation, arts initiatives and arts-related news. They provide the public with facilitated access to elected officials to voice their support for the arts. They provide a forum for arts organizations to meet and share important information about trends and shared concerns. Through their efforts on behalf of arts organizations in December of 2009, they helped to save thousands of arts and culture-related jobs by petitioning the Department of State to release frozen grant funds.
ArtPride New Jersey Foundation has helped to sustain, reinstate and regain spport for Arts funding from the state of NJ for years.
Art Pride does a wonderful job promoting the public value of the arts! It is great having such an organization in our state!!
ArtPride NJ's name says it all. It is about the importance of the arts, pride in NJ's vibrant arts community, and all things related to the arts in New Jersey. ArtPride does a remarkable job of educating and informing the public -- and public officials -- about issues and oppportunities in the arts that affect our state. It's staff, ably led by Ann Marie Miller, is the epitome of professionalism. The ArtPride NJ Foundation works tirelessly to show how the arts can improve the quality of life for all our citizens.
As a member of the Board of ArtPride, the statewide advocacy and service organization to the arts constituency of New Jersey, I have personally been enriched and have in turn been given the skills to assist others in demonstrating the public value of the arts as a means of self-expression and also to facilitate education, community building, economic development, cultural competence, healthcare and well-being, successful aging, childcare and youth at-risk programs.
ArtPride was incorporated in 1986 to "foster a favorable climate for the arts in the state of New Jersey and to encourage citizens and elected officials to endorse positions favorable to the arts and the endeavors of individual artists." Since that time, ArtPride has presented an annual Congress that brings the arts community together with government and business leaders to advance public policy and partnerships. ArtPRIDE also helps lead New Jersey's celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month each October, and promotes cultural tourism through participation in the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism. Most importantly, ArtPride is there to underscore the achievements of New Jersey's not-for-profit arts industry to state, federal and local elected officials. Through ArtPRIDE's leadership, state funding for the arts has grown 83% over the past three years to over $18 million dollars. Help ArtPride continue its success by getting involved!
This well organized group is the primary reason the arts are still moving forward in the state of NJ. The educational seminars have helped me understand the political, fiscal and sociological environments of the state and move the arts forward.
ArtPride New Jersey does a great job letting people know the value of the arts in our lives, our communities and in the economy.
ArtPride is at the front of every issue affecting artists in New Jersey. The organization provides strong advocacy as well as information to help NJ Artists respond to changing climates effectively. When state arts funding is threatened, ArtPride is there. In fact, the arguments have been so sound that I have adopted them as talking points for fund raising. As an NJ artist, I can say that ArtPride NJ has my back.
They are the voice of the arts to the NJ Government. They represent and promote statewide. They provide relevant information for arts staff, educators and patrons.
Art Pride is perhaps the most dynamic nonprofit organization in the cultural community. They work for members and non-members equally - how many organizations will do that? Art Pride connects the arts community to decision makers. It is our face to the public. Art Pride is pro-active, timely, assertive, informational, diligent and a consummate negotiator. We in the cultural community would not be able to serve the public well, were it not for the efforts of this nonprofit. Art Pride deserves the highest honors.
I have been connected to ArtPride for about 10 years in a variety of capacities: as a funder, I managed a corporate foundation budget that contributed to the ArtPride Foundation; as a chair of a non-profit arts organization; and finally as a member of ArtPride's Board of Trustees. ArtPride has developed a reputation for excellence in its advocacy campaigns that transcends its primary clients, the arts organizations around the state of New Jersey. Legislators, arts advocates and corporate supporters appreciate ArtPride's grassroots approach to advocacy in this state. Several years ago, then Governor James McGreevey threatened to abolish all grants from the state. ArtPride's systematic grassroots campaign to rally not only arts organizations but supporters and patrons is widely credited with forcing Governor McGreevey to back down on his threat to discontinue grants funding for the arts, cultural tourism and history. Moreover, the campaign's success is largely credited with having led to a dedicated funding source for the arts, cultural tourism and history in New Jersey. As a product of the intense public reaction generated by arts advocates, legislation was enacted by New Jersey lawmakers that ensured state funding for the arts from a dedicated revenue stream produced by an occupancy tax known as the Hotel/Motel tax. Even in the financial crises provoked by the stagnant and unpredictable economic environment of the last two years, ArtPride's leadership in its advocacy efforts has protected the arts organizations in New Jersey from the elimination of state funding. ArtPride's use of electronic communications is a model for grassroots mobilizing for the purposes of getting the messages to legislators and the media in a timely fashion. Thousands of letters and emails are largely responsible for a newfound respect for the impact that the arts community has on the economic development of this state. The mantra, "The Arts Mean Business," created by ArtPride as a means of building recognition, and respect, --at the same time that it communicates an important message--to identify the arts as an economic engine with which to be reckoned. A word or two about the leadership of the organization is in order. As Executive Director, Ann Marie Miller's effective, reasoned approach to helping ArtPride craft appropriate messages is a model of professionalism and garners admirers and advocates well beyond the arts community. And, with the forceful, articulate leadership of Mark Packer, the Board and membership are well represented, and highly respected, by legislators and the media. Witness Mark Packer's op-ed piece during the 2009 pre-holiday freeze on state funding proposed by former Governor Corzine as only one example of the tone, and effectiveness of ArtPride's messaging and outreach. In my view, ArtPride has no peer when it comes to grassroots advocacy and the respect it has engendered on behalf of the arts organizations in the state of New Jersey.
Art Pride NJ is, rightfully, the State of NJ's leading arts advocacy organization and continues to be the go-to group to share poignantly the power, impact and effectiveness of the arts in our State. With a small, but enormously determined staff and committed Board, ArtPride NJ has been hugely effective in communicating with elected and appointed officials that small investments in the arts yield tremendous results.
Art Pride was able to get the message out about state funding being frozen in Dec. They had an amazing reaction to this problem and were able to get everyone together to gain support.
As a very small Nj Arts Organization, we have had most helpful experiences with ArtPride. We are being informed of all urgent and regular art news of the state of New Jersey and being invited to all special activities and events, organized by Art Pride, which are so helpful to keep our organization up to date. Besides Artpride is an enormous resource center for many of our questions in regard to our organization. We wholeheartedly support all activities of Artpride.
Art Pride NJ is a valuable asset for all NJ arts organizations as well as the general public. Their support of our efforts as a NJ non profit arts organization is imperative to our organizations health and vitality. Since our inception in 2002 The Garden State Film Festival has attracted 30,000 people to its 4 day event each spring for the past two years. Art Pride Nj has been a valuable resource for our all volunteer organization.
ArtPrideNJ provides valuable leadership by uniting and coordinating the powerful voice of all the arts organizations in NJ. ArtPride facilitates direct communication between local, state and federal art agencies. Art Pride promotes Cultural Tourism and contributes to the economic vitality of NJ. In addition, ArtPride saved New Jersey's cultural agencies and their appropriations many times when funding was about to be eliminated. ArtPrideNJ provided leadership and coordinated the powerful united voice of the arts community. ArtPrideNj is a vital link in maintaining NJ's quality of life, education, and economic vitality.
ArtPride has been an unrelenting champion of the arts in New Jersey. While there have been many creative efforts in New Jersey such as the Cultural Trust and the Hotel/Motel Fee designed to protect the arts from the highs and lows of the state economy, it has been ArtPride leadership that has protected these great ideas from the changing tides in political leadership. It seems there is a moment every year or so when the arts community has to put down their art making plows and take up arms to fight off attempts to raid the relatively small, but well-appreciated funds designated to the State Council on the Arts. Just this past December, it was discovered that the state treasury had frozen grant payments to arts organizations that had been promised and contracted in June 2009. ArtPride gathered its forces and fought back and within 20 days it was announced that the funds would be in the mail before Christmas. Now we are not talking about a large team of paid lobbyists, we are talking about passionate arts leaders and arts sympathizers from across the state who are linked to patrons of the arts, makers of art, and people who recognize how important the arts are to the well-rounded education of their children. These are leaders who have been struggling to keep their own nonprofit organization afloat but believe in the tremendous value of the arts to NJ’s livability and believe in the tremendous leadership of Executive Director Ann Marie Miller and Board President Mark Packer. They provided thousands of citizens with the tools they needed to speak out, reach their legislators, and fight for what they cared about. But it would short change the full scope of ArtPride’s work to focus only on their defense mode advocacy. They are the primary force for positive branding of the importance of the arts, conducting economic impact research and disseminating this information so people understand what our cities and main streets would be like without the arts. They provide capacity building opportunities for arts organizations and help them with their own outreach capacity. Without ArtPride, New Jersey would suffer the fate of other states who look for short term fixes by eliminating arts and culture funding instead of focusing on long term solutions that draw people to their state and make for vibrant communities.
This hard-working and astute arts advocacy institution has been invaluable resource for the arts in New Jersey and a highly respected national exemplar. Operating with a remarkably tight budget with a truly effective leader, ArtPride is a great nonprofit. Without question, New Jersey which needs the arts and has had its reputation enormously enhanced by them would not be held in the same esteem without Art Pride, NJ. I write as the former Director of the Montclair Art Museum,
I have been involved since the inception of ArtPRIDE and could not imagine New Jersey's arts organizations functioning without this great partnership. The organization does an incredible amount of outreach to large and small arts organizations, all with the same high level of professionalism. ArtPRIDE is on top of the critical issues facing cultural agencies at the Federal and State level and is quick to get out the word when action is needed. Many may not realize the organization's constituents are not limited to arts organizations....but also includes those providing access to the historical and humanities resources within the State. Although their staffing is small the value of their services is huge. To my knowledge no other organization in New Jersey plays such a major role in collaboration with the arts, history and humanities.....maybe not in the country. ArtPRIDE's ability to maintain a high level of dialogue with the appointed leadership of these State agencies and the respect the government agencies have for ArtPRIDE attests to its value. I am confident that legislators also are appreciative of ArtPRIDE;s ability to inform and provide critical details that impact legislative decision making.
Art Pride is the organization whose mission is to educate the public about the value of the arts as an economic, social and cultural force in our state. In times of crisis, the role of Art Pride New Jersey is crucial as it is where the state's not-for-profit arts groups go in times of crisis and we in New Jersey have had more than our share of those. It is the organization that keeps arts organizations informed about issues of concern and is the place from which statewide arts advocacy efforts emanate. Last Fall when state grants to arts organizations were frozen, it was Art Pride that took the leadership role in working for restoration.
Art Pride tirelessly works to keep the arts alive and healthy in New Jersey. The staff, board and members are amazingly dedicated and get results. Without them the arts would be marginalized.
Great advocate for the arts in New Jersey! Makes the case for all arts organizations in NJ at state and federal level without overstating it. Image is always that of reason and level-headedness.
Examplary organization that has made all the difference in ensuring the arts sector in NJ continue to receive funding from the state. Without ArtPride, New Jersey's arts community would have crashed and burned several times in the past 10 years. In addition, Artpride, through its Discover Jersey Arts campaign, promotes particpation in the arts very successfully. It foster collaboration among a range of arts organizations providing cost effect highly valuable advertising opportunities.
As an artist, artistic director of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company and a resident of the state of NJ, I could not be more proud and grateful to Art Pride. This organization has been an extraordinary voice for the arts and the impact of the arts in this state. In doing so, they have become the voice for the residents of this state who value the contributions of the arts to our lives. Art Pride has galvanized the arts community, worked strategically to further our voice in the political arena and has helped New Jerseyans understand the value of the arts in the areas of economic impact, education, and human values that sustain us individuals and a community. This organization is a model nationwide and a great pride of the state!