Funding available for NJ artists, community organizations to create climate art'

File/Mural at the Ventnor City Cultural Arts Center.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the NJ State Council for the Arts are planning art installations in New Jersey's coastal areas.

The partnership will provide funding for art installations as part of the Coastal Risk Communications Campaign. Four artists will be selected to partner with one of the following community based organizations: Atlantic City Arts Foundation, Bayshore Center at Bivalve, Monmouth Arts and Passaic County.

The project will engage the art teams to create original, site-specific artwork that address the theme of climate resilience and coastal flooding, particularly as it relates to NJ coastal communities. The pairings of artist and organization will plan, implement, document, promote and share the artists work with the community.

The Goals of this Program are:

• Increase public awareness of how individuals will be impacted by coastal hazards and what they can do about it;


• Using innovative approaches and outreach methods and materials that are tailored to the needs of local communities throughout the coastal zone;


• Elevate awareness in New Jersey of the risks of flooding caused from sea-level rise and coastal storms;


• Increase knowledge of local decision-makers on innovative approaches and the best ways to effectively communicate risk through available tools and resources;


• Advance resilience planning efforts in New Jersey through effective risk communication methods, materials and actions; and


• Effective communications that facilitate the necessary behavior change to make New Jersey more resilient to coastal hazards such as sea-level rise and coastal storms.

These goals will be realized, in part, by connecting communities with new, stimulating art experiences in their communities that help communicate messages about coastal hazards. 

Any art form, including visual, literary, performative, new media, etc., will be considered as long as no new environmental disturbance results from the project and no impact occurs to environmentally sensitive areas. Art installations are to be in existing public spaces/located in the coastal zone and could include, but would not be limited to murals, light displays, installations created from community-collected trash, public performances of new choreography, sculpture, or interdisciplinary art installations or performances.

Professional artists over age 18 who live in New Jersey or within 100 miles of its border are invited to submit applications by the deadline on March 8. Qualified artists are encouraged to submit examples of their previously completed artwork through the CAFÉ online system, along with a brief written description of the project idea they propose to create if selected.

Notification of awards will be made in late April. Stipends of $7,000 will be provided for selected projects, with finished work expected for community events and exhibition in summer 2021.

To learn more and apply, visit https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=8523