I support the arts and I vote! Results of ArtPRIDE’s Candidates’ Questionnaire are now available online in the ArtPRIDE Arts Funding Resource Room. A copy of the questionnaire is located there along with 2 Excel files that break down the results, one for Districts 1 – 20 and another for Districts 21 – 40.

A total of 45 responses were received. We invite you to review the results to discover if candidates or incumbents in your district responded and if they have comments on continued and increased state cultural funding through the recently passed hotel/motel occupancy fee, and knowledge of the NJ Cultural Trust.

Go to www.artpridenj.com and take your cursor to Resources at the top of the home page. That's where you'll find the Arts Funding Resource Room. If you experience any difficulty opening these documents, please feel free to contact the ArtPRIDE office at 609-443-3582 for assistance.

Members of the House-Senate conference committee who've been negotiating the 2004 Interior Appropriations bill agreed Monday night to increase the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by nearly seven million dollars. This raises the budget for the nation's leading annual funder of the arts to $122.5 million.

"This special budget increase marks a new era at the NEA," said Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. "Congress's action was not merely a budget vote. It was a vote of confidence in the value and the vision of the agency."

The funding will support the agency's Challenge America initiative, which is designed to make the arts more widely available in underserved communities across the country. Extending the reach of the Arts Endowment to such communities has been a priority for Chairman Gioia.

"These new funds will be invested across all fifty states," added Chairman Gioia. "We will both support local arts groups as well as expand our national Shakespeare and Jazz Masters programs to reach more schools and communities."

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra announced on Monday that it has selected Neeme Järvi as the Orchestra’s next Music Director. Järvi will be Principal Conductor and Music Director Designate/The Jaqua Foundation Chair for the remainder of the 2003-04 season and the 2004-05 season, and will officially become the twelfth Music Director of the Orchestra beginning in the 2005-06 season. His contract extends through the 2007-08 season.

"After a thorough two-year search for our next artistic leader, we are thrilled to have engaged the esteemed Maestro Järvi as the Orchestra’s new music director," notes NJSO Chairman Dr. Victor Parsonnet. "Our search committee, comprised of Board members, musicians, staff, and community leaders, was unanimous in its decision on who the top candidate was for this position. The entire membership of the NJSO is ecstatic over the opportunity to work with Maestro Järvi. His unbounded energy, encyclopedic knowledge of symphonic repertoire, and his superb musicianship will propel the NJSO into a new and exciting chapter of its history. This appointment is a quantum leap for the Orchestra."

On November 19 John Columbus, Founder and Director of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival, will receive this year’s Leo Dratfield Award with noted filmmaker Charlotte Zwerin. Established in honor of pioneering film distributor Leo Dratfield, the awards are presented to individuals or organizations who most exemplify the commitment and spirit of Leo Dratfield and who show a sustained ability to introduce innovative approaches into the media arts field.

On November 17, 2003, a day-long arts conference for arts organizations and individual artists will be offered as an official project of the Association of New Jersey County Cultural and Historic Agencies, under the joint sponsorship of the Somerset Cultural and Heritage Commission, the Arts Council of the Morris Area, the Union County Division of Cultural & Historic Affairs, and the Cultural & Heritage Commissions of Hunterdon and Ocean Counties.

Held from 8:30am-4:30pm at the Somerset Hills Hotel in Warren (Somerset County), NJ, the conference will feature 19 “breakout” sessions. Topics range from Grantwriting Made Simple and Arts & Healing to The Art of Self-Promotion: Marketing Yourself as an Artist and Glommering: the Arts of Getting Things for Free and Meet the Funders. Additional sessions will focus upon strategic planning, audience development, cultural tourism, fundraising, networking, and volunteer recruitment. There will also be networking opportunities before, during and after the meals (Continental breakfast and full lunch included in the registration fee) to allow participants to share information with peers in the statewide arts community.

Pre-registration is REQUIRED (Registration will NOT be accepted at the door!). The registration fee is $35 per person by Wednesday, October 28th, 2003 and $50 per person after October 28th, 2003 (but no later than November 12th, 2003). For additional information contact: Pat McGarry, Manager of the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission at (908) 231-7110 or Kadie Dempsey, Director of Local Arts, Arts Council of the Morris Area at (973) 285-5115, ext. 17 or Deb Hargiss of the Union County Division of Cultural & Historic Affairs (908) 558-2550.