The city is pursuing a $150,000 matching federal grant in hopes of jumpstarting a downtown mural project.
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City Council unanimously adopted a resolution (AR-152) during its July meeting to apply to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for Our Town Creative Placemaking Grants Program. The $150,000 grant for the funding of a historical and cultural mural would be matched with funding from the city, according to the resolution.
“If you look at downtown, there’s a lot of elevated train tracks, lots of side walls by way of example that are just begging for some type of mural art,” Landolfi said. “The thought is, if we can get an NEA project, we’d use that to jump start that,” he said, adding that early discussions have centered around Broad Street parallel to the train tracks but there’s “lots of wall” and options are open.
Applications were due Aug. 6 with the earliest notification of grant awards or rejections by April 2021. Grants would begin July 1, 2021.
“We’ve got some ideas about it, but will be getting together with artists who have local ties to really start to flesh out what that would look like,” Landolfi said, and it would certainly have a history of Rahway theme.
“A key to the success of creative placemaking is involving the arts in partnership with committed governmental, nonprofit, and private sector leadership,” according to the NEA. “All applications must demonstrate a partnership that will provide leadership for the project. These partnerships must involve two primary partners, as defined by these guidelines: Nonprofit organization and local government entity.” The Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) and Rahway Arts and Business Partnership (RABP) will be partners, according to City Administrator Robert Landolfi.
The NEA program has made funds available to “support projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes,” according to the resolution. “Successful Our Town projects ultimately lay the groundwork for systemic changes that sustain the integration of arts, culture, and design into local strategies for strengthening communities.”
Grants range from $25,000 to $150,000. Rahway previously received a $75,000 grant in 2013 through the Our Town program for RAHWAY ARTsPART. The 18-month initiative was a public art program to inaugurate the opening of Hamilton Stage, with performances and cultural activities in public spaces and schools, “making art fully accessible to a broad audience.” UCPAC partnered with the Redevelopment Agency on that grant.
Grant amounts must be requested in amounts of $25,000, $50,000, $75,000, $100,000 and $150,000, according to the NEA. Very few grants will be awarded at the $150,000 level. “These will be only for projects of significant scale and impact.”
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