Plainfield Awarded NEA Grant for Public Art Projects
PLAINFIELD, NJ – The City of Plainfield received a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the Plainfield Performing Arts Center (P-PAC) artist residency program.
The Plainfield Performing Arts Center was created in 2017 after the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield gifted their historic stone church to the City. P-PAC hosts visiting artists and theatre productions, as well as educational and arts programming for youth.
This award will support three of the City’s residency programs and enable artists and art organizations to take advantage of performance space, stipends, promotion and marketing, and facilitate audience development.
The Theater Artist in Residency Program is a 1-year program that will assist Plainfield in supporting emerging theater artists and organizations by providing low-cost performance and exhibition facilities.
The Visiting Artist Residency Program provides short-term and low-cost resources to artists of multiple disciplines to produce, exhibit or develop new works at P-PAC. Plainfield seeks residents that can add diverse perspectives, conduct educational programs, and expand upon the cultural landscape of Plainfield.
The Plainfield Summer Visual Artist Collaborative Residency provides three Visual Artists with a month-long studio opportunity to work on a collaborative project with two other artists and interact with the public, young mural artists, and the artist community.
These funds will empower the City to continue serving as an incubator for the growth and career development of artists, facilitate cultural and economic interaction between artists and residents, and provide engaging and educational art opportunities at P-PAC.
This program was designed by Health and Human Resources Director, Shep Brown and Program Development Specialist, Sharon McGuire. The NEA Grants for Arts Projects program will be administered by the Community Development Division (CDD) of the Department of Health and Social Services.
Plainfield Performing Arts Center is looking forward to resuming programming after the COVID-19 forced cancellations and closures throughout 2020.