New Jersey Stage Issue 70 | Page 81

In January 2020, Mayor Bara- ka announced a broad vision for the City’s cultural sector to encourage equitable fund- ing for the arts that sustains the creative community and grassroots arts organizations. His arts initiatives included the creation of the City of New- ark’s first arts grant program, the Creative Catalyst Fund, to ensure that the arts continue to thrive. In light of the COVID-19 crisis and its future impact on Newark’s creative sector, the City of Newark has stream- lined the design of the Fund as much as possible to allow for flexibility in how grantees may use awarded funds. In collaboration with Newark Arts, the Fund will support the local community of artists as well as small-to-midsize arts and cultural organizations, all of which provide social and economic value to the City of Newark by revitalizing Watch a webinar on the Creative Catalyst Fund NJ STAGE - ISSUE 70 INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 81