Atlantic City, the turnpike, Bruce Springsteen, and recently "The Sopranos" make up in part the average American's perception of New Jersey. The state also has an image of sprawling suburbs, industrial sites and declining city centers. However, the reality is very different. Here at the epicenter of the urban northeast is a state with the nation's second-highest per capita income and a diverse geography of pine barrens, mountains and coastal plains. Often overshadowed by the glamour of neighboring New York City, New Jersey is a cultural magnet with one of the highest rates of arts participation in the country.

ArtsPlan focuses on the arts as integral to the well-being of communities. An artist residency at the Holy Name School in Camden strengthens the educational experience. (Photo courtesy of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.)

New Jersey not only exceeds the national average in the number of people attending arts events, but its residents are also among the leaders in active performing arts participation -- singing, dancing, acting and playing an instrument. This abundance of cultural resources and support was the basis for a bold idea, ArtsPlan, which the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) initiated in 1995. It outlined one vision, six goals and eight strategic objectives for a better New Jersey through the arts, achievable through the collective actions of all its residents. Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman championed ArtsPlan from its inception, presenting the plan in 1998 and urging key decision makers to help implement it.

Citizens as Stakeholders

ArtsPlan was the result of a two-year process that brought together 2,200 people from all walks of life -- artists, historians, educators, grant makers, business owners, civic and religious leaders, health care specialists and planners. Through focus groups, roundtables and public hearings, ideas were raised and tested. The discussions were as much about creating an overarching plan for the arts as they were about bridging the disconnect between residents' strong support for the arts and their feeling, revealed by surveys, that the arts don't directly affect their lives. As part of this public process, citizens confronted basic questions about the kind of communities they wanted to live in, and how the arts could help them achieve their aspirations for their hometowns.

Governor Whitman began this dialogue with a three-day town meeting that included futurist Sherry Shiller, playwright Athol Fugard, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass and Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chair Henry Cauthen. From these discussions emerged four basic goals for New Jersey: advance arts education, engage people and communities, increase resources and build partnerships. These goals were then tested by focus groups, as well as by a survey sent to 9,000 residents. As a result, the original goals were affirmed and two more -- about support for artists and improving access to the arts -- were added. Additional roundtables and public hearings helped shape and refine the plan as adopted, which provides the context for arts supporters to craft their own strategic plans. This is what NJSCA did in adopting its own long-range plan.

Although New Jersey is relatively compact, as in other states there exist many barriers to a sense of community and access to the arts -- barriers involving distance, economics, language, culture and infrastructure. For instance, the vast pinelands of southern New Jersey stand in stark contrast to the densely populated suburbs to the north. ArtsPlan called for expanded investments in marketing, planning, arts education and artist services. This has led to arts council investment in numerous southern New Jersey initiatives including a multiyear cultural tourism program, creation of regional folk art centers and community cultural planning.

Access to the arts is also about perception because people are often not aware of, or sure how to tap into, the cultural activities around them. An aggressive marketing and public awareness campaign, "Discover Jersey Arts," grew out of ArtsPlan, and aimed to put cultural information at the fingertips of every resident and visitor using broadcast and online technology. Homegrown actors Avery Brooks, Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep participated in a tongue-in-cheek media campaign that pointed to their anonymity as New Jersey-born artists, and urged people to "expect the unexpected" in discovering the state's cultural riches. These radio, video and billboard ads directed viewers and listeners to a website with a cultural event database and many other resources.

To ensure the future artistic and operational strength of the state, ArtsPlan engendered the New Jersey Cultural Trust, signed into law in 2000. The trust commits $100 million in state appropriations over the next ten years to establish a permanent, interest-generating trust for endowments, capacity building and capital projects for nonprofit arts, history and humanities organizations. The trust, like the ArtsPlan process itself, reflects a public-private venture that turns individuals, businesses and corporations into stakeholders.

Says Barbara Russo, NJSCA executive director, "ArtsPlan capitalizes on the strength of New Jersey's remarkable cultural diversity and the power of grassroots ideas. It brought together thousands of people and engaged them in carefully crafted planning activities, giving them a role in shaping their present and future through the arts. ArtsPlan was more than an exercise; it also ensured the fiscal security of the arts by making every resident a partner in the state's cultural landscape."

ArtsPlan Goals:

1. Arts that are deeply valued by all New Jerseyans and are integral to their lives and to the well being of their communities.
2. Strong support for New Jersey artists that broadens their contributions to community life.
3. Access to the arts for all New Jerseyans.
4. High quality arts education available to all New Jerseyans.
5. An enlarged statewide infrastructure providing support and opportunity for the arts built on partnership and collaboration among them and with other vital sectors of New Jersey life.
6. Increased and sustainable resources for the arts.

For More Information

NASAA's Strategic Planning Toolkit

State Spotlight is a quarterly publication of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 1029 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005, 202/347-6352. ©2001. All rights reserved.

Writer/Editor: Kimber Craine
Associate Editor: Jill Hauser
Design: Benson Design
Sources: New Jersey State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts Research Division Report #41, The Geography of Participation in the Arts and Culture.

The work of NASAA and of state arts agencies is supported and strengthened in many ways through partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.