ACTIVATION, REVITALIZATION, AND TRANSFORMATION (A.R.T.) PROGRAM – PHASE II

The application window for this program is now closed.

Phase II of the Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (A.R.T.) program, is aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the development and recovery of New Jersey’s commercial corridors and invigorating community focused arts and cultural organizations. The program will provide grants to projects located in thirty-one commercial corridor municipalities. Projects must be located within 1.5 miles of an eligible municipality’s passenger rail station.

AMOUNT

A.R.T. Phase II has received $15 million in funding.

Minimum grant request $100,000.

Maximum grant request $500,000.

BENEFITS

Non-profits can apply to produce place-making or arts-based projects.

Community-focused Arts & Cultural Organizations can apply.

Non-profit Applicants can partner with other individual or organizational entities to execute the project.

There are no application fees.

ELIGIBILITY

Open to non-profit organizations with a 501c (3), 501c (6), or 501c (19) status.

Eligible projects must be within 1.5 miles of an eligible municipalities’ passenger rail or light rail station.

Ineligible Applicants
Municipalities, governments, and for-profit entities are not eligible to apply. Awardees from Phase I are also not eligible to apply.

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA AND ELIGIBLE MUNICIPALITY LIST IN “ELIGIBILITY” TAB BELOW

PROGRAM DETAILS

A.R.T. – Phase II is a competitive grant program that will disburse $15,000,000 in ARP SLFRF funding to address the impact of COVID-19 in 31 selected municipalities throughout the state.

The program supports the creation of public space activation initiatives, such as place making projects, public art installations, and arts-based projects.

Projects must be located in one of these 31 eligible municipalities and executed within 1.5 miles of an active passenger rail or light rail station operating in those municipalities.

Eligible Applications will be Scored by the NJEDA Scoring Committee on a Scale of 0 – 100 points, with award recommendations limited to applications that meet or exceed the minimum requirement of 65 points.

Projects must be completed and all grant award funding must be expended by December 31, 2026.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Non-profit organizations with a 501c (3), 501c (6), or 501c (19) status.*

*Eligible applicant organizations do not have to be located within the same municipality as the “Eligible Project Location”.
**Only one application per EIN will be permitted to apply.

Ineligible applicants are: Municipalities, governments, for-profit entities, or any applicant that received a grant from Phase I of the A.R.T. program.

ELIGIBLE MUNICIPALITIES FOR PROJECTS

Asbury Park, Bayonne, Belleville, Burlington City, Camden, City of Orange, Clifton, Dover, Dunellen, East Orange, Egg Harbor City, Elizabeth, Garfield, Hackensack, Hammonton, Jersey City, Linden, Lindenwold, Long Branch, Netcong, New Brunswick, North Bergen, Passaic, Paterson, Pennsauken, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Rahway, Riverside, Trenton, and Union City.

ELIGIBLE PROJECT LOCATIONS

Projects must be located and executed within 1.5 miles of an eligible municipalities’ passenger rail or light rail station. Click here to view the available mapping tool for identifying specific parameters of the eligible areas within the eligible municipality.

ELIGIBLE PROJECT ACTIVITIES

The Program supports the creation of public space activation initiatives, such as placemaking projects, public art installations, and arts-based projects.

Project activities/ initiatives may include, but are not limited to art exhibitions, performances, festivals, parades, concerts or concert series, film and video screenings, and cultural programming.

Funding can also be used to support the operational costs for the applicants to execute their art or placemaking project.

Please be advised: New Jersey State law prohibits most cannabis license and certification holders from receiving or continuing to receive an economic incentive from the NJEDA. If the applicant, or any person who controls the applicant or owns or controls more than one percent of the stock of the applicant, has applied for or received a license or a certification from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC), the applicant is ineligible for this program and should not proceed with an application. If an application is received from an applicant that meets this criteria, the application will be declined and the application fee will not be refunded.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The A.R.T. – Phase II is a competitive grant program accepting applications during a 60-calendar day application period. All applications will be reviewed following the closure of the application period. Applications are limited to one Application per EIN. The NJEDA will perform a review of all submitted applications for eligibility documentation on or after the closing date of the application period.

Applicants will be given 10-business days to submit document cures related to eligibility. If the application remains incomplete after the 10-business day cure period, or fails to establish program eligibility, the application will be declined.

Applications will be scored on a scale of 0 – 100 points, with award recommendations limited to applications that meet or exceed the minimum score requirement of 65 points. Applications will be evaluated and scored on each of the criteria listed in Exhibit A: Scoring Criteria.

Grant award recommendations will be made to the Board of the NJEDA in order with the highest scoring applicant being first and remaining applicants recommended in order of their score. Scoring criteria are listed in Exhibit A: Scoring Criteria.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – Tax Clearance

TAX CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE

Obtaining Tax Clearance Certificate for Private Entities — CLICK HERE

Obtaining Tax Clearance Certificate for Government Entities

A government entity will need to submit a paper tax clearance application in order to obtain a tax clearance certificate. They can email it to the Business Assistance email address instead of mailing it in.
Note: The application fee does not apply to government entities that must submit the paper application.
- The application can be found on the Division’s website:
  https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/busasst.shtml.
  OR
- Here is the link to download the Application: https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/busasstTaxClear.pdf.

Questions can be directed to BusinessAssistanceTC.Taxation@treas.nj.gov or 609-322-6835.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – Mapping Tool

Mapping Tool

The NJEDA has created a mapping tool to assist potential applicants with identifying the specific parameters of eligible areas within an eligible municipality.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAPPING TOOL