EAST BRUNSWICK–The Township Council adopted an ordinance to establish the East Brunswick Arts Coalition.
The non-profit LLC is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and literary purposes and will operate to fundraise, assist and coordinate the activities of the East Brunswick Arts Commission, the East Brunswick Museum Corporation, the East Brunswick Human Relations Commission, the East Brunswick Historical Society and Playhouse 22, to promote and further advance the arts in the township, according to the council agenda.
“The purpose of this was to coalesce the groups that are pertaining mostly to the arts and coalesce them into one heading so that they will have the ability to appeal and file for grants,” Council President Michael Spadafino said. “They will still exist, but they will also exist under this heading for that purpose of being able to apply for grants as a group.”
Township Attorney Michael Baker said establishing the coalition will “help them coordinate their activities so that they’re not duplicating things with one running [a] program here and the other there when they could have been doing it together, saving funds in the meantime.”
The coalition board will consist of 12 members, of which seven will be appointed by the mayor with advice and consent from the council, according to the council agenda.
Of those seven members, four will be residents of the township, and three will be selected using the creative arts inventory and are not required to be residents. Then, each of the participating organizations will be able to appoint one member to represent their organization on the board, for a total of five members, according to the council agenda.
The council adopted the ordinance on June 11. The ordinance has a 21-day waiting period before being enacted, so after July the appointments can be made, according to Township Clerk Nennette Perry.
For more information visit www.eastbrunswick.org/content/885/101/default.aspx.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
