Letter to the City: Equity, Access, and Artist Support
Letters to the City is a blog series from Jersey City Arts Council Executive Director, Deonté Griffin-Quick. Each letter explores themes, ideas, and observations that shape the continued success of our arts community. Rooted in curiosity, these letters invite us to collaborate, engage, and take action.
Written by Deonté Griffin-Quick
Dear Jersey City,
Our city is alive with creativity.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve continued to meet with artists across our city in studios, in co-working spaces, at community gatherings, in cafés, and in the spaces where creativity quietly takes root. These conversations have been honest and necessary. Artists have shared their ambitions, their frustrations, and the barriers they face while trying to build sustainable creative lives here.
This past Friday during JC Fridays, I had the opportunity to visit events across the city and witness firsthand the extraordinary work being created in our communities. In Greenville and Bergen-Lafayette, I spent time with artists who are building vibrant cultural spaces, experimenting with new forms, and presenting work that reflects the richness and complexity of Jersey City.
What struck me most wasn’t just the quality of the work — but the determination behind it. Artists are finding ways to create despite limited resources, rising costs, and systems that have not always been designed with them in mind.
Recently, I reflected on many of these issues in a conversation with the Jersey City Times. In that discussion, we talked about the role the Jersey City Arts Council plays in strengthening our city’s cultural ecosystem.
These experiences have reinforced a conviction I carry strongly today: There must be equitable access to resources in our city.
Equity Cannot be an Afterthought
Equity in the arts isn’t just about fairness, it’s about sustainability.
Artists from historically marginalized communities often face barriers that go beyond creative practice: limited access to funding, fewer professional networks, rising housing costs, and the disappearance of affordable creative space. These barriers are not accidental; they are the result of longstanding structural inequities that affect who gets seen, supported, and celebrated.
An equitable arts ecosystem means recognizing these realities and intentionally designing systems that expand opportunity.
That means:
Funding opportunities that reach artists across neighborhoods and disciplines
Accessible application processes and fair evaluation practices that
Language access and outreach that meet artists where they are
Transparent decision-making about how resources are distributed
Long-term investments in community-driven cultural spaces
Equity means moving beyond the idea that opportunity will “naturally” reach everyone. We must build pathways that actively include the people who have too often been left out.
Arts Are Civic Infrastructure
The arts are often treated as an optional luxury in cities. Something nice to have after “more important” needs are addressed.
But the arts are civic infrastructure.
They create the cultural fabric that binds communities together. They activate public space, preserve cultural memory, and spark dialogue across differences. They support small businesses, draw visitors, and contribute to local economies.
When artists thrive, neighborhoods thrive.
Supporting artists is not just a cultural investment; it is an investment in the health, identity, and vitality of our city.
How We Are Changing
At Jersey City Arts Council, we are actively examining how our initiatives can better serve the artists who call this city home. That commitment has even led us to make several changes to the Individual Artist Fellowship (IAF) program to create a more equitable and accessible application process.
Recent modifications include:
We have replaced the artist statement requirement with an artist biography, recognizing that artist statements are not common practice across all disciplines.
We are now also asking applicants how they hope to engage with the local arts community, acknowledging that access to resources may have limited opportunities for participation in the past.
We have removed the requirement to disclose demographic information, because artists should not feel that personal identity information is a condition for receiving support.
These adjustments are part of an ongoing effort to make our processes more equitable, more accessible, and more reflective of the realities artists face. Jersey City is filled with creativity, vision, and cultural leadership. Our responsibility is to ensure that the systems supporting that creativity are fair, transparent, and open.
If you are an artist in Jersey City, I encourage you to apply for the Individual Artist Fellowship. Applications are open now, and the deadline to apply is March 23rd.
This fellowship is one way we invest in the artists who shape our city’s cultural life and we want to make sure every artist feels they have a real opportunity to participate.
Let’s make sure everyone has access to the resources they need to do that work.
In community,
Deonte Griffin-Quick