First Annual Cultural Access Awards

On Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at The State Museum in Trenton, we celebrated 15 years of bringing service to the state's cultural community to assist them in making their programs and facilities accessible to people with disabilities.  In addition, we recognized the great strides and innovation of the state's cultural community in the area of arts access and honored two organizations and two individuals who have demonstrated leadership, commitment, creativity and innovation to the cultural access field with a Cultural Access Award.


We were delighted to receive 21 nominations from a wide range of organizations and individuals whose work in cultural access is innovative and inspirational.  The selection of our winners was a difficult task for our judges.  We are happy to announce that the winners selected are as follows:


  • The Innovation Award: Arts Unbound
  • The Sustainer Award: VSA Arts New Jersey
  • The Leadership Award: Janet Dickson, Access Coordinator for McCarter Theatre

We would like to recognize all of the nominees for the awards, as every individual and organization nominated is deserving of praise for their continued commitment to arts accessibility:

The 2009 Cultural Access Awards Nominees:


Arts Access Program at Matheny Medical and Education Center
The program began 16 years ago based on the question: “Can people with disabilities – people as severely disabled as the Matheny clients – create fine art?” Today, more than one hundred artists dance, choreograph, paint, sculpt, paint, write and express their unique vision through the Arts Access Program, and it is clear that the answer to that original question is a resounding “Yes.”

Art Alliance of Monmouth County
For the past thirty-one years, the Art Alliance of Monmouth County has succeeded in providing the community with access to innovative artwork and as a result has allowed local artists and people of all abilities with a place to work, exhibit and grow.

Art Bonito, President / Jefferson Highlights Community Television
Art Bonito’s efforts have brought the arts to his community at prices that all people – able and disabled – can afford. With a specially placed platform – made possible by Mr. Bonito – people in wheelchairs get some of the best seats in the house for film, dance, theater and music programming at the outdoor amphitheater in Jefferson Township.

Arts Council of the Morris Area
Morris Arts Council’s Building Bridges Mural Arts project at Morristown’s Neighborhood House brought together a community to create a larger-than-life public work of art. Portable panels were painted by community members at an artist’s studio in Morristown, as well as in residence with groups who typically lack access to public art projects including elderly residents in senior centers and nursing homes, as well disabled students at Shepard High School in Morristown.

Bridge Players Theatre Company
An all volunteer group in Burlington County, Bridge Players is committed to the idea that there is a place in community theater for everyone and they encourage all to participate both on and off the stage. They offer a wide variety of access programs including sign language interpreted performances, pre-show set tours for patrons with visual impairments, and Assistive Listening Devices. In their 2007 production of Children of a Lesser God, they cast deaf actors in all the deaf roles, and offered interpreters for cast members for all steps in the production.

Bruce Curless
 Mr. Curless’ believes – and lives – the philosophy that artists have a responsibility to be part of the community they serve by being aware of the needs of the members of that community. His dedication to accessibility remains an integral part of The Ritz Theatre Company’s mission.

Grounds for Sculpture
 As a visual arts organization, Grounds for Sculpture is constantly thinking of new ways to bring art to underserved populations and to allow patrons with challenges to fully experience the visual arts in a natural setting.

Morris Museum
 The Morris Museum’s commitment to cultural access via interactive, accessible program, new ADA compliant facility, regular staff trainings, service to people with disabilities and partnerships with organizations who serve people with disabilities, has advanced cultural access in Morris County and the state.

Newark School of the Arts
 Newark School of the Arts is committed to access to high-quality arts education for its local and statewide constituencies for 42 years including recent ADA compliant upgrades to their physical plant.

Opera New Jersey
 Opera New Jersey believes that access responsibility doesn’t stop with a performance; they open dress rehearsals to other nonprofits that serve individual with challenges, including autism, behavioral disorders, or dependency issues.

Paper Mill Playhouse
 Paper Mill Playhouse comprehensive access programming is widely available, regularly scheduled, publicized, and provided to approximately 5,000 patrons and students annually so that all may full experience top-quality live theatre and arts education with dignity and independence.

James Pruznick
 Twenty years ago Jim Pruznick created Artistic Expressions, the Hunterdon Art Museum’s class for adults with developmental disabilities that include ADHD, autism, sensory, cognitive, physical or communication impairments, and cerebral palsy. Jim has taught the class since its inception, and it has been a source of encouragement, enjoyment and learning for adults with severe developmental disabilities.

Arlene Romoff
 As a person with degenerative hearing loss, Arlene Romoff understood firsthand the need for better communication access in public arts facilities and her dedication, commitment and expertise in advancing the filed of open captioning and cultural access in New Jersey has proven that one person’s advocacy can make a difference.

Running Rabbit Family Theatre
 Running Rabbit’s landmark production of Treasure Island utilizes song, spoken word and American Sign Language to illuminate Robert Lewis Stevenson’s swashbuckling tale – with roles played by hearing and deaf actors. The piece designates Running Rabbit as the first professional theatre in New Jersey to offer programming delivered in a unique cross-cultural experience.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
 Since opening the doors of its new facility in 1998, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has been fully accessible and compliant with the ADA. As an institution that endeavors to make Shakespeare’s works and other classic masterworks resonant and relevant to audience members from all walks of life, it is integral to their mission to strive to continually improve the accessibility of their artistic and education programs.

Two River Theater Company
 For the duration of its 15 year history, Two River Theater Company has held accessibility as a core organizational tenant, working to ensure that the full range of its programming is made widely accessible to audiences of every kind. The results have been significant and Two River Theater is widely recognized within its community as a center of cultural opportunity for all audiences.

J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, Esq.
 In his capacity as the state’s head anti-discrimination official, Director Vespa-Papaleo made the issue of accessibility for persons with disabilities a top priority. His tenacity, creativity and leadership resulted in one of the most significant developments in bringing accessibility to a major cultural activity for the nearly 1 million New Jersey residents who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.

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The Cultural Access Network is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.