PASSAIC COUNTY CULTURAL & HERITAGE COUNCIL

2026 RE-GRANTEES

Community History Partnership Program (CHPP)

Friends of Dey Mansion/Washington’s Headquarters, Wayne
Kelly Ruffel, Secretary-Treasurer
deymansion@passaiccountynj.org
https://www.deymansion.org/friends-of-dey-mansion
American Revolution Exhibit
Award Amount: $6,000

Friends of Passaic County Parks, Inc., Paterson
Matthew Jordan, Passaic County Administrator
fopcparks@passaiccountynj.org
https://www.passaiccountynj.org/government/boards-committees-and-
commissions-f-z/friends-of-passaic-county-parks-inc
Threads of Industry: Paterson’s Textile Legacy
Award Amount: $6,000

Friends of Wallisch Homestead, West Milford
Ronald Perez, Grants Administrator
ronjo13@gmail.com
https://www.wallischhomestead.org/
250 th Anniversary Exhibition History Display Panels
Award Amount: $1,400

Hamilton Partnership for Paterson, Inc., Paterson
Arlety Del Pino, Partnerships and Program Manager
adelpino@hamiltonpartnerships.org
https://www.hamiltonpartnership.org/
Historical Education Expansion at the Paterson Great Falls National
Historical Park
Award Amount: $5,000

Passaic County Department of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Wayne
Kelly Ruffel, Director
kellyr@passaiccountynj.org
https://www.deymansion.org/
Passaic County Cemetery Network
Award Amount: $5,000

Paterson Museum
Heather Garside, Curator
hgarside@patersonnj.gov
https://patersonmuseum.com/
Still Here – Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation
Award Amount: $5,000

Paterson Museum Foundation
David Ferrari, Project Director
patersonmuseumfoundation@gmail.com
http://www.patersonmuseumfoundation.org/
Digitizing Paterson’s Evening News Negatives – Part 3
Award Amount: $6,275

Take A Hike, Inc., West Milford
Michael Gruber, Founder
takeahike9201@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/gotakeahikenj/
Take A Hike: Nature Explorers
Award Amount: $5,000

Local Arts Program (LAP) Re-grants

Action Theater Conservatory, Clifton
Kathleen Kellaigh
Atcstudios411@gmail.com
https://www.atcstudios.org/
GOS 2026-2028
Award Amount: $12,700 (2026-2028)

American Labor Museum, Haledon
Angelica Santomauro, Director
labormuseum@gmail.com
https://www.american-labor-museum.org/
Annual Labor Arts Festival, Three Exhibits and One-Woman Performance
Award Amount: $12,600 (2026-2028)

City of Clifton Arts Center and Sculpture Park
Roxanne Cammilleri, Director
artscenter@cliftonnj.org
https://cliftonartscenter.org/
Art and Music Programs
Award Amount: $7,000 (2026-2028)

City of Paterson
Della McCall, Director of Community Engagement
Dmccall@patersonnj.gov
https://www.patersonnj.gov/
Paterson Art Week 2026-2028
Award Amount: $12,000 (2026-2028)

Community Presbyterian Church of Ringwood
Neil McDonald, Artistic Director and Founder
info@skylandsmusic.com
https://www.skylandsmusic.com/
Skylands Music Academy
Award Amount: $12,200

Friends of Dey Mansion/Washington’s Headquarters, Wayne
Kelly Ruffel, Secretary-Treasurer
https://www.deymansion.org/friends-of-dey-mansion
deymansion@passaiccountynj.org
The Early American Folk-Art Program
Award Amount: $5,000

Friends of Passaic County Parks, Paterson
Matthew Jordan, Passaic County Administrator
matthewj@passaiccountynj.org
www.passaiccountynj.org/fopcp
Story Trail Literary Program at Weasel Brook Park
Award Amount: $8,450

Friends of the West Milford Township Library
Carol Heinz, Project Director
cruth717@aol.com
https://www.friendswmtl.org
Two Performance Series with Crowd-sourced Art Exhibition
Award Amount: $3,900

Halls that Inspire, Paterson
David Thompson, Founder/Project Director
HTIUSA2008@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/hallsthatinspire/
Passaic County School Beautification
Award Amount: $13,650 (2026-2028)

Holy Rosary Young Men’s Club, Passaic
Greg Komeshok, Project Director
Gkomeshok@aol.com
Polkas in the Park
Award Amount: $2,800 (2026-2028)

Inner City Ensemble, Paterson
Nicholas Rodriguez, Project Director
theinnercityensemble@gmail.com
www.innercityensemble.org
Signature Repertory Series
Award Amount: $14,550 (2026-2028)

Israel S. Dresner Center for Collaborative Programming and Learning,
Wayne
Arthur Barchenko, Chairman
a_birch@ecsiinternational.com
http://www.templebethtikvahnj.org/
Interfaith Music Series
Award Amount: $3,400

Jewish Family Service & Children’s Center of Clifton-Passaic
Alexander Herzog, Executive Director
jfsdirector@jfsclifton.org
https://jfsclifton.org/
Improving Mental Health Outcomes in Senior Citizens Through the Arts
Award Amount: $12,450 (2026-2028)

John P. Holland Charter School, Woodland Park
Rebeccah Welch, Project Director
info@johnpholland.com
http://jphcs.org
Music and Dance Project
Award Amount: $12,450 (2026-2028)

New Jersey Music and Arts, Little Falls
Francesco Santelli, Project Director
arsnova13@gmail.com
http://gardenstateopera.homestead.com/
Spring Opera Production
Award Amount: $12,450 (2026-2028)

North Jersey Blues Society, Ringwood
Cristy Benvenutti, Project Director
cristy@northjerseybluessociety.org
https://www.northjerseybluessociety.org
Blues Education Program
Award Amount: $3,000

Oasis – Haven for Women and Children, Paterson
Jennifer Brady, Executive Director
JenniferBrady@oasisnj.org
https://oasisnj.org/
Saturday Rise & Shine
Award Amount: $7,500 (2026-2028)

Our Lady of Consolation Church, Wayne
Michael Lombardo, Pastor
olcgen@optonline.net
https://olcparish.org/
The Jazz Series
Award Amount: $13,950

Passaic County Department of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Wayne
Kelly Ruffel, Director
kellyr@passaiccountynj.org
https://www.passaiccountynj.org/departments/cultural-and-historic-
affairs
Passaic County Arts Center Programming
Award Amount: $12,400 (2026-2028)

Passaic Public Library
Stephanie Fernandez, Project Director
fernandez@passaicpubliclibrary.org
www.passaicpubliclibrary.org
Second Sunday Concert Series
Award Amount: $6,675 (2026-2028)

Ringwood Friends of Music
Maureen Butler, President
Jennifer Hsu, Project Director
maureenbutlermusic@gmail.com
jenhsu@optonline.net
https://www.ringwoodfriendsofmusic.org/
Classical Music Concert Series
Award Amount: $13,950 (2026-2028)

Ringwood Manor Association of the Arts
Leah Madsen, Project Director
ringwoodmanorarts@gmail.com
http://ringwoodmanorarts.org/
2025 Art Exhibitions & Programming
Award Amount: $13,650 (2026-2028)

St. Paul’s Community Development Corporation, Paterson
Richard Williams, Project Director
rcwilliams@stpaulscdcnj.org
http://www.stpaulscdcnj.org/
Inner City Ensemble Dual Language Arts Program FSCS15
Award Amount: $12,000

StageWorks Theatre Group, Inc., Pompton Lakes
Jo Anne Ventor, Executive Director and Executive Producer
joann@stageworksnj.org
http://www.stageworksnj.org/
Children’s Theatre Production
Award Amount: $13,500

The Patron of the Arts Association, Haskell
Linda Zani Thomas, Project Director
lindazani@aol.com
http://www.stcatharts.org/
Annual Festival of the Arts
Award Amount: $12,600 (2026-2028)

William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne
Anthony Mayo, Executive Director, OSP
Kathryn Boschert, Assistant Director OSP
Mayoa6@wpunj.edu
Grants@wpunj.edu
http://wpunj.edu/
2026-28 Program Support
Award Amount: $14,850 (2026-2028)

Word Seed, Inc., Wayne
Talena Queen, President and Founder
info@wordseedinc.org
https://www.wordseedinc.org/
The Power of Words
Award Amount: $3,850