ArtPride Executive Director Adam Perle presents the People’s Choice Award to SOPAC marketing manager Kristin Svorinic.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Performing Arts Center has been named “Favorite Small Performing Arts Center” in the 2017 JerseyArts.com People’s Choice Awards. Presented by Discover Jersey Arts, a program of the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the annual awards highlight the work of New Jersey’s vital and diverse arts community.
“We’re so grateful for this designation and to be among the top arts organizations in the state,” SOPAC Executive Director Mark Packer said in a press release. “It is a great honor to be nominated for these awards, and to receive such overwhelming support from our peers and audiences.”
This year, nearly 18,000 arts lovers cast their ballots for their favorite local groups and downtowns. SOPAC garnered 2,861 votes and was among those honored at the 2017 N.J. Conference on Tourism in Atlantic City on March 10.
“For the ninth year in a row, the people of New Jersey have told us loud and clear that the arts matter,” Nick Paleologos, executive director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, said in the release. “In every corner of the state, from the smallest town to the biggest city, we rely on the work of these exceptional artists and arts organizations to make our communities vibrant, unique places to live, work and visit.”
SOPAC was one of 98 arts organizations and 11 downtown districts nominated in 16 categories, including favorite performing arts center, dance company, art gallery, choral group and more. Nominees were determined by their peers in the Jersey Arts Marketers network, made up of hundreds of arts groups from around the state.
“The arts organizations highlighted in the JerseyArts.com People’s Choice Awards will not come as a surprise to many. The winners and nominees alike inspire hundreds every day,” Adam Perle, president and CEO of ArtPride New Jersey, said in the release. “These groups help our neighborhoods reach new heights and give us permission to fly to Neverland, dance on rooftops or simply take a longer, deeper look at the beauty that surrounds us. All of the nominees should be very proud of the important and impactful work they are doing.”
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