McCarter Theatre Receives Top State Arts Honor

mccarterMcCarter Theatre Center has been named a 2013 recipient of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts “Citation of Excellence” for artistic quality, programming, and public service in the arts.

The Citation of Excellence is the organization’s most prestigious award. McCarter was the only theater in New Jersey to receive this honor at the Arts Council’s annual meeting on July 23.

Under the leadership of artistic director Emily Mann and managing director Timothy Shields, along with special programming director William Lockwood, Jr., McCarter Theatre Center is recognized as one of the nation’s premier theater companies and a major presenter of the performing arts.

Renowned for major contributions to the theatrical canon, McCarter was most recently awarded the 2013 Best Play Tony Award for Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike that had its world premiere at McCarter last season. McCarter is supported by Princeton University, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and more than 3,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations.

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is a division of the state. It receives funding in direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated hotel/motel occupancy fee and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1966, its volunteer members and professional staff have worked to improve the quality of life in New Jersey by helping the arts to flourish.