Stockton College, Noyes Museum Provide Home for Artists in Atlantic City

the Noyes Museum of Art Stockton College and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) formalized their partnership in anchoring an arts district in Atlantic City Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, the college announced.

Formalization took place at Dante Hall in Atlantic City, and Stockton College President Herman Saatkamp, CRDA Executive Director John Palmieri and Noyes Museum Executive Director Michael Cagno were in attendance, according to the college.

Stockton College and the CRDA have come to an agreement on 16,000 square feet of arts retail space on the first floor of The Wave parking garage on Mississippi Avenue, the college said. The facility, which opened in March, was bought and financed by the CRDA, college officials said. The facility is worth $30 million, according to college officials.

According to the college, the CRDA is financing the built out of the retail space at a cost not to exceed $2 million, and the Noyes Museum will lease and manage the project. The project will feature a ceramics studio, gallery space and individual artist studios for local artisans, college officials said. Artists will be able to create art there and sell it to the public, college officials said.

”We could not ask for better, more qualified partners than Stockton College and the Noyes Museum in developing this cornerstone of Atlantic City’s Arts and Culture District,” Palmieri said in a release. “The success of the Atlantic City Arts District requires the expertise and proven track record and the economic lift which our public/private partnership brings to this development.  This is exactly what the Governor’s Tourism District legislation is designed to do.”

“This project represents an historic moment in Atlantic City’s continued resurgence.  Stockton is pleased to have contributed, first with our Carnegie Center and last year with the Dante Hall Theatre, home to the Bay Atlantic Symphony,” Saatkamp said in the release.  “We are engaged with the CRDA in creating this beautiful new art gallery and retail space that will bring the Noyes Museum of Art of Stockton College to the District.  We look forward to helping establish an Arts District that is worthy of Atlantic City.”

When the Atlantic City Tourism Master Plan was signed into law on April 19, 2011, the Arts and Cultural District noted it was looking to create a center for arts and culture in the downtown community.

This is part of that process, as is Stockton’s agreement to lease Dante Hall for $100 a month over a three-year period.

In the future, the Arts and Culture District will look to include affordable housing for artists and their families; studio and exhibit space featuring various forms of public art; and an eclectic mix of retail storefronts, according to college officials. 

“We’re excited to bring a touch of the Noyes Museum of Art to Atlantic City,” Cagno said.  “We’re very much looking forward to making a significant contribution to the new Arts District and this project promises to add to the richness of Atlantic City’s many attractions.”