The deadline for registering to vote in the November presidential election is OCTOBER 4! Information on the upcoming election may be found at the ArtPRIDE web site in the Arts Action Center. You will find:

* Sample I Support the Arts and I Vote flyers you can reproduce as lobby boards and/or stuff in programs or playbills through the upcoming months (pdf files that are full page size and 2 up on a page);

* A voter registration form that can be downloaded and mailed to the appropriate county election office;

* Links to the NJ Division of Elections (there you will find the contact information for each county election office);

* Information on what non-profit organizations are allowed to do in terms of election year advocacy, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities (courtesy of the Center for Non-Profit Corporations);

* Web links to lobbying/advocacy resources.

Please USE this information and let ArtPRIDE know if your organization has found these resources helpful. Arts audiences are educated voters. Make sure they are heard in the voting booth this November!

While you are visiting www.artpridenj.com be sure to thank your legislators for their help in reaching a new level of state arts funding in New Jersey by clicking on Take Action to use the email feature (that may be personalized). At the bottom of the Arts Action Center under Election 2004 you will also find links to statewide voter information including an online voter registration form.

Many of you are aware of the Creative Industries study released by Americans for the Arts in June that showed the arts to be a formidable industry, with 4.3 percent of U.S. businesses involved in the production or distribution of the arts.

In New Jersey there are (at last report, January 2004) 16,999 arts-related business employing 91,961 people.The study is based on data obtained from Dun & Bradstreet (D & B), the most comprehensive source for business information in the United States, and it is the first national study that encompasses both the nonprofit and for-profit arts industry. The current analysis, however, suggests that the nonprofit sector is underrepresented in the D & B database.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America. Held biennially since 1986, the Festival will be held this year from September 30 to October 3 and is a celebration of poetry that immerses participants in four days of readings, conversations and performances featuring an international array of poets,winners of the most prestigious literary prizes,and other artists including storytellers and musicians.

The Dodge Poetry Festival has found a new, centrally located home at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey. The 2004 Poetry Festival will be the first large-scale public event in the 100 year history of Duke Farms.  This spectacular new site for the Festival allows the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to partner in support of their shared mission areas in the performing arts and the environment.

Be sure to list your cultural event at Showcase, sponsored by Discover Jersey Arts, and located at www.jerseyarts.com An online event submisson wizard and a simple password get you free listings. Last year the Showcase web site recorded over 650,000 hits! Please remember that this incredibly valuable resource is at your fingertips!

Also, free listings in The Star Ledger currently appear in the Friday Ticket section, the Wednesday Savor section, the Thursday In the Towns and Home & Garden sections, and the daily county news sections. To notify The Star Ledger about upcoming events, please email your press release to event@starledger.com or fax it to 973-274-8550 or mail it to the listings desk at The Star-Ledger, 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102-1200.

Two weeks' advance notice is requested to meet publication deadlines. Please include the following information: the type of event, time, date, location (venue and full street address), admission cost (if any), registration deadlines, a phone number for publication, and a name and phone number for contact purposes.