direction of Nicole Davis. They have been together since August 2010. In 2007, an announcement was made for the development Museum of African American Music, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The museum would be a collection of archives of "jazz, blues, spirituals, hip-hop, rock 'n roll, gospel, house music, and rhythm and blues". In 2009, the Hall announced a $40 million campaign to restore the theater. In 2010 the venue for the first time hosted events of the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. In November 2018, NPAC, the Hall's operating company, appointed Taneshia Nash Laird, former Executive Director of the Arts Council of Princeton, as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. In December 2019, the Hall hosted singing and dancing auditions for a BET miniseries about the history of Uptown Records. In January 2020, restoration work continued and its completion was scheduled to coincide with a celebration of the building's 100th anniversary in 2025. Events in the Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall, Newark Stage and Terrace Ballroom continued during restoration. In October, the Hall was approved for a $750,000 grant from the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund to be used to help fund its 5-year renovation, scheduled to restart in early 2021. In April 2021, while the venue was still closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it began hosting virtual events including live-streamed plays, and launched a career accelerator and business incubator called “The Lab”, to support the local performing arts community. In May, it was reported that the renovation budget had increased to $50 million, with additional improvements to include a restored original marquee, a new plaza with a lettered crosswalk, and the renovation and reopening of an unused floor that had been empty for 30 years. Operation The Newark Symphony Hall is operated by the non-profit Newark Performing Arts Corporation (NPAC). The Hall's annual budget is $1.7 million, of which the city of Newark contributes $600,000. The Hall is listed on state and national registers of historic places, and pursues state-based historic tax credits and other tax credit streams and initiatives, such as Opportunity Zone funding. NPAC's CEO and President is Taneshia Nash Laird. See also The Coast Stanley Theater (Newark, New Jersey) National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey References External links Newark Symphony Hall Garden State Ballet Newark Boys Choir School Neoclassical architecture in New Jersey Theatres completed in 1925 Tourist attractions