On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Creative Greensboro announced that it had awarded $285,000 to 15 local arts and culture nonprofit organizations through its “Sustaining Creativity: Community Partnership Grants Program.”
Founded five years ago, Creative Greensboro is the office of the City of Greensboro that supports arts and culture. The office attempts to offer sustained support for arts and culture by growing resources, fostering “cultural equity and arts participation” for all – as well as by meeting other goals.
Creative Greensboro manages the city’s Cultural Center and special events permitting for the city.
The official mission of the office is to “provide support for, ensure access to, and drive awareness of Greensboro’s creative community
“Through a range of programs, services, and partnerships, we support the development of a vibrant city,” the mission statement reads.
Creative Greensboro helps implement the city’s Cultural Arts Plan, which was unanimously adopted by the Greensboro City Council in December 2018.
This latest round of grants of taxpayer money is meant to fund general operations for organizations that offer “creative programming” and that “significantly expand the City’s support of the local creative economy.”
The $285,000 in funding comes in addition to $1 million worth of in-kind support that the City of Greensboro provides each year to 18 other arts nonprofits that are tenants of the Greensboro Cultural Center.
Greensboro’s Chief Creative Economy Officer Jocquelyn Boone said this week that the city gets something big in return for funding the nonprofits.
“These grants recognize creative nonprofits that support the overall vibrancy of our local economy,” she said on Tuesday. “When we support the arts, we’re supporting job creators and entrepreneurs. Their significance as economic engines is a huge asset to our city.”
All of the grant recipients received $10,000 to $25,000 in funding that they have to spend by June 30, 2025.
Four non-profit organizations received an additional $5,000 bonus for “excellence in creative vibrancy or community benefit.”
Here are the 2024-2025 nonprofit recipients of taxpayer money:
- Carolina Theatre of Greensboro $10,000
- Casa Azul of Greensboro $30,000
- Creative Aging Network $15,000
- Greensboro Literary Organization $15,000
- Shared Radiance Performance Art Company $25,000
- Joyemovement $25,000
- Kids/Poetry/Basketball Inc. $30,000
- Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum $15,000
- Music Academy of North Carolina. $10,000
- Music for a Great Space $20,000
- Piedmont Blues Preservation Society $15,000
- Gant School of Music and Jazz $25,000
- Reconsidered Goods $10,000
- Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet $15,000
- TAB Arts Center $25,000
Greensboro isn’t alone in the practice: When the Guilford County Board of Commissioners adopted a new 2024-2025 fiscal budget earlier this year, $1.7 million of that budget was taxpayer money that the board handed out to community-based organizations and other non-profits.
For Guilford County, the group of chosen recipients in 2024 was especially interesting because, unlike in past years, the Board of Commissioners didn’t hold any public discussions at budget time on which organizations should or shouldn’t get money.
Also, unlike in previous years, the county manager and a committee of county staff designed to determine which non-profits should get money was never formed – and therefore couldn’t provide any input.
The county commissioners wanted to take over the process entirely in 2024. They did so and came up with a long list of recipients that seemed to have no rhyme or reason.
In May, when the county manager’s budget was presented, the Rhino Times thought there had been a printing error: that county staff or the printer had accidentally left out the list of recommended non-profits – something that’s always in the manager’s proposed budget.
When the Rhino Times asked county staff for this year’s list in the manager’s proposed budget, staff replied that there was no list because those decisions were now being left entirely up to the county commissioners.
In previous years, Guilford County staff would sift through applications and ask all sorts of questions. Is this organization financially trustworthy? Can they produce audits that show how the money is being used? What tangible, measurable results and benefits does this program produce? How do the goals of this non-profit fit in with Guilford County’s service efforts?
However, the list included in Guilford County’s final budget in 2024 was a $1.7 million hodge-podge of churches, schools, organizations with “Mustard Seed” in the name and others – many groups that have never before been funded by the county and some that the Rhino Times had never heard of.
In that funding round, to take one example of the unexplainable, Wingate Andrews High School got $50,000, while no other high school got a penny.
Greensboro’s Chief Creative Economy Officer Jocquelyn Boone was hired by former City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba in August 2023. One of many Jaiyeoba hired what could be described as a DEI hire to enhance government welfare. Taxpayers are paying the salary of a DEI hire, now the DEI hire is giving away taxpayer money to nonprofits without taxpayer consent. Some of these niche nonprofits are designed to target a small group of the Greensboro population. City of Greensboro and Chief Creative Economy Officer Jocquelyn Boone, please provide the Tax Identification number for each nonprofit on this list. The public has a right to know about the nonprofits that are receiving taxpayer money.
I think she came from Charlotte
You can just look up their 990s online.
EIN, yes; however, 990s do not give an operational evaluation of nonprofits. As usual, government makes it difficult and time-consuming for the public to find information that is readily available to the government. Government should publish all nonprofits’ EIN numbers when giving money to them. Government is a shady business. So are nonprofits.
It’s called sharing in the “money pie” without the voters deciding on which people or organizations get the money. I help you get elected, and then you help me with some of my expenses. You vote for me, I’ll give you some money after I’m elected. . .see how this works?
That’s money that you extorted from me. If I determine that I should give money to anyone, it is my choice, not yours.
Other than being on the dole, or ignorant, I can’t understand why anyone in this County can vote for the local govt we have now.
I have, and want to keep, friends and family on both sides of the isle. It is be hard to do so. The two houses next to me, and three across, had Harris/Walz signs out. We never discuss politics with friends and family. But I don’t have any respect for these views around me. Why would anyone alienate more or less half of everyone but putting political signs on their property?
Our church hired staff with proactive political views. I had a word of prayer with them, apparently there were others of a like view. The politics have disappeared.
Whizzing while facing the wind. Typical of city and county. Wasted tax payer money.
How dare you question the All High Council of the Fiefdom of Greensboro. How dare you challenge their generosity towards those who took a knee before them with promises of support on the backs of the serfs.How dare you mock the All Knowing, All Generous With Taxpayer Money Grand Council. You shall be shunned by all, turned out into the coldness of the night until you learn to bow down to your superiors.
And not just the Grand High City Council but those that sit over them, those that rule over a bigger Kingdom known as Guilford County, ruled by the High Potentate Skippy.
*Snark Off*
Our tax $$$ at work, mostly going to organizations we never heard of !
How fair is that ?
president abraham lincoln was besieged by ‘office-seekers’. this is our equivalent.
An office seeker shot President McKinley.