Creative Greensboro Awards $60K in Catalyzing Creativity Grants
GREENSBORO, NC (December 18, 2020) – Ten creative programs planned for the first half of 2021 have been awarded $60,000 through the Catalyzing Creativity Grant, the first funding initiative by the City of Greensboro’s office of arts and culture, Creative Greensboro.
The grants will provide financial support for nonprofit organizations and creative individuals with a specific intent of engaging communities of color, low-income communities, and people who are disabled. The Catalyzing Creativity Grant was designed in response to the Creative Greensboro Cultural Plan goal to “identify culturally specific and emerging arts and cultural organizations and develop an initiative supporting their organizational growth, resilience, and programmatic reach.”
Grant winners were selected by a panel of five arts and culture professionals from across the country, including Ernest Disney-Britton of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Benjamen Douglas of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Luis Gomez of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Ruby Lopez Harper of Americans for the Arts, and Eboni Lewis of the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
“We are thrilled to provide this support for projects that reflect the diversity of Greensboro’s creative interests. The individuals and organizations behind each of these projects are trusted leaders in our community with deep experience offering dynamic and impactful programming. These awards mark the first time each nonprofit and individual has received grant support from the City, which makes the occasion even more special,” said Greensboro’s Chief Creative Economy Officer Ryan Deal.
2020 Catalyzing Creativity Grant Recipients
- Casa Azul of Greensboro will be awarded $5,634 to support a series of events with three local artists who highlight and advocate for the Latinx voice in the community. Learn more about Casa Azul at www.casaazulgreensboro.org
- iAlign Dance Company will be awarded $10,000 to use a three prong approach of dance, education, and community outreach to create an anti-bullying themed virtual dance showcase. Learn more about iAlign at www.ialigndance.com.
- Montagnard Dega Association will be awarded $8,500 to support a six-month residency program for young Montagnard artists and a two-day intergenerational celebration. Learn more about the Montagnard Dega Association at www.montagnardda.org.
- Magnolia House Foundation Inc. will be awarded $3,667 to support a virtual reality project that shows the historic Magnolia House hotel as it may have looked and operated in 1949, and changed through the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Learn more at www.thehistoricmagnoliahouse.org/foundation.
- Reconsidered Goods will be awarded $4,543 to support a creative reuse and recycling art program for immigrant and refugee families with children ages 5-13. Learn more about Reconsidered Goods at www.reconsideredgoods.org.
- TAB Arts Center Nonprofit Inc. will be awarded $8,500 to create a functional Ancestral Sculpture Garden at East White Oak Community Center. Learn more about TAB at www.tabartscenter.org.
- Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet will be awarded $5,976 to support a Juneteenth weekend celebration that highlights Black arts and culture in the Greensboro community through workshops, awards, showcases, and a marketplace. Learn about Royal Expressions at www.royalexpressions.org.
- Josephus Thompson III will be awarded $2,593 to support fifteen poets from across the country, invited to compete for a $1,000 cash prize at the “The Freedom Slam” spoken word competition. www.josephusiii.com
- Kimberly Harper will be awarded $5,984 to support the history of storytelling through literature and textile art in the Black community by bringing together youth and elders to create a quilters guild.
- Kemari Bryant, an individual filmmaker, will be awarded $4,603 to support a team of professionals to teach community workshops on pre-production process, script development, and collaboration leading up to filming of a new piece.