New Creative Investment

About the New Creative Investment

Guilford County is committed to investing $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act Funds toward projects that:

Center community voice in decision-making
Honor County values of equity, inclusion, accountability, service excellence, and transparency and communication.
Build on a foundation of existing County and regional efforts
Maximize funding by combining funds with other efforts
Focus on sustainability with one-time uses or by establishing a path to sustainability.

Grassroots Arts Program American Rescue Plan Act Federal Funding:

The North Carolina Arts Council has adapted its grant-making strategies throughout the pandemic to support the arts sector. With the addition of federal funding, the agency adjusted the Grassroots Arts Program grant guidelines to encourage investment strategies that would support long-term organizational growth and sustainability. This funding is a special appropriation of American Rescue Plan Act funds made possible by the North Carolina State legislature for FY 2022-2023.

ArtsGreensboro will allocate ARPA funding in four key focus areas:

Capacity and support for arts organizations by working with organizations within a cohort model by building board and
staff capacity to focus on long-term sustainability and resiliency within the arts ecosystem. Focus on long-term strategies, not quick fixes. Looking out over a five-year horizon support organizations’ boards, staff, and other stakeholders in understanding what must occur today to ensure an organization can successfully achieve its mission while being financially strong.
Professional development for artists y creating a mechanism by which creatives can access professional development opportunities to build or strengthen their small business operating model for long-term sustainability. Facilitate workshops, scholarships, and underlying studies to outline and promote living wages for creatives.
Enhance school outcomes through Artist in Residence Program by piloting an integrated curriculum with artist-in-residence third-grade Title I classrooms working alongside teachers to achieve better learning outcomes as measured by end-of-year testing.
Coordinated and comprehensive marketing plan for the Arts of Guilford County will create a broad-based awareness of the breadth and depth of the creative community across Guilford County and beyond.

These four focus areas will guide ArtsGreensboro’s priorities over the next five years in efforts to help artists recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 while also establishing a new framework for a more sustainable arts sector in Guilford County.

"The Arts reflect our culture and help build our sense of community. The Board of County Commissioners is pleased to be part of this strategic effort to help our artists overcome the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and define a strategy to give creatives, artists, and arts organizations tools and resources to become financially stronger and better able to serve the community and thrive in a post-pandemic environment."

"Our arts community serves as the economic life force of a healthy community. These re-investment funds will provide more stability to the arts community due to unforeseen economic disruptions."

"The North Carolina Arts Council is proud to partner with ArtsGreensboro in supporting the arts community of Guilford County. Their roadmap for helping artists and arts organizations move from recovery to sustainability is a smart approach. When the arts are a vibrant and thriving part of our communities, North Carolina benefits economically because the arts have the power to educate, connect, and inspire us all."

Town Hall Meetings | Organizational Capacity Building and Long-term Sustainability

For nonprofit arts organizations, ArtsGreensboro is hosting three town hall meetings during January to discuss the plan for organizational capacity building and long-term sustainability among Guilford County nonprofit arts organizations. The meetings are as follows:

January 23, 2023, from 12:00 – 1:30 PM at Van Dyke Performance Space, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N Davie Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
January 23, 2023, from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at Centennial Station Art Center, 121 S Centennial St, High Point, NC 27260
January 24, 2023, from 12:00 – 1:30 PM via Zoom

The meetings are open to executives, board members, and leadership staff of arts nonprofits. All organizations are encouraged to have attendance at one of the meetings.

Arts + the Economy

ArtsGreensboro must help strengthen the arts ecology of Guilford County. Too many arts organizations are not sustainable without external investment in bold plans. Funds are necessary to facilitate longer artistic planning calendars, transformational programming, sophisticated marketing, and collaborations necessary to engage new audiences and generation of supporters. A sector-wide marketing effort is essential to highlight the best work of local artists and arts organizations. Take advantage of this crisis to come out stronger.
– Michael Kaiser, | President | DeVos Institute for Arts Management

A strong and growing creative sector is the backbone of a vibrant community. Having artists and other creatives live and work in our community drives community and economic outcomes. We know this because, as a city, we benchmark ourselves against other cities with strong creative communities: Austin, TX, Raleigh, NC, Columbus, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA. Each invests significantly more in its arts ecosystem.
What else do our benchmark cities have in common? They have a stronger arts community because they invest in the arts at the local level. They have more for-profit art entities. Artists can make a successful living. Their top ten arts institutions’ average budget is 150% higher than Greensboro’s top organization’s average budget.