Creative Greensboro director Jacqueline Boone previews CultureWorks festival

Jacqueline Boone, director of Creative Greensboro, said CultureWorks, a free daylong arts festival, will take place Saturday, May 23, from about 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center and LeBauer Park in downtown Greensboro.

Boone, who leads the city’s Office of Art and Culture, said the event is designed to elevate local artists and emphasize the creative economy. "Culture is the vibrancy that define a place, that define, a community, and that also bridges people together," she said during a Talk City Greensboro interview with host Rodney Dawson.

Why it matters: Creative Greensboro is framing CultureWorks as both a public celebration and an economic opportunity for local artists, with free programming intended to spotlight designers, musicians, students and community arts organizations.

Boone outlined daylong programming that ranges from an outdoor art gallery and youth activities to an evening concert. Family-friendly attractions begin at 11 a.m., including a kids zone, aerial performers, jugglers and live art demonstrations. An outdoor concert is scheduled for 6–8 p.m., with a Latin band and a performance by the Tanya Ross Project.

The festival also includes a "podcast pavilion" from 1–4 p.m. hosted with university partners — North Carolina A&T, Bennett College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro — featuring rotating 30-minute conversations with student and early-career podcasters about local creative industries.

Creative Greensboro will stage two fashion shows in the Cultural Center atrium (about 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.) featuring roughly a dozen local designers. "We have 12 amazing local designers...they're gonna take the Cultural Center to the next level," Boone said.

A highlight of the program is a 2 p.m. session with Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter at the Van Dyke Performance Center. Boone said organizers had a limited number of free tickets for that appearance and urged listeners to grab remaining Eventbrite tickets quickly: "Tickets have gone so fast," she said.

Boone also noted a line-dancing segment with DJ Energizer slated for roughly 3:30–5:30 p.m. in LeBauer Park; if weather forces a move indoors, organizers will shift outdoor activities into the Cultural Arts Center.

Boone described CultureWorks as "a day long free explosion of arts and culture" and emphasized the event's goal of connecting creatives to resources, including grant-writing help and opportunities to meet industry representatives.

How to attend: Boone said most activities are free; limited tickets for the Ruth Carter session were available via Eventbrite. For updates and additional programming details, she directed listeners to Creative Greensboro's social channels and website, creativegreensboro.com.

Boone's background: She said she moved to Greensboro nearly three years ago to lead the city's arts office, previously directed an arts council in Baltimore and has experience as a teacher and arts educator. She framed CultureWorks as the first event of its kind from Creative Greensboro but said the office runs programs year-round.

The Talk City segment closed with a reminder of the date, the downtown location (Cultural Arts Center, 200 North Davie Street) and a request that residents support local artists by attending.