{"id":1437569,"date":"2022-04-14T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1437569"},"modified":"2022-04-14T12:00:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T16:00:42","slug":"thousands-of-taxpayer-dollars-go-towards-black-lives-matter-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thousands-of-taxpayer-dollars-go-towards-black-lives-matter-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Taxpayer Dollars Go Towards \u201cBlack Lives Matter Art\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthousands-of-taxpayer-dollars-go-towards-black-lives-matter-art%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1437569&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>King County awarded thousands of tax-funded grant dollars to the co-founder of Black Lives Matter. The only tangible item the community received in return was a neon red sign that we\u2019re supposed to pretend is original art.<\/p>\n<p>Patrisse Cullors held a one-week residency at the Vashon Center for the Arts that ended with a one-on-one on-stage speaking engagement. The April 8 event occurred days after the bombshell report that BLM spent contributions on a $5.8 million mansion. Rather than take responsibility for misspending funds, Cullors claimed any criticism of her leadership was racist. The lazy strategy of labeling a critic a racist is nothing new and has mostly lost its effect.<\/p>\n<p>But after the event, the Vashon Island community saw the artistic creation she supposedly spent the week designing. It was a tiny sign that she didn\u2019t actually create.<\/p>\n<h3>This isn\u2019t really art, is it?<\/h3>\n<p>Cullors\u2019 art installation is a small neon sign that reads, \u201cAbolition is\u2026\u201d and that\u2019s it. Perhaps the activist-artist didn\u2019t have time to complete her thought. It\u2019s possible that Cullors was too busy looking for expensive Vashon Island real estate to invest her fortune, and she just ran out of time during her residency.<\/p>\n<p>I do have some suggestions to complete the thought. \u201cAbolition is\u2026 dangerous\u201d and \u201cAbolition is\u2026 the idea of grifters taking advantage of stupid people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It seems dishonest to say she created the piece. There were no artistic skills necessary. It\u2019s two words, three periods, and in a standard font. The art fabrication was actually completed by Western Neon artist Dylan Neuwirth.<\/p>\n<p>Vashon Center for the Arts executive director Allison Halstead Reid confirmed it was Cullors\u2019 \u201ccreation and design,\u201d but it was Neuwirth \u201cwho brought her vision forth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cullors was brought to the island for more than a neon sign. In addition to her on-stage event, she attempted to indoctrinate students at the nearby high school during a meet and greet and Q&#038;A.<\/p>\n<p>And you paid for this.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/3338950\/rantz-seattle-area-school-district-showed-anti-cop-blm-video-for-black-history-month\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Rantz: Seattle-area school district showed anti-cop BLM video for Black History Month<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Your tax dollars at work<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear how much Cullors received for her Vashon Island vacation\/residency. But we know at least $7,000 went to the event, nearly half coming from tax dollars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not disclose artists\u2019 fees for any of our performances and events \u2013 whether it\u2019s a Los Lobos concert on our stage, touring art exhibit, or a renowned speaker such as Ms. Cullors,\u201d Reid told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.<\/p>\n<p>But she did acknowledge that there were some public dollars involved. The King County Executive spokesperson confirmed a total of $3,000 from the taxpayer-funded 2022 Alan Painter Grant Program to support the event.<\/p>\n<p>The event was also sponsored by the Vashon Island School District through its foundation. It allocated $4,000, though the district superintendent says the funds weren\u2019t from taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe anonymous donation was made to Vashon Schools Foundation. The anonymous donor specifically asked for their donation to support racial equity work,\u201d superintendent Slade McSheehy confirmed to the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. \u201cVashon Schools Foundation provides a yearly allocation to the district. The district made the decision to use the allocation specified for racial equity for the work with Patrisse Cullors.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>No concerns over the controversy<\/h3>\n<p>The controversy around a secretly purchased BLM mansion broke during the residency. But the Vashon Center for the Arts executive director didn\u2019t seem moved by it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are, of course, aware that there are stories in the media regarding Ms. Cullors and the Black Lives Matter movement. As an arts organization, we believe it is part of our mission to bring contemporary issues, including those around racial justice, to light through artists and their art,\u201d Reid explained.<\/p>\n<p>The Vashon School District shared Reid\u2019s disinterest in the controversy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe District has no comment regarding any allegations about Patrice Cullors,\u201d a district spokesperson explained.<\/p>\n<p><em>Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3\u20136 pm on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/category\/podcast_results\/?sid=1018&#038;n=The%20Jason%20Rantz%20Show\">podcast here<\/a>. Follow\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jasonrantz\">@JasonRantz<\/a>\u00a0 on\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jasonrantz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter,<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jasonrantz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jasonrantzshow\">Facebook<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/jasonrantz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a>. Check back frequently for more news and analysis.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>King County awarded thousands of tax-funded grant dollars to the co-founder of Black Lives Matter. The only tangible item the community received in return was a neon red sign that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1437569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1437569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1437569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1437569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1437569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}