Detroit artists have always been rooted in community and connection, often documenting and reflecting the cities’ struggles and successes through their work. The Kresge Artist Fellowship strives to continue fostering spaces for artists to thrive by providing unrestricted cash prizes to individual artists, creating cohorts and reinforcing community spaces for artists to collaborate and learn from one another.

One of the fellowship’s defining requirements is that recipients must have at least two years of continuous residency in metro Detroit. While each fellow arrived to the area through their own induvial path, they all became part of the artist network that continues to shape the city’s cultural identity. For Salar Ansari, composer, performer and 2026 Kresge Artist Fellow in Film & Music, this recognition reflects years of building relationships within the artist community.

“I’ve been living in Detroit for almost 12 years and I knew about the fellowship through the scene of the industry, the fact that multiple friends of mine have received their fellowships, whom I’ve collaborated with, and my sister who actually won a fellowship in 2024, whom I did the audio for her film,” Ansari said. “This is my third time making an application, second time actually submitting it.”

Kresge Arts in Detroit administers the Artist Fellows program, which offers no strings attached prizes of $50,000, on behalf of The Kresge Foundation.

Investing in artists and forming a community

Before the awards were announced publicly, the fellows gathered privately to celebrate their accomplishments with their peers and discuss the year to come. The room was filled with excitement and comradery, as many of the artists in the room have known one another for years. For others, this was an opportunity to build new relationships and strengthen connections in their community.

“I think artists are built with community around. There’s a myth of the solo artist, but there’s always a cohort, community, supporters or crew,” said Frisly Soberanis, film director and 2026 Kresge Artist Fellow in Film & Music. “I think this fellowship and the Gilda Awards and just how much support goes into an ecosystem like that is what really will help continue the legacy of arts in Detroit, because it’s one thing to give one award to one person, but another to build a cohort with people. That is how you keep that ecosystem sustainable.”

While the artists are recognized as individuals, the fellowship invests in the artists as a cohort for mentorship, collaboration, and shared opportunities.

When applying for a fellowship, artists must share a community impact statement that outlines how they currently or hope to impact their community through collaboration and partnership. This reinforces community as an essential part of the award.

For interdisciplinary artist and 2026 Film & Music Fellow Ackeem Salmon, the chance to collaborate with fellow artists is a chance to continue to hone his craft.

“Every artist arrives with their own history, questions and communities, and it takes courage to keep returning to those questions through your work,” Salmon said. “What excites me about fellowship is being surrounded by artists who share that same commitment.”

“We all experience uncertainty, rejection and moments when our ideas aren’t immediately understood, but being in community reminds you to keep going, Salmon said. “Together we can challenge those structures, refine our work and help make those ideas more accessible to the broader public. That’s what being part of this artist community means to me.”

This opportunity was a time to reflect on the collaboration and encouragement Maurice “Pirahnahead” Herd, composer and 2026 Film &Music Fellow, received from colleagues and past Kresge Artist Fellows. He expressed his hope to continue that support system for the next generation of artists in Detroit.

“You know what I look for is the camaraderie, us having this community allowing us to be a bridge for other younger artists,” Herd said. “It might allow young artists to be able to get this in the future, give them something to look forward to.”

For Karen Prall, dancer, choreographer and 2026 Kresge Artist Fellow in Live Arts, this recognition and support provide the opportunity to reconnect with her community after years in academia.

“This is actually my third time applying, and I knew that you could get the funds and do your own thing, and that really excited me.” Prall said.

“I have a whole list of things that I want to do, and I know one thing is to kind of catapult me into the next thing that I’m doing after retiring from my university job, which is coming up real soon,” Prall said. “I also want this to help me get back into the community, because that’s where I want to go after 25 years at the university.”

This award reflects perseverance and dedication to an artist’s craft. Many of this year’s fellows applied multiple times before receiving the fellowship.

Galaxy, performance artist and 2026 Kresge Fellow in Live Arts, appreciated the time to reflect on her work and hone her craft as she worked her way up to achieving this recognition.

“Someone told me don’t stop applying because the first time I applied, I got rejected, but I ended up getting a job because someone on the panel remembered me for my application,” Galaxy said.

“When I applied to the job they told me don’t stop applying, the panel changes every year. Then the second year I won a Gilda and now the fellowship, so I’m always going to apply,” Galaxy said.