Skip to content
Focus Area

Arts and Culture Ecosystem

We support metro Detroit arts and culture at multiple levels, including operating support to organizations of various sizes, support for neighborhood-based Creative Placemaking efforts and projects in the city of Detroit, as well as unrestricted financial support for individual creators. We actively promote the power of arts and culture to preserve and enhance identity, connectedness and opportunity.

Since 2006, we have supported a robust arts and culture ecosystem across metropolitan Detroit. That has included such projects as DLectricity, Art X Detroit and AXD. Signature initiatives in this area are:

Detroit Arts Support

Working with peer foundations, we consider common applications for Detroit Arts Support every three years to provide unrestricted operating funds to arts and culture organizations of all sizes in metropolitan Detroit. The next Detroit Arts Support application window opens in 2022. We also partner to support CultureSource’s Creators of Culture initiative for producers who may not qualify for Detroit Arts Support.

Kresge Arts in Detroit

We support individual artists through the Kresge Arts in Detroit office of the College for Creative Studies, which administers annual Kresge Artist Fellowships, Gilda Awards and Kresge Eminent Artist awards.

We also invest in Creative Placemaking efforts in neighborhoods and partnerships with arts institutions.

The Arts in Detroit

Kresge lifts up Detroit nonprofit arts and culture organizations of all sizes and elevates individual artists across the arcs of their careers. We have invested $29 million In Detroit Arts Support for arts organizations, from the largest to one-employee shops. In 2019 we used a common application along with the Erb Family, Hudson-Webber and DeRoy Testamentary foundations to award $12.2 million in three-year grants to 74 arts organizations. Meanwhile, through the Kresge Arts in Detroit office at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, Kresge has delivered nearly $6.1 million in no-strings awards to 252 artists – 12 Eminent Artists receiving $50,000 each for lifelong achievements, 22 Gilda Awardees receiving $5,000 as early career risk-takers, and 218 Kresge Artist Fellows for their achievement and their potential growth and community impact.