Kresge ups artist fellowship awards to $40K

Because inflation is real

Nov 9, 2023 at 11:54 am

The Kresge Artist Fellowship class of 2023. Courtesy photo

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Times are hard out here with inflation, so the Kresge Foundation is nearly doubling the amount of its fellowships for metro Detroit artists in 2024.

The next round of Kresge Artist Fellows will be awarded $40,000. Previously the no-strings attached grant was $25,000. Kresge is also increasing the number of fellowships from 20 to 25 while the Gilda Awards will remain at $5,000 for 10 early-career artists.

“This expands and deepens our decade-plus commitment to direct support to the working artists of greater Detroit,” said Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation. “Artists are there for us as bearers of tradition and inspiring innovators. They are too often unacknowledged catalysts for our economic wellbeing and civic progress. We need to be there for them as they are here for our community.”

Applications for the next round of Kresge Artist Fellowships open on Dec. 1 in the Live Arts and Film & Music categories. The deadline to apply is Jan. 18. The Kresge foundation alternates between live arts and visual and literary arts each year.

“Live arts” refers to the fields of choreography, comedy, dance, performance art, theater, and more.

Kresge has given $8 million to 345 artists in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county since 2008. Originally, it only included 18 artists and was increased to 20 in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re excited every summer when Kresge Arts in Detroit makes public a new roster for Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Awardees. And we’ve been excited over the years to watch many of them continue on to any number of awards and honors, from novelist Michael Zadoorian having his work adapted for the big screen to Nandi Comer being named Michigan Poet Laureate to Thornetta Davis being named national Female Blues Artist of the Year,” said Wendy Lewis Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program. “But to name just three or even 30 of our artists is to understate the vitality of what’s going on across metro Detroit. It’s a high time of artistic energy and this is a time to expand our contribution as a statement to the community as a whole.”

For more information on how to apply, see kresgeartsindetroit.org.

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Randiah Camille Green

After living in Japan and traveling across Asia, Randiah Camille Green realized Detroit will always be home. And when she says Detroit, she's talking about the hood, not the suburbs. She has bylines in Planet Detroit News , Bridge Detroit , BLAC magazine, and Model D .Her favorite pastimes are meditating on...