26 past winners of the Knights Art Challenge

By on Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 2:29 pm

The 2017 Knight Arts Challenge, now in its fifth year in Detroit, is offering a share of up to $3 million to the best ideas for engaging and enriching Detroit through the arts.

A project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the challenge has awarded $9.46 million in matching grants, bringing to life 222 successful arts ideas in Detroit since its inception in 2013.

Knight Foundation funds the arts because of their ability to inspire communities and connect people to each other and to their city. The challenge is part of a two-pronged strategy that supports established arts institutions to help them better engage the public and funds grassroots initiatives of individual artists and organizations so that everyone has a chance to make their idea a reality.

There are only three rules for submissions:

1) The idea must be about the arts. 2) The project must take place in or benefit Detroit. 3) The grant recipients must find funds to match Knight’s commitment.

Find out more at knightarts.org.

 

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12-and-Under Super Cool Poetry Open Mic Series Applicant: 12-and-Under Super Cool Poetry Open Mic Award: $15,000 To create a youth-driven open mic series, hosted by 10-year-old poet Thomas King Moore, at prominent cultural institutions in Detroit
12-and-Under Super Cool Poetry Open Mic Series
Applicant: 12-and-Under Super Cool Poetry Open Mic
Award: $15,000
To create a youth-driven open mic series, hosted by 10-year-old poet Thomas King Moore, at prominent cultural institutions in Detroit
1 of 26
Final Girls Applicant: Final Girls Award: $7,500 To support female filmmakers in Detroit through a filmmaking collective that will host workshops, screenings and master classes
Final Girls
Applicant: Final Girls
Award: $7,500
To support female filmmakers in Detroit through a filmmaking collective that will host workshops, screenings and master classes
2 of 26
The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence Applicant: Step Afrika! USA Inc. Award: $84,722 To share the story of the Great Migration through dance, by bringing Step Afrika!’s full-length dance piece based on artist Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series to Detroit (Photo credit: Meredith Hanafi)
The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence
Applicant: Step Afrika! USA Inc.
Award: $84,722
To share the story of the Great Migration through dance, by bringing Step Afrika!’s full-length dance piece based on artist Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series to Detroit (Photo credit: Meredith Hanafi)
3 of 26
What Pipeline Presents Pope.L in Detroit Applicant: What Pipeline Award: $30,000 To bring daring contemporary art to Detroit by inviting visual artist Pope.L for a unique exhibit and performance (Pictured: Pope L.)
What Pipeline Presents Pope.L in Detroit
Applicant: What Pipeline
Award: $30,000
To bring daring contemporary art to Detroit by inviting visual artist Pope.L for a unique exhibit and performance (Pictured: Pope L.)
4 of 26
ARTS.BLACK Applicant: ARTS.BLACK Award: $15,000 To document and magnify the city’s arts scene with an online journal of critical discourse shared from the black perspective (Pictured: ARTS.BLACK founding editors Jessica Lynne (L) and Taylor Renee Aldridge (R))
ARTS.BLACK
Applicant: ARTS.BLACK
Award: $15,000
To document and magnify the city’s arts scene with an online journal of critical discourse shared from the black perspective (Pictured: ARTS.BLACK founding editors Jessica Lynne (L) and Taylor Renee Aldridge (R))
5 of 26
Beautifully Wrapped and the Head Wrap Expo Applicant: Beautifully Wrapped Award: $45,000 To explore themes of identity, fashion and cultural assimilation through “Beautifully Wrapped,”an interfaith, traveling exhibit on the art of head wrapping among Sikh Indians, Rastafarians, the Amish, Muslims and others (Photo credit: Maria Popi Photography)
Beautifully Wrapped and the Head Wrap Expo
Applicant: Beautifully Wrapped
Award: $45,000
To explore themes of identity, fashion and cultural assimilation through “Beautifully Wrapped,”an interfaith, traveling exhibit on the art of head wrapping among Sikh Indians, Rastafarians, the Amish, Muslims and others (Photo credit: Maria Popi Photography)
6 of 26
Detroit See Me Applicant: Nichole Christian Award: $6,000 To saturate the city with the faces of resilient and hopeful Detroit youth through a traveling exhibit and limited edition photo book
Detroit See Me
Applicant: Nichole Christian
Award: $6,000
To saturate the city with the faces of resilient and hopeful Detroit youth through a traveling exhibit and limited edition photo book
7 of 26
Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories Live Applicant: Shannon Cason Award: $65,000 To spotlight the best national and local storytellers through a monthly event, Homemade Stories Live (Photo credit: Reginald Eldridge)
Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories Live
Applicant: Shannon Cason
Award: $65,000
To spotlight the best national and local storytellers through a monthly event, Homemade Stories Live (Photo credit: Reginald Eldridge)
8 of 26
Detroit ’67 Rebellion: Inside and Out Applicant: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Award: $125,000 To use the arts to examine the 1967 civil unrest in historical context, and broaden the conversation around the city’s future, with a series of exhibitions, performance art and a memorial fence that will gather Detroiters’ reflections (Photo credit: Annistique Photography)
Detroit ’67 Rebellion: Inside and Out
Applicant: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Award: $125,000 To use the arts to examine the 1967 civil unrest in historical context, and broaden the conversation around the city’s future, with a series of exhibitions, performance art and a memorial fence that will gather Detroiters’ reflections (Photo credit: Annistique Photography)
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Detroit ’67 Applicant: Detroit Public Theatre Award: $60,000 To spark meaningful dialogue in communities and schools across the city with a mobile production of a play by native Detroiter Dominique Morisseau about a brother and sister who find themselves caught up in the uprising
Detroit ’67
Applicant: Detroit Public Theatre
Award: $60,000 To spark meaningful dialogue in communities and schools across the city with a mobile production of a play by native Detroiter Dominique Morisseau about a brother and sister who find themselves caught up in the uprising
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DLECTRICITY Commissions Artist Rashaad Newsome Applicant: Midtown Detroit Award: $75,000 To strengthen DLECTRICITY by bringing multidisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome to debut a new video installation that explores Detroit’s history, and to lead a processional performance that opens the festival (Photo credit: David Lewinski Photography)
DLECTRICITY Commissions Artist Rashaad Newsome
Applicant: Midtown Detroit
Award: $75,000
To strengthen DLECTRICITY by bringing multidisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome to debut a new video installation that explores Detroit’s history, and to lead a processional performance that opens the festival (Photo credit: David Lewinski Photography)
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JazzSpace Detroit: A Photographic Journey Applicant: Barbara Barefield Award: $20,000 To share Detroit’s musical heritage by creating a permanent, accessible archive of Barefield’s jazz photos, music posters and art, to update her 1979 book “JazzSpace Detroit,” and present a concert and exhibit representing 40 years of jazz and creative musicians.
JazzSpace Detroit: A Photographic Journey
Applicant: Barbara Barefield
Award: $20,000
To share Detroit’s musical heritage by creating a permanent, accessible archive of Barefield’s jazz photos, music posters and art, to update her 1979 book “JazzSpace Detroit,” and present a concert and exhibit representing 40 years of jazz and creative musicians.
12 of 26
AfroFuture Past: Dance, Fashion and the Diaspora Applicant: Bree Gant Award: $8,000 To explore the intersection of African cultural traditions in Detroit’s art scene today with AfroFuturePast, which includes zines, short dance films and community events
AfroFuture Past: Dance, Fashion and the Diaspora
Applicant: Bree Gant
Award: $8,000
To explore the intersection of African cultural traditions in Detroit’s art scene today with AfroFuturePast, which includes zines, short dance films and community events
13 of 26
Save Yourself Applicant: Britney Stoney Award: $10,000 To share an artist’s creative journey by touring an original musical about following your dreams
Save Yourself
Applicant: Britney Stoney
Award: $10,000
To share an artist’s creative journey by touring an original musical about following your dreams
14 of 26
How Ma Bell Got Her Groove Back: Detroit for Real Applicant: Focus: HOPE Award: $164,750 To turn the historic Michigan Bell Telephone building into a canvas for Detroit stories by projecting on it new works of light art, video and photographs
How Ma Bell Got Her Groove Back: Detroit for Real
Applicant: Focus: HOPE
Award: $164,750
To turn the historic Michigan Bell Telephone building into a canvas for Detroit stories by projecting on it new works of light art, video and photographs
15 of 26
The Taste of Displacement Applicant: Jehan Mullin Award: $15,000 To bring the multimedia artist, Dena Al-Adeeb, and her interactive art project, “The Taste of Displacement,” to Detroit where she will develop a site-specific piece that explores local Arab-American experiences through video and performance art.
The Taste of Displacement
Applicant: Jehan Mullin
Award: $15,000
To bring the multimedia artist, Dena Al-Adeeb, and her interactive art project, “The Taste of Displacement,” to Detroit where she will develop a site-specific piece that explores local Arab-American experiences through video and performance art.
16 of 26
Wire-Car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD) Applicant: Wire-Car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD) Award: $7,300 To promote wire-car culture through an interactive website that serves as a resource for wire-car makers and enthusiasts, and to create a mobile parking structure to showcase models by association members
Wire-Car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD)
Applicant: Wire-Car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD) Award: $7,300
To promote wire-car culture through an interactive website that serves as a resource for wire-car makers and enthusiasts, and to create a mobile parking structure to showcase models by association members
17 of 26
The Other Hand Applicant: A Host of People Award: $25,000 To celebrate difference with a new experimental play and performance series exploring the in-between spaces of those who hold multiple identities of race, culture, gender and sexuality (Photo credit: John Del Gaudio)
The Other Hand
Applicant: A Host of People
Award: $25,000
To celebrate difference with a new experimental play and performance series exploring the in-between spaces of those who hold multiple identities of race, culture, gender and sexuality (Photo credit: John Del Gaudio)
18 of 26
Dangerous Times, Dangerous Responses Applicant: Alicia Diaz Award: $79,359 To examine Detroit’s role as a sanctuary for Central American refugees in the 1980s through a multimedia exhibition (Photo credit: Damon J. Hartley)
Dangerous Times, Dangerous Responses
Applicant: Alicia Diaz
Award: $79,359
To examine Detroit’s role as a sanctuary for Central American refugees in the 1980s through a multimedia exhibition (Photo credit: Damon J. Hartley)
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The Jit Exchange Applicant: Zimbabwe Cultural Centre in Detroit Award: $11,000 To unite dance styles from the same era, from two continents, by bringing Zimbabwean dancers to Detroit
The Jit Exchange
Applicant: Zimbabwe Cultural Centre in Detroit
Award: $11,000 To unite dance styles from the same era, from two continents, by bringing Zimbabwean dancers to Detroit
20 of 26
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