Detroit-area Arts and Cultural Organizations Receive $2 Million for Operating Support
The Kresge Foundation Says Creativity Is Key to Sustaining Region
Troy, Michigan, November 14, 2007
Creativity has long been a defining characteristic of Detroit and the surrounding region. So says The Kresge Foundation, which today announces $2 million in grants to those igniting creative thought – small, mid-size and large arts and cultural organizations in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland Counties.
The awards to 53 nonprofit organizations fulfill the first year of the foundation’s three-year, $6 million commitment to provide operating support to area arts and cultural institutions so that each can be sustainable, long-term contributors to the community.
“Arts and cultural organizations open our eyes to new and different ways of viewing ourselves and our world,” says Rip Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation. “Through their creative acts, they stoke creative thinking in all of us – thinking that leads to innovation, invention and works of balance and beauty.”
“Creative thinking built this region,” Rapson continues, “and we believe creative thinking will sustain it. The health and vitality of our artists and arts and cultural organizations play a critical role in the strength of our economy and the quality of our community life.”
Kresge announced its Arts Support Program in July 2007. It is one facet of a comprehensive five-part strategy underway to vitalize the Detroit region. The Detroit Program, as it is called, aims to invigorate the regional economy by strengthening the City’s neighborhoods and downtown, promoting arts and culture and enhancing the natural environment.
Awards are being made to performing, visual and literary arts organizations, collecting organizations, and those working in arts service, arts education and film/video/public broadcasting.
Awards are based on merit and size of operational budget. Those with annual operating expenses of $3 million or more are considered large organizations. Mid-size organizations are those with operating expenses between $500,000 and $2.9 million. Small organizations are those with budgets less than $500,000.
A complete list of recipients is below.
Large organizations include the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theatre and The Henry Ford. Pewabic Pottery, The Sphinx Organization and InsideOut Literary Arts Project were among the mid-size award recipients. And the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Matrix Theatre Company and Puppet Art were among the small organizations selected to receive awards.
“Detroit’s arts community is vital to its future,” says Alice L. Carle, program officer for the Arts Support Program. “With the volatile funding climate for arts and cultural organizations nationwide and our fragile state economy, the Kresge Foundation is using its resources to bolster our arts ecosystem and help these organizations secure their futures for generations to come.”
Applications were reviewed by one of three peer-review panels and scored based on the following criteria:
- Quality of artistic achievement and strength of programming
- Contribution/importance to Metropolitan Detroit’s unique identity and to the cultural growth of the region
- Support for local artists and/or creators of culture
- Community outreach efforts to broaden audiences and increase access to arts experiences
- Commitment to cross cultural understanding and diversity through programming, board, staff and audience development
- Participation in effective partnerships and collaborations with other cultural and non-cultural organizations
- Support for arts education and youth development
- Capacity to effectively utilize Kresge funding to achieve organization’s long-term goals
Large organizations selected to receive Arts Support grants were notified in August, with the public announcement of all 2007-08 grants made today. The foundation has committed an additional $2 million to these 53 organizations in 2008 and a final $2 million in 2009 for a total program of $6 million.
Here is a complete list of Arts Support Program grantees, including their physical location, the amounts they receive in year-one and the amounts committed over three years:
| Organization | Location | Year 1 Amount | Total 3-year Commitment |
| ACCESS Arab American National Museum | Dearborn | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| African Dance Works | Detroit | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| Arts & Scraps | Detroit | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center | Birmingham | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Chamber Music Society of Detroit | Farmington Hills | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History | Detroit | $80,000 | $240,000 |
| College of Creative Studies | Detroit | $60,000 | $180,000 |
| Cranbrook Educational Facility – Art Museum & Science Center | Bloomfield Hills | $70,000 | $210,000 |
| Detroit Artists Market | Detroit | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings | Southfield | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Detroit Historical Society | Detroit | $65,000 | $195,000 |
| Detroit Institute of Arts | Detroit | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation | Detroit | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Detroit Public Television | Wixom | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| Detroit Public Television – WRCJ | Wixom | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Detroit Science Center | Detroit | $60,000 | $180,000 |
| Detroit Symphony Orchestra | Detroit | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| Detroit Zoological Society | Detroit | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| Digital Arts, Film and Television | Royal Oak | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| Downriver Council for the Arts | Taylor | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| Eisenhower Dance Ensemble | Southfield | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival | Southfield | $15,000 | $45,000 |
| InsideOut Literary Arts Project | Detroit | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Jewish Ensemble Theatre | West Bloomfield | $30,000 | $90,000 |
| Living Arts | Detroit | $7,500 | $22,500 |
| Macomb Center for the Performing Arts | Clinton Township | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Marygrove College – Community Arts Programs | Detroit | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Matrix Theatre Company | Detroit | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Michigan Opera Theatre | Detroit | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| Millan Theatre Company dba Detroit Repertory Theatre | Detroit | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Mosaic Youth Theater | Detroit | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Motown Historical Museum | Detroit | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts | Detroit | $80,000 | $240,000 |
| Oakland University – Art Gallery | Rochester | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| Oakland University – Meadowbrook Hall | Rochester | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Paint Creek Center for the Arts | Rochester | $20,000 | $60,000 |
| Plymouth Symphony Orchestra | Plymouth | $7,500 | $22,500 |
| PuppetART/Detroit Puppet Theater | Detroit | $7,500 | $22,500 |
| Rackham Symphony Choir | Detroit | $15,000 | $45,000 |
| The Art Center (Anton Art Center) | Mt. Clemens | $15,000 | $45,000 |
| The Arts League of Michigan | Detroit | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| The Henry Ford | Dearborn | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| The Orion Art Center | Lake Orion | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| The Pewabic Society | Detroit | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| The Sphinx Organization | Detroit | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| The Theatre Ensemble dba Meadow Brook Theatre | Rochester | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| University of Michigan Dearborn – Henry Ford Estate | Dearborn | $30,000 | $90,000 |
| Variety FAR Conservatory | Birmingham | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| VSA Arts of Michigan | Detroit | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| Warren Symphony Orchestra | Warren | $7,500 | $22,500 |
| Wayne State University – Hilberry Theatre | Detroit | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Wayne State University – WDET-FM | Detroit | $35,000 | $105,000 |
| Wayne State University Art Galleries | Detroit | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| Total | $2,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
For more information, contact Cynthia Shaw, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 248-643-9630.