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The Kresge Foundation announced today that it has awarded $109,958 in grants for 12 community arts projects in Metropolitan Detroit. The awards fund projects that engage a wide spectrum of Detroiters using a variety of arts genres and range in scope from the creation of outdoor murals and sculptures for neighborhood gardens, to a photo documentary and oral history of Hispanic immigrants living in southwest Detroit, and a grassroots community radio journalism program for high school students.

See below for a complete list of the award recipients and descriptions of their projects.

The grants, ranging in amounts from $3,500 to nearly $10,000, will be dispersed immediately and run through October 2010. More than 160 grant requests were received for this program, which encouraged residents of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, Michigan, to use art and culture as a tool to address issues in their communities.

“We are delighted that residents in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park embraced this opportunity to use arts and culture to engage their communities,” says Regina R. Smith, arts and culture program officer at the Kresge Foundation. “And we are quite thrilled to be funding such creative, thoughtful projects.”

The Kresge Foundation is investing $200,000 over two years in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park for this community arts program. Similar programs are underway in St. Louis, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland.

The community arts effort will expand to two additional cities in 2010 – Birmingham, Alabama, and Tucson, Arizona. Application information for Birmingham and Tucson will be posted on the Kresge Foundation Web site, www.kresge.org as details are made available.

Detroit Projects Receiving Funding:

Arts & Scraps – $5,000

To create a training series for adult caregivers of children using arts projects to teach science, math, social studies, and language arts. DVDs will be given to agencies that already teach parenting skills, such as United Way of Southeast Michigan, Detroit Head Start, and Detroit Parent Network.

Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit – $9,958

To enable local artist Steven Cherry to create a grassroots community radio journalism and production program for high-school students living in Hamtramck and Southwest Detroit.

Detroit Zen Center – $8,650

To support neighborhood artists who will lead members of the Hamtramck community in designing and erecting a wall of refuge and a sculpture for an adjoining garden.

Development Centers Inc. – $9,600

To create a series of free Family Music Nights to facilitate community building and to promote the arts among families in the Brightmoor neighborhood.

Heritage Works – $10,000

To create a 15-week Family Arts program using arts, culture, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to address health and wellness issues in Detroit’s Osborn and Cody-Rouge neighborhoods.

Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership – $3,500

To support artist Soh Suzuki’s work with youth and residents in Northeast Detroit neighborhoods to create a mural on the exterior wall of St. Raymond Community Center.

Jazz Development Workshop Inc. – $9,958

To support local artist Bill Meyer, who will coordinate and produce a multi-ethnic music concert, entitled Coming to Hamtramck, based on residents sharing reasons why they came to Hamtramck.

Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development Inc. – $9,960

To enable artist Carlos Diaz, along with Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development, to complete a photo documentary and oral-history project of Hispanic immigrants living in Southwest Detroit.

Matrix Theatre Company Inc. – $9,958

A two-year grant totaling $19,916 to design workshops and an original production based on community members’ relationship to their local environment. Youths and residents will participate in workshops based on a series of images and stories, and learn masking in preparation for the development of the new theatrical production.

Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order – $3,500

To enable artist Darryl Smith, along with underserved youth from the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, to conduct art workshops for area youth in Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck to augment existing community gardens with mosaic pavers and painted fences.

Southwest Detroit Business Association – $9,958

To support artist Vito Valdez, who will lead youths and residents in the West Vernor and Springwells districts in the restoration of two existing murals in the neighborhood and in a wide-ranging beautification project that includes sculpture, mosaics, and gardens.

Sphinx Organization Inc. – $9,958

To create Overture, a grassroots initiative that provides a safe after-school activity in the form of free violin lessons for students in Osborn and Southwest Detroit.

The Kresge Foundation is a $2.8 billion private, national foundation that supports communities by building the capacity of nonprofit organizations in six fields: health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services and community development.

In partnership with grantees, Kresge seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity in underserved communities, improving the health of low-income people, supporting artistic expression, assisting in the revitalization of Detroit, and advancing methods for dealing with global climate change. In 2008, the foundation approved 342 grants totaling $181 million.

For more information, contact Cynthia Shaw, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 248-643-9630.