Thirty-one artists from Metro Detroit will share $550,000 in Kresge and Gilda Emerging Artist Awards. The awards were announced today by Kresge Arts’ Detroit office located at the College for Creative Studies, which administers the organization on behalf of the Kresge Foundation.
The 14th cohort of winners includes 15 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Film and Music and 5 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Performing Arts (which includes a collaborative duo), as well as 7 Gilda Prize winners in Film and Music and 3 in Performing Arts . (For the first time, Gilda Fellowships and Prizes were awarded to performing arts or film and music based on the number of nominations received in each category rather than 10 prizes in each.)
Since 2008, Kresge Arts in Detroit has awarded more than $7.36 million directly to artists in the three counties (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb) through 14 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards ($50,000 each), 258 Kresge Artist Fellowships ($25,000 each) and 42 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each).
“The big reveal of the one-year Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award winners has become something of a Detroit metro summer rite. Many of us find confirmation from artists on our radar screen – and more importantly, we are introduced to many new artists who are making their mark on the city’s vibrant arts and culture scenes,” said the President and CEO. of Kresge’s management, Rip Rapson.
“These are 31 artists we can expect to see, hear and experience in the months and years to come through this program which supports and uplifts individual artists. But it is at least equally important that these artists remind us of the collective contributions of our artistic community to a sense of our cultural roots and our future possibilities.
The cohort of 2022 ranges from emerging practitioners to famous veterans. Selection criteria for the Kresge Artist Fellowships include a demonstrated track record of artistic achievement and high quality work, the potential for growth and advancement in one’s artistic career, and the potential to reflect, enhance, or have an impact on communities in metropolitan Detroit. Winners are selected by panels of local and national arts practitioners, in their respective disciplines, over several months and numerous rounds of review. (See the full list of panelists below).
“Detroit’s powerful pool of creatives this year reflects dynamic innovation, historical memory, and the importance of creating transformative spiritual experiences,” said Piper Carter, image maker, cultural curator, activist, and film panelist and of Music 2022. “With a commitment to community, the Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards represent an appreciation for advancing the craft of the artist and the helpful ideas needed in and for our world at this time.”
In addition to a no-commitment award of $25,000, Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award winners benefit from a tailored professional development experience that provides opportunities for skills development, networking, promotion and coaching. Produced by Kresge Arts in Detroit, offerings are created and delivered in collaboration with artists and arts and cultural organizations representing local and national perspectives. In the catalog of offerings, fellows are encouraged to determine what best suits their goals and definitions of success. Gilda Award recipients are invited to participate in the majority of professional development opportunities.
Kresge Arts in Detroit will also continue its Commissioned Film Series, which pairs fellows with local filmmakers to create large-scale interpretive short films chronicling the fellows’ artistic practices. Short videos by individual artists are available online at KresgeArtsinDetroit.org (on artist profile pages) and on the Kresge Arts in Detroit Vimeo page. The 2021 films premiered on Detroit Public Television — on TV and online — and are now streaming at film festivals and artist websites. The 2022 films will go live next spring.
“Creativity is an essential component of society locally, nationally and globally, and our world needs the transformative power of the arts more than ever,” said College for Creative Studies President Don Tuski. “Honoring and investing in this cohort of Kresge Scholars and Gilda Prize-winning artists ensures the continued contribution of these artists to our cultural community and beyond, and for that, CCS could not be more proud.”
Film & Music Fellows: Black Milk, musical composition and performance; Leith Campbell, sound art; Ali Allan Coldingmusical performances; DAYinterdisciplinary work; Demario Dotsoninterdisciplinary work; Carl-Georgesfilmmaking; Akhnek Kenneth Greensound art; Michael Ibrahimmusical composition and interpretation; De’Sean Jonesmusical composition and interpretation; KESSWAinterdisciplinary work; Tammy Lakismusical composition and interpretation; Theo Parrish, musical composition and performance; Jaribu Shahid, musical composition and interpretation; *Summer like the season, musical composition and performance; Kaleigh Wilder, musical performance. (*Summer Like the Season has already won a Gilda Award in 2020.)
Performing Arts Fellows: Marc BrewerDance; Deidre DSSENSE Smithperformance art; Hadassah GreenSkyinterdisciplinary work; Queen Gaby, dance and choreography; Thank you very much for coming*, interdisciplinary work. (*The duo known as Thank You So Much For Coming previously received a Gilda Award in 2020.)
“The 2022 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda award winners demonstrate that Detroit’s reputation as an unparalleled creative hub is well deserved. Together, this year’s cohort will receive $550,000 with no strings attached. The freedom inherent in these awards ensures that Detroit artists can continue to guide us through grief, bring us together in celebration, and lead the way to a brighter future,” said Kresge Arts Detroit Director Christina fromRoos.
The Gilda Awards are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of the legacy of Gilda Snowden (1954-2014) as a mentor and champion of emerging artists in Metro Detroit. Recipients are selected from applicants for the 2022 Kresge Artist Fellowships. The Gilda Awards recognize artists who are early in their artistic careers, gaining momentum, and who demonstrate exceptional potential by taking creative risks and pushing back the limits of the art form they have chosen.
Gilda Prize in Living Arts: Anetria Coledramatic writing Joel Fluent Greene, performance art; Trishana, Dance
Gilda Prize for Film and Music: Natasha Besteinterdisciplinary work; Jeremy Brockman, film making; Detroit Sound Bureau, musical composition and performance; Gary Jay, film making; Razi Jafri, film making; Jhayla Mosleyfilmmaking; Nova Zaii, musical composition and interpretation.
“I was deeply impressed with the dedication of the organization and my fellow panelists during this selection process. The care and attention that Kresge Arts in Detroit devotes to equity and diversity, challenging institutional and personal biases, are huge,” said Film & Music panelist, composer and artist Brian Kirkbride. “As a panel, we were strong advocates for the contestants we believed in, but we also had the humility and openness to learn from each other to select the best cohort of Kresge Scholars artists we could. I am grateful to have experienced this.
Film and Music Panelists: Piper Carter, image creator; cultural curator; activist; Michel Boyce Gillespieassociate professor of film, City College of New York and Graduate Center, CUNY; Mike Khoury, composer; musician, curator; searcher; director of Entropy Stereo Recordings; Brian Kirkbride, composer; artist; Suzanne Kite, composer; visual artist; performance artist.
Performing Arts Panelists: Shawntai Brown, playwright; poet; freelance teaching artist; co-host and co-producer of content for wife crush everyday; co-creator with Black LGBT+ Plays; Zlatko Ćosic, interdisciplinary video artist; owner of Eye Production; professor at Webster University; Mary Mar, performing artist, Hardcore Detroit and Mama2; owner, BGIRL MAMA LLC; studio director and instructor, Next Step Broadway; Aimee L. McCoy, filmmaker; theater director; producer; Managing Director and Co-Artistic Director of The Artizen Company; Director of Memberships for Alternate ROOTS, Inc.; Arien Wilkerson, choreographer; Dancer; director; director; producer; founder of TNMOT AZTRO PERFORMANCE ART AND DANCE INSTALLATION.
An intimate reunion for the winners will take place in July, followed by the release of the recorded event. The program will include performances from the Kris Johnson Group (led by 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow Kris Johnson) and the TeMaTe Institute for Black Dance (with 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow Ajara Alghali) – as well as remarks from award winners and Kresge Arts staff in Detroit, The Kresge Foundation and the College of Creative Studies. The event program video will be available July 27 at www.KresgeArtsinDetroitPresents.Art.
