Artist grants in Detroit are a way for organizations, cities and municipalities to continue the support for local artists and local art programs. Grants are given to people who have demonstrated a commitment to their art and have shown a need for financial assistance. This year we want you to succeed in your artistry and identified the top Detroit-based artist grants that are now available to the larger Detroit community. Go ahead and apply and tell them that BLAC sent you.  

The program is run by the City of Detroit Department of Arts and Culture. It is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kresge Foundation, and other private foundations.

1Kresge Foundation

Kresge Artist Fellowships are $25,000 awards, plus professional development support and the creation of a short film highlighting the artist’s work. Artists of all career stages are invited to apply. Fellowships recognize creative vision and commitment to excellence within a wide range of artistic disciplines, including artists who have been academically trained, self-taught artists, and artists whose art forms have been passed down through cultural heritage.

Gilda Awards are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of artist, CCS professor, and 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow Gilda Snowden (1954–2014). Fellowships and Gilda Awards are no strings attached awards, meaning artists may spend the money on any aspect of their creative practice or life (i.e. making new work, renting or purchasing studio space, travel, general living expenses, paying off debt, etc.).

2City of Detroit

The only department that routinely provides grants directly to the public is the Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD). HRD provides Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) by evaluating and approving proposals via the Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The department also provides workshops to help community partners prepare better and more competitive proposals for projects they want to pursue. If you belong to a nonprofit or community group, please visit the HRD For Nonprofit and Community Groups page fore more information.

3Annuity Freedom Artist Grant: Free Marketing Services

The catalyst for our grants was seeing and hearing about the tremendous impact of COVID-19 on artists of all kinds. We want to dedicate some of our knowledge and time to help.  While this is a business website, we are trying to help other business owners with our grant program. In support of this goal, we have disabled our normal calls to action/contact forms on grant pages and replaced our normal header images. We do not want your money. We want to help you make more money.

Please complete this Google Form. Applications are eligible for both grants.

4Knight Foundation

Recently, a new program has been launched in Detroit that provides grants for artists who are looking for funding to create their art. This program is funded by the Knight Foundation, which is supporting the arts and culture in Detroit.

The grants can be used to fund any kind of art project, and they are available to all kinds of artists, including those who have never applied for a grant before. The goal of this program is to give artists more freedom and independence so they can create the work they want without having to worry about where their next paycheck will come from.

There are 365 performing arts organizations in the greater Detroit metro area, including the cities of Detroit, Dearborn, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Novi, Pontiac, Southfield, Taylor, Troy, and Warren. Combined, these Detroit metro performing arts organizations employ 1,868 people, earn more than $95 million in revenue each year, and have assets of $174 million.

5Here are a few more grant resources.

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