DETROIT – Ten artists and their art initiatives in Detroit have been chosen to participate in a new program to “grow their artistic practices into sustainable businesses embedded in Detroit neighborhoods,” the Gilbert Family Foundation announced this week.
The foundation has partnered with United States Artists to provide $150,000 and technical support to each of the 10 grantees selected for their new Seed and Bloom: Detroit initiative. The plan is to work with minority artists over the course of three years to help them identify their objectives and “pathways to growth, sustainability, and success,” officials said.
Seed and Bloom: Detroit is part of the foundation’s goal to “increase access to the arts for all, while simultaneously fostering a more racially equitable arts and culture sector in Detroit.” The art-focused initiative will specifically highlight and assist the work of artists who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color.
Here are the 10 grantees launching the program’s “inaugural cycle,” according to the foundation:
- jes allie, BULK Space
- Juanita Anderson, Indija Productions
- Halima Afi Cassells, The Free Market of Detroit
- Amelia “Fiera” Duran, Garage Cultural
- Asia Hamilton, Norwest Gallery of Art / Norwest Community Collaborative
- Danielle Eliska Lyle, Neighborhood Bodega
- Michael Manson, House of Jit
- Tiff Massey, Tiff Massey Studios
- Ryan Myers-Johnson, Sidewalk Detroit
- Yvette Rock, Live Coal
The participating artists were reportedly selected by a panel of local arts and culture leaders. Participants will receive the $150,000 funding over the course of the three years, receiving $75,000 the first year, $50,000 the next, and $25,000 the third year.
“We are truly grateful to be seen and felt in the Detroit community by the residents and Gilbert Family Foundation,” said Asia Hamilton, founder, Norwest Gallery. “We are excited to use this incredible opportunity to expand this work, building a legacy for artists of the future to experience and continue for generations to come.”