Detroit’s Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Distributes Half A Million In Community Art Grants

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan announced $500,000 in grants to support arts and culture organizations that represent a variety of creative disciplines throughout Metro Detroit‘s seven-county service area. This is the first of its kind of grant-giving since the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation announced a $100 million commitment in December 2021 to transform the financial strength and long-term viability of Southeast Michigan’s arts and culture community.

Amplify The Voices of BIPOC

The investment created permanent operational funding streams for 11 of the region’s largest arts and culture institutions, supports annual grants to small and midsize arts and culture nonprofits.

“The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation’s investment in arts and culture as an economic driver in our region is admirable,” Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan President Richard (Ric) DeVore says. “Arts and culture programs often are the first to be cut during economic challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic but are among the most vital assets when it comes to creating a desirable place to live, work and play in the long term.”

Grants were made to a wide array of nonprofits, including Voce Velata to amplify the voices of BIPOC and women composers and artists, Black and Brown Theatre to support live performances and workshops, and Sidewalk Detroit for its neighborhood arts festival to advance spatial equity.

The full list of 2022 Wilson Arts and Culture Grant recipients:

Capturing Belief — $20,000 for The D Portrait Studio and its engagement with Detroit students in learning the business of photography, including hosting neighborhood pop-up studios and an outdoor exhibition

Sidewalk Detroit — $20,000 to support ongoing programming in advancing spatial equity through neighborhood-based engagement and public art planning

Room Project, fiscally sponsored by Allied Media Projects, Inc. — $20,000 to support women, nonbinary, and trans writers and artists

Anton Art Center — $20,000 for general operating expenses with a focus on partnerships, innovation, and special projects

HAI Foundation — $20,000 to support of City of Asylum Detroit and its fellowship program for artists-in-exile

Livingston Arts Council — $20,000 for support of general operating expenses and expanded programming

American Citizens for Justice — $20,000 to support the Michigan Asian American Documentary Film Festival with an emphasis on social justice films

Detroit Narrative Agency, fiscally sponsored by Allied Media Projects, Inc. — $20,000 to support its Emerging Filmmakers Workshop Series

Live Coal, fiscally sponsored by Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation — $20,000 to support Detroit rePatched, an arts-infused green space and arts hub in the Brightmoor neighborhood

TeMaTe Institute for Black Dance and Culture, fiscally sponsored by North End Woodward Community Coalition — $20,000 to support a multigenerational oral history documentation and performative storytelling inquiry that explores the multiple narratives of migration and movement within the city of Detroit

Ann Arbor Film Festival — $20,000 for community programming to expand the impact of the festival

Planet Ant Theatre — $20,000 to support the collaborative development and delivery of a summer pilot program for children in kindergarten through third grade

Living Arts — $20,000 for general operating expenses with a focus on social and emotional learning-centered arts education

River Raisin Centre for the Arts — $20,000 to support removing financial obstacles to expanded community engagement with multidisciplinary programming

Garage Cultural — $20,000 to support prioritizing people-centered processes in the creative economy

A Host of People — $20,000 to support general operating expenses and an ensemble-generated productionThe Detroit Creativity Project — $17,500 to support an applied improvisational theater pilot program for foster youth in Wayne County