Improving Access to Capital
Creative activity of all scopes and scales can contribute to the vitality of communities. With this as a core belief, the Creators of Culture program launched in 2019 as an annual funding opportunity to support people, groups, collectives, and entities that do not traditionally receive philanthropic support but contribute greatly to our creative ecosystem in Southeast Michigan.
Creators of Culture aims to nurture a more equitable, diverse ecosystem of regional arts activity, specifically as a counterbalance to the access to resources possessed by large, established nonprofits.
Program Focus
For our 2024 program, the focus of Creators of Culture is cross-sector partnerships.
Program Context
- Summit on cross-sector partnerships by the White House and National Endowment for the Arts
- Article titled, “Cross-Sector Initiatives Should Stay Small,” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review
- Guest essay on recognizing the value of cross-sector partnerships by University of Michigan faculty member Jay Pension
- Digital platform with wide-ranging resources on wellbeing by the Full Frame Initiative
Partnership Themes
- Wellbeing — Including mental health, social impact, food justice, cultural exchange, policy change, or other ideas and issues related to wellbeing
- Water — Including flooding, water quality, water justice, river preservation, watershed awareness, or other ideas and issues related to water
Program Structure
Creators of Culture 2024 offers 50 awards of $3,000 each to facilitate the first step in exploring work across sectors: having a meeting with a prospective partner. To receive funding, interested individuals and organizations will need to complete four steps:
- Using the Creators of Culture form, develop a meeting plan with a non-arts prospective partner related to community wellbeing or water.
- Have the meeting, engaging with a spirit of curiosity.
- Using the Creators of Culture form, report out on what happened at the meeting as well as key takeaways and next steps.
- Submit meeting forms to CultureSource and receive funding
Guest Writer: The Value of Cross-Sector Partnerships in the Arts
Jay Pension, University of Michigan
Eligibility
Creators of Culture to be supported in 2024 will be those seeking to start a cross-sector partnership and meet the following eligibility criteria:
- All applicants must be living and working in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, or St. Clair counties.
- Cross-sector partners must be located in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, or St. Clair counties.
- Awardees must be previous CultureSource grantees and provide proof of eligibility.
- Awardees must submit a planning meeting and report form by the deadline.
- Projects must be focused on community well-being and water.
- Cross-sector partners may not be Detroit Arts Support grant recipients.
Apply
The 2024 cycle of Creators of Culture application is now open! Program timeline and deadlines are listed below.
Process & Reporting
Previous Grant Recipients
2023 Arts Curators, Organizers, and Journalists
For our 2023 program, CultureSource looked to our partner WolfBrown’s An Investment Framework for Supporting the Artists Ecosystem for inspiration. The report recommends support for those who strengthen ties between artists and audiences, recognizing their critical role in enhancing a flourishing, local arts ecosystem. From these recommendations, three profiles of people will be eligible for the 2023 Creators of Culture program: Arts Curator, Arts Organizer, and Arts Journalist.
The roles of curator, arts organizer, and arts journalist are each different but thematically share the responsibility of highlighting artists and uplifting their careers to audiences who may or may not already be familiar with their work. They help to build a culture of support, appreciation, curiosity, and engagement through their writing, events, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and more.
- Gerrard Allen
- Garnette Archer
- Bernycia Askew
- Shaina Baira
- Chanel Beebe
- saylem celeste
- Joseph Darling
- Raymond Elwart Jr
- Kim Fay
- Chelsea Flowers
- Reshounn Foster
- Crystal Gause
- Clare Gatto
- Laura D. Gibson
- Taylor Greenshields
- Asia Hamilton
- Eugene Harris
- Colibri Harris
- Gabriel Herrera-Duran
- Woodrow Hoffer II
- Donna Jackson
- Colleen Jones
- Jennifer Jones
- Xavier Jones
- Brittany King
- LaShaun Kotaran
- Mark Loeb
- Ian Matchett
- Shanna Maurizi
- Zllen McCollum
- Elijah Meisse
- Imani Mixon
- Denise Moore
- Andrew Morton
- Kindra Parker
- Paulina Petkoski
- Lynnette Roberson
- Elisandra Rosario
- Mike Ross
- Asiana Scott
- James Shanek
- Sarah Sharp
- Katie Shulman
- Lori Stratton
- Virginia Torrence
- Lauren Uchalik
- Amara Vear
- Kesiena Wanogho
- Kaylan Waterman
- Dasia Werts
- Tony Whitfield
- Kaleigh Wilder
- Yhasmin Wilder
- Rosemarie Wilson
2021 Arts Organizers and Curators
- Garnette Archer
- Anita-Joyce Barnes
- Kasia Bielak-Hoops
- Sarah Blanchette
- Dominique Campbell
- Ashley Cook
- Cyrah Dardas
- Vickie Elmer
- Danya Ensing
- Taraneh Fazeli
- Hadassah GreenSky
- Flor Hernandez
- LaShaun Kotaran
- Lu Fuki
- Michael Manson
- Rebecca Mazzei
- Brian Oscar
- Steve Panton
- Joel Peterson
- Jonah Raduns-Silverstein
- Rick Robinson
- Emilio Rodriguez
- Kelsey Ronan
- Dylan Spaysky
- Karyn Stetz
- Elizabeth Stone
- Adrienne Trupiano-Stepaniak
- Benito “Mav-One” Vasquez
- Jenny Vaughn
- Karl Wenclas
- Benjamin Williams
- Danielle Wright
Read the announcement.
Program Development
For our 2021 program, CultureSource began with one-on-one Discovery Sessions and a larger Program Design Meeting in collaboration with a total of 15 community members to glean insights about types of “creators of culture” to support in our region. The purpose of this program development process was to have CultureSource invest significant time on the front end to determine who, in characteristics, should be eligible for funding. This makes it very easy for that select group of people who identify with the profiles to apply for unrestricted funding, having their applications assessed using objective eligibility criteria.
2020 Artists
Program Development
In 2020, we reimagined the Creators of Culture program by beginning with Discovery Sessions and a Program Design Meeting with 16 community members to glean insights about types of “creators of culture” to support in our region. The purpose of the program development process was to have CultureSource invest significant time on the front end of the process to determine who, in characteristics, should get funding, and then on the back end, make it very easy for that select group of people who identify with the profiles to apply for unrestricted funding, having their applications assessed using objective eligibility criteria.
2020 Types of Applications
Artists doing work made for others to experience that contains elements of social commentary and that is found in the brilliance of the margins or outside of dominant narratives of arts and culture. Artists in this category must also have not received a single award or grant of $3,000 or more in the past five years. Priority consideration will be given to artists meeting the criteria above who also work as a multi-generational mentor/mentee team. One member of the team must be age 55 or older, and the other be between the ages of 18 and 25.
Venues presenting arts and culture for others to experience. Prior to COVID-19 becoming a pandemic on March 11, 2020, these non-residential spaces must have been presenting work of creative or cultural expression on a regular basis (averaging at least two days per week year-round) and must have had a yearly budget of less than $100,000.
- Patricia Beard
- Asia Blaney
- Leith Campbell
- Halima Cassells
- DaTrice Clark
- Raymond Elwart Jr
- Bruce Harper
- Megan Heeres
- Gabriel Herrera-Duran
- LaShaun Kotaran
- Leo Margolis
- Lindsay McCaw
- Ulysses Newkirk
- Andre Reed
- Denise Rohde
- Frannie Shepherd-Bates
- Alexander Smith
- Levi Stroud
- Jacob Ward
- Audra Wist
- John Wood
2020 Venues
- 306 Studios
- Andy
- A2 Women Artists
- Creative Arts Center North Oakland County Cultivate
- Detroit Shipping Co.
- GIGIs
- Jo’s Gallery
- KickstART Farmington
- M Contemporary Art
- Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit
- River’s Edge Gallery Room Project
- St. Clair Art Association
- Starkweather Arts Center
- Trinity House
- Theatre Trinosophes
- We Are Culture Creators
2019 Awards
- A Host of People
- Arab.AMP
- Aratani・Fay
- Ballet Edge Detroit
- Bandhu Gardens
- Cooper Holoweski
- Dearborn Community Fund
- Detroit Composers Project
- Detroit Sound Conservancy
- Detroit Theater Organ Society
- Digital Arts Film & Television
- Emily Kokay
- Friends of Historical Hamtramck
- Iman Saleh
- Imani Mixon
- Jennifer Harge
- Kathleen Parks
- Kristi Faulkner Dance
- Maamoul Press
- Mack Alive
- Marion Hayden
- Markita Moore
- Marlynne Willingham
- Matthew J. Green (Jaye Green)
- Mexicantown Community Development Corporation
- Motor Signal Reading Series
- The Motor City Singers’ Space
- New Music Detroit
- Northville Art House
- Noura Ballout
- Opera MODO
- PuppetART
- Rick Robinson
- Room Project
- Stitches Women’s Initiatives
- The Detroit Suzuki Academy of Music
- The Society for the Re-Institutionalization of Storytelling
- The Village Theater at Cherry Hill
- Thistle Rose Academy of Arts
- Tiff Massey Studios
- Women of Banglatown
More Information
Application Resources
Questions?
If you have additional questions about eligibility and application content, contact CultureSource at [email protected]
Inspiration
- The Canfield Consortium partnered with artist Jordan Weber to create an installation highlighting the history of environmental injustice in the neighborhood—and support air pollution remediation.
- Detroit Justice Center runs an annual artist residency centered on how art can help imagine a world without policing or incarceration—inspired by Detroit’s history of activism.
- CultureSource partnered with Detroit Parks Coalition and Gilbert Family Foundation to bring interactive arts experiences to Detroit neighborhood parks.
- The City of Detroit partnered with art-technology company CANVS to create an interactive map of all public art and murals in Detroit.
Seeking other nonprofits to start a cross-sector partnership? Check out the Michigan Nonprofit Association’s online nonprofit directory or greatnonprofits.org to find organizations serving a community near you.
In Collaboration With
