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Application Information

• 2024 Categories

  Live Arts
  This category includes Choreography, Comedy, Dance, Performance Art, Playwriting, Storytelling, Theatre Directing, and Interdisciplinary Work.

   

  Film & Music
  This category includes Animation, Film Directing, Music Composition, Music Performance, Screenwriting, Sound Art, and Interdisciplinary Work.

• About the Awards

  Kresge Artist Fellowships are awards of $40,000, plus professional development support and the creation of an original short film highlighting the artist’s work.

  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, College for Creative Studies professor, and 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow Gilda Snowden (1954–2014). Meet the Gilda Award recipients.

  Fellowships and Gilda Awards are awarded with no strings attached, which means that artists may spend the money in whatever way makes sense for, and benefits, their creative practice or life (i.e., making new work, renting or purchasing studio space, travel, general living expenses, paying off debt, etc.).

  Meet the Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award Recipients

• Who can apply?

  You are eligible to apply if you:

  • Are 18 years or older, and
  • Are a current legal resident of Macomb, Oakland, or Wayne county, and
  • Have resided in Macomb, Oakland, or Wayne county for at least the two years prior to the application deadline (January 19, 2022–January 19, 2024), and
  • Intend to remain a resident of the tri-county area throughout the year-long fellowship period (July 2024–July 2025).

  You are ineligible to apply if you:

  • Are a student working toward any degree at the time of application or are planning to begin a degree-granting program during the fellowship year (July 2024–July 2025). Exception: Ph.D. candidates who are ABD (all but dissertation) can apply.
  • Are a Kresge Eminent Artist Award recipient
  • Are a current Kresge Artist Fellowship panelist, staff member of Kresge Arts in Detroit or The Kresge Foundation, or immediate family member of any of these individuals

  Eligibility confirmation: If your application advances to the final round of consideration for an award, Kresge Arts in Detroit will require you to submit materials that document your legal residency in the tri-county area for the last two years.

   

• What are the selection criteria?

  Kresge Artist Fellowships recognize artists who demonstrate:

  • Artistic achievement and high quality work (this is the most important factor in the selection of a fellow), and
  • The potential to grow and advance in their artistic career, and
  • The potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metropolitan Detroit.

  Gilda Awards recognize artists who are:

  • Early in their careers, and
  • Are gaining momentum, and
  • Who demonstrate exceptional potential by taking creative risks and pushing the boundaries of their chosen art form.
• Review Process

  All applications will be reviewed by a panel consisting of national and local artists and arts professionals. Panelists will remain anonymous until the selected artists are announced in summer 2024.

  New panels are convened each year to review applications. Previous applicants are strongly encouraged to re-apply.

  Past Panelists

• Info Sessions

  While not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to attend our virtual information sessions, which are designed to support artists in creating their most authentic and compelling applications for a Kresge Artist Fellowship.

   

  Application Info Session + Walkthrough (virtual)
  Wednesday, December 13, 2023
  Watch the Recording

• FAQ + Resources

  Frequently Asked Questions
  Do you have a question not addressed on this page? Browse our frequently asked questions!

   

  Application Guidelines
  2024 Guidelines
  2024 Plain Text Guidelines

   

  Computer and Internet Access
  Many local libraries provide free internet and computer access. Search your local Michigan public library at publiclibraries.com

   

  Translation Services
  Fellowship applications may only be submitted in English. For translation services, visit Welcome Mat Detroit, a local immigrant integration network, to search their translation service database, or visit Hamtramck-based Bromberg & Associates.

   

  Artist Statements and Resumes Worksheet
  Download worksheet

   

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