Gilda Awards are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of Gilda Snowden’s (1954 – 2014) legacy as a mentor and champion of emerging artists in metro Detroit.
Gilda Snowden (1954 – 2014) was one of the eighteen inaugural artists to receive a Kresge Artist Fellowship in 2009. Snowden served as Interim Chair and Professor of Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies where she taught painting for more than 30 years. “Professor Gilda Snowden was one of the great figures at the College for Creative Studies and in the Detroit arts community — an exuberant and prolific painter, an activist, and an incredibly involved and caring teacher and mentor,” says Richard L. Rogers, president of the College for Creative Studies. “By assisting emerging artists, the Gilda Awards celebrate her deep commitment to nurturing new generations of artists. Everyone at CCS is delighted that Kresge Arts in Detroit is honoring our beloved colleague in such a meaningful way.”
Gilda Awards are selected from the pool of Kresge Artist Fellowship applicants who have opted to be considered for the emerging artist award.
Each year, independent panels are convened by Kresge Arts in Detroit to review the Kresge Artist Fellowship applications and select each cohort of Gilda Award recipients, utilizing the guidelines and selection criteria. Panelists are accomplished, well-respected national, regional, and local artists and arts professionals and are selected according to the categories of arts disciplines being reviewed.
Over several months, through multiple rounds, local and national panelists review eligible applications and select the fellowship and Gilda Award recipients. New panelists participate each year.
Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards are awarded annually in rotating categories: Film & Music/Live Arts; Literary Arts/Visual Arts
Gilda Award recipients are invited to participate in the majority of professional development programming offered to Kresge Artist Fellows, a tailored experience that provides skill-building, networking, promotion, and coaching opportunities. Produced by Kresge Arts in Detroit, programming is created and delivered in collaboration with local and national artists and arts and culture organizations. Within the catalog of offerings, artists are encouraged to determine what best suits their goals and definitions of success.