Kresge Eminent Artist Panelists

Each year, a group of local artists and arts professionals are convened by Kresge Arts in Detroit to review the Kresge Eminent Artist Award nominations and, utilizing the guidelines and selection criteria, select the Kresge Eminent Artist. Panelists are experienced and well-respected for their knowledge of and involvement in the local cultural community. They represent a diversity of artistic disciplines, ages, ethnicities, genders, and professional backgrounds.

From 2013-2018, the Advisory Council, a volunteer group of leaders in the metro Detroit cultural community, selected the Kresge Eminent Artist. Other duties of the Advisory Council included nominating panelists for the Kresge Artist Fellowships and providing external oversight to Kresge Arts in Detroit.

2019 Panelists

Juanita Anderson, Filmmaker; Director of Media Arts and Studies, Wayne State University Department of Communication
Bill Harris, Playwright; Poet; Novelist; Emeritus Professor, Wayne State University; 2011 Kresge Eminent Artist
Njia Kai, Special Events and Programming Director, NKSK Events + Production
Marsha Music, Writer; Poet; Storyteller; 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow
Michelle Perron, Director, Office of Exhibitions and Public Programs, College for Creative Studies; Founding Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit
Mark Stryker, Author, Jazz from Detroit (University of Michigan Press); Detroit Free Press Arts Reporter and Critic (1995-2016); 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow

2016-2017 Advisory Council

Devon Akmon, Director, Arab American National Museum
Lynne Avadenka, Director, Signal-Return; 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow
Kim D. Hunter, Social Justice Media Coordinator, Engage Michigan; 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow
Gayelynn McKinney, Artist in Residence, Detroit Public Schools; Producer and Composer for Beatstix Music; 2014 Kresge Artist Fellow
Marshalle S. Montgomery, Project Manager, New Detroit; Producer/Director, Trinity International Film Festival
Juanita Moore, President and CEO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Karen Prall, Dance Lecturer, Wayne State University, Artistic Director, To Sangana, WSU African Dance Company
Rick Sperling, President and Founding Artistic Director, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit

Ex-Officio Members
Christina deRoos, Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, Creative Many Michigan
Ryan Myers-Johnson, Assistant Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Jennifer H. Goulet, President & CEO, Creative Many Michigan
Alycia Socia, Detroit Fellow, Detroit Program, The Kresge Foundation
Michelle Perron, Founding Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies

2014-2015 Advisory Council

Devon Akmon, Director, Arab American National Museum
Gary Anderson, Artist Director and Co-Founder, Plowshares Theatre
Jane Ferreyra, Director, Wayne State University Press
Cary Loren, Co-Owner, The Book Beat, 2013 Kresge Artist Fellow in the Literary Arts
Judith Molina, Director, Institute of Music & Dance at Marygrove College
Juanita Moore, President and CEO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Marsha Philpot aka Marsha Music, Writer, 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow in the Literary Arts
Gregory Wittkopp, Director, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research

Ex-Officio Members

Annmarie Borucki, Special Projects Manager, Midtown Detroit, Inc.
Christina deRoos, Deputy Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, Creative Many Michigan
Ryan Myers-Johnson, Program Manager, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Jennifer H. Goulet, President & CEO, Creative Many Michigan
George C. Jacobsen, Program Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Njia Kai, Performing Arts Director, Midtown Detroit, Inc.
Michelle Perron, Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies

2012-2013 Advisory Council

Gary Anderson, Artistic Director and Co-Founder, Plowshares Theatre
Larry Baranski, Director of Public Programs & Curator of the Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts
Aaron Barndollar, Director, Center of Music & Performing Arts Southwest (COMPÁS)
Aurora Harris, Poet, Board of Directors, Broadside Press
Termon Hayes, Musician, The Sun Messengers
M.L. Liebler, Professor, Wayne State University
Anne Parsons, President & CEO, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Gilda Snowden, Professor of Fine Arts, College for Creative Studies
Gregory M. Wittkopp, Director, Cranbrook Art Museum and Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research

Ex-Officio Members

Mira Burack, Assistant Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Alice Carle, Program Director, The Kresge Foundation
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, ArtServe Michigan
Megan Frye, Coordinator, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Jennifer H. Goulet, President & CEO, ArtServe Michigan
Nina Holden, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, College for Creative Studies
George Jacobsen, Associate Program Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Njia Kai, Performing Arts Director, Midtown Detroit, Inc.
Michelle Perron, Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies

2012 Panelists

Larry Gabriel, Writer and Musician
James Hart, Adjunct Professor, College for Creative Studies; Musician
Rebecca Mazzei, Deputy Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
Robin Terry, Chairman and Executive Director, Motown Historical Museum
Marilyn Wheaton, Director, Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum

2010-2011 Advisory Council

Blair Anderson, Department Chair, Fine, Performing and Communications Arts, Wayne State University
Terry Blackhawk, Founding Director, InsideOut Literary Arts Project
Jennifer Callans, Executive Director,  The Anton Art Center
Luis Croquer, Former Director and Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
David DiChiera, General Director, Michigan Opera Theater
Jennifer Gale, Owner and Director, Mount Clemens Arts Consortium, Inc.
Barbara Kratchman, Arts Consultant
Glen Mannisto, Writer
George N’Namdi, Director, N’Namdi Center for the Arts
Maury Okun, Executive Director, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble
Anne Parsons, President & CEO, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Oliver Ragsdale, Jr., President of the Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center and the Arts League of Michigan
Marc Schwartz, Founding Member, Art Detroit Now and President, Shortcut Books

Ex-Officio Members

Alice L. Carle, Program Director, The Kresge Foundation
George Jacobsen, Associate Program Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Jennifer Goulet, President & CEO, ArtServe Michigan
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, ArtServe Michigan
Nina Holden, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, College for Creative Studies
Michelle Perron, Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Mira Burack, Assistant Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Megan Frye, Coordinator, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies

2011 Panelists

Dora Apel, Associate Professor and W. Hawkins Ferry Chair in Art History, Wayne State University
Vincent Carducci, Adjunct Professor, College for Creative Studies; Lecturer, Oakland University
W. Kim Heron, Editor, The Metro Times

2009 Advisory Council

Dora Apel, Associate Professor and W. Hawkins Ferry Chair in Art History, Wayne State University
Graham J. Beal, Director, Detroit Institute of Arts
Jennifer Callans, Executive Director,  The Anton Art Center
Christine Guarino, Director of Cultural Affairs, Macomb Center for the Performing Arts
Kevin Hanson, Owner, Johanson-Charles Gallery
Bill Harris, Professor, Wayne State University
W. Kim Heron, Editor, The Metro Times
Barbara Kratchman, Arts Consultant
Reed Kroloff, Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art
Tania McGee, former Executive Director, Sphinx Organization
Marsha Miro, Founding Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
Vince Paul, President and Artistic Director, Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts
Oliver Ragsdale, Jr., President and Artistic Director, Arts League of Michigan
Marc Schwartz, Founding Member, Art Detroit Now and President, Shortcut Books
Michael Stone-Richards, Associate Professor, College for Creative Studies
Ralph Valdez, Curator of Cultural Programming, Arab American National Museum
Sharon Vaszquez, Dean, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, Wayne State University

Ex-Officio Members

Laura J. Trudeau, Senior Program Director, The Kresge Foundation
Alice L. Carle, Program Director, The Kresge Foundation
Richard L. Rogers, President, College for Creative Studies
Nina Holden, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, College for Creative Studies
Michelle Perron, Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Mira Burack, Assistant Director, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Amber Cecil, Coordinator, Kresge Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies
Jennifer H. Goulet, President, ArtServe Michigan
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, ArtServe Michigan

2009 Panelists

Ian Ding, Assistant Principal Percussionist, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Founding member, New Music Detroit
Aku Kadogo, Professor and Director of the Black Theatre Program, Wayne State University
Anne Parsons, President, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Lynn Crawford, Founder and editor, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit journal
George Tysh, Poet; Faculty member at The Roeper School

2008 Panelists

Gerhardt Knodel, Artist; Former Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art
Dennis Alan Nawrocki, Art historian; Author
Dr. Cledie Taylor, Founder and Director, Arts Extended Gallery