Kresge Arts in Detroit is pleased to announce the 18 artists receiving 2019 Kresge Artist Fellowships, and the two artists receiving Gilda Awards!

LITERARY ARTS FELLOWS

    Alise Alousi, Poetry
    Jack Cheng, Fiction
    Nandi Comer, Poetry
    Kristen Gallerneaux, Interdisciplinary Work
    Joan Kee, Arts Criticism
    Bill McGraw, Creative Non-Fiction
    Cherise Morris, Creative Non-Fiction
    Diana J. Nucera, Zines
    Madelyn Porter, Creative Non-Fiction

VISUAL ARTS FELLOWS

    Anita Bates, Painting
    Tyanna Buie, Printmaking, Mixed Media
    Cybelle Codish, Photography
    Mariam Ezzat, Sculpture
    Kikko Paradela, Printmaking
    Rashaun Rucker, Drawing
    Tylonn J. Sawyer, Painting
    Tom Stoye, Photography
    Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, Photography

Each Kresge Artist Fellow receives a $25,000 no strings attached award and a year of professional practice support. That support begins with an intensive professional development retreat presented by New York-based, artist-service organization Creative Capital. Gilda Award recipients receive a $5,000 award to support their practice and foster their work.

The selection criteria for Kresge Artist Fellowships include: A demonstrated track record of artistic achievement and high-quality work, the potential to grow and advance in their artistic career, and the potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metro Detroit.

GILDA AWARDS

    Aiko Fukuchi, Fiction
    Noura Ballout, Photography

Gilda Awards honor artist, educator, and 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow Gilda Snowden (1954-2014). Recipients are selected from the 2019 Kresge Artist Fellowship applicants. Gilda Awards recognize artists who are early in their artistic career, are gaining momentum, and who demonstrate exceptional potential through creative risk-taking and pushing the boundaries of their chosen art form.

Funded by The Kresge Foundation, Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards are administered by the Kresge Arts in Detroit office of the College for Creative Studies.

“A decade ago we recognized Detroit’s arts community as one of its bedrock strengths. We were convinced that heightening the visibility and advancing the careers of artists themselves would bring cascading benefits for the community of artists and the community at large – socially, culturally, economically,” says Kresge President Rip Rapson. “In the 2019 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Awardees, we see yet another accomplished group poised to lift spirits, open hearts, stir our thinking, and challenge our complacency.”

In announcing the 11th cohort of award recipients, Kresge Arts in Detroit has thus far awarded 198 Kresge Artist Fellowships, 12 Gilda Awards, and 11 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards for a total of more than $5.5 million.

“As I near the end of my tenure at CCS, I take pride in the College for Creative Studies’ role in supporting The Kresge Foundation’s belief that individual artists matter to the vitality of a community,” said Richard L. Rogers who retires as President of CCS on June 30, 2019 after 25 years. “We at CCS, of course, share that belief and applaud the foundation’s ongoing commitment to Detroit’s arts and culture sector. This year’s group of Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients once again confirms the foundation’s wisdom and demonstrates the remarkable depth of talent in our region.”

With the 2019 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients, Kresge Arts in Detroit enters its second decade of supporting local artists. That milestone is being marked with the exhibition “Parallel Visions” at Wasserman Projects in Eastern Market. The exhibition will feature nearly 20 Kresge Artist Fellows from the first 10 years of the program, and conclude the string of 10-year celebrations that have taken place since the announcement of the 10th Kresge Eminent Artist in January 2018. The exhibition will be on view July 12 through August 24.

Application information for the 2020 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Film & Music and Live Arts will be available in fall 2019.
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2019 KRESGE ARTS IN DETROIT PANELISTS

The 2019 awardees were selected by independent panels of local and national artists and arts professionals who reviewed nearly 850 applications over many months and several rounds of review.

LITERARY ARTS PANELISTS

    Terry Blackhawk, Poet; Founder, InsideOut Literary Arts Project; 2013 Kresge Artist Fellow
    Desiree Cooper, Fiction Writer; Journalist; 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow
    Rob Halpern, Poet; Associate Professor of English, Eastern Michigan University
    Casey Rocheteau; Poet; Inaugural Write a House Winner (2014); Co-Founder, Fortify Writers Retreat
    Tyrone Williams, Poet; Professor of Literature, Xavier University

VISUAL ARTS PANELISTS

    Cesar Cornejo, Interdisciplinary Artist; Architect; Associate Professor of Sculpture and Extended Media, School of Art and Art History at the University of South Florida
    Carole Harris, Fiber Artist; Interior Designer, President Harris Design Group, LLC (Retired); 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow
    Erik Paul Howard, Photographer; Activist; Co-founder of Inside Southwest Detroit, Young Nation, and The Alley Project
    Amitis Motevalli, Interdisciplinary Artist; Activist
    Yao-Fen You, Senior Curator and Head of Product Design and Decorative Arts, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

“Being a Kresge Arts in Detroit panelist was more difficult than I could have imagined because of how talented all of the applicants were,” says Literary Arts panelist Casey Rocheteau. “The artists we ultimately selected represent such a wide range of literary practices that it will be really exciting to see what they do with the award, and the work they produce next.”

ABOUT KRESGE ARTS IN DETROIT

Kresge Arts in Detroit is generously funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies. Since 2008, Kresge Arts in Detroit has awarded more than $5.5 million through 11 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards ($50,000 each), 198 Kresge Artist fellowships ($25,000 each), and 11 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each). kresgeartsindetroit.org