ANNOUNCING THE 2022 KRESGE ARTIST FELLOWS AND GILDA AWARD RECIPIENTS
The 14th cohort of award recipients consists of 15 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Film & Music and 5 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Live Arts (which includes one collaborative duo), as well as 7 Gilda Award winners in Film & Music and 3 in Live Arts. For the first time, both Fellowships and Gilda Awards were divided between the two categories—Live Arts and Film & Music—based on the number of applications received in each category rather than 10 awards in each.
“The 2022 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients demonstrate that Detroit’s reputation as an unmatched creative hub is well deserved. Together, this year’s cohort will receive $550,000 no strings attached. The freedom inherent in these awards ensures that Detroit artists may continue to guide us through grief, bring us together in celebration, and light a path toward a brighter future,” said Kresge Arts in Detroit Director Christina deRoos.
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 one’s artistic career, and the potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metropolitan Detroit. The 2022 cohort ranges from emerging practitioners to celebrated veterans.
Film & Music Fellows
Black Milk, Music Composition and Performance
Leith Campbell, Sound Art
Ali Allan Colding, Music Performance
DAAY, Interdisciplinary Work
Demario Dotson, Interdisciplinary Work
Carl George, Film Directing
Akhnek Kenneth Green, Sound Art
Michael Ibrahim, Music Composition and Performance
De’Sean Jones, Music Composition and Performance
KESSWA, Interdisciplinary Work
Tammy Lakkis, Music Composition and Performance
Theo Parrish, Music Composition and Performance
Jaribu Shahid, Music Composition and Performance
*Summer Like The Season, Music Composition and Performance
Kaleigh Wilder, Music Performance
Live Arts Fellows
Marc Brewer, Dance
Deidre D.S.SENSE Smith, Performance Art
Hadassah GreenSky, Interdisciplinary Work
Queen Gabby, Dance and Choreography
*Thank You So Much For Coming, Interdisciplinary Work
*Summer Like The Season and the collaborative duo Thank You So Much For Coming previously received Gilda Awards in 2020.
In addition to a $25,000 no strings attached award, Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients receive a tailored professional development experience that provides skill-building, networking, promotion, and coaching opportunities. Produced by Kresge Arts in Detroit, offerings are created and delivered in collaboration with artists and arts and culture organizations representing local and national perspectives. Kresge Arts in Detroit will also continue its commissioned film series, which pairs Fellows with local filmmakers to create wide-ranging, interpretive film shorts chronicling the Fellows’ art practices. Short individual artist videos are available online on Vimeo.
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. The recipients are selected from the applicants for the 2022 Kresge Artist Fellowships. 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.
Gilda Awards in Film & Music
Natasha Beste, Interdisciplinary Work
Jeremy Brockman, Film Directing
Detroit Bureau of Sound, Music Composition and Performance
Gary Jay, Film Directing
Razi Jafri, Film Directing
Jhayla Mosley, Film Directing
Nova Zaii, Music Composition and Performance
Gilda Awards in Live Arts
Anetria Cole, Playwriting
Joel Fluent Greene, Performance Art
Trishawna, Dance
The award recipients are selected by panels of local and national arts practitioners, from their respective disciplines, over the course of several months and numerous rounds of review.
“The powerful pool of creatives from Detroit this year reflects the dynamic innovation, historical memory, and importance of creating transformative spiritual experiences,” said image maker, cultural curator, activist, and 2022 Film & Music panelist Piper Carter. “With a commitment to community, Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards represent an appreciation for advancing the artist’s craft and the purposeful ideas needed in and for our world at this time.”
Film & Music Panelists
Piper Carter, Image maker; cultural curator; activist
Michael Boyce Gillespie, Associate professor of film, The City College of New York and The Graduate Center, CUNY
Mike Khoury, Composer; musician; curator; researcher; director of Entropy Stereo Recordings
Brian Kirkbride, Composer; artist
Suzanne Kite, Composer; visual artist; performance artist
Live Arts Panelists
Shawntai Brown, Playwright; poet; independent teaching artist; co-host and co-producer of content for Woman Crush Everyday; co-creator with Black LGBT+ Plays
Zlatko Ćosić, Interdisciplinary video artist; owner of Eye Production; professor at Webster University
Mary Mar, Performing artist, Hardcore Detroit and Mama2; owner, BGIRL MAMA LLC; studio manager and instructor, Next Step Broadway
Aimee L. McCoy, Filmmaker; theatre director; producer; managing and co-artistic director of The Artizen Company; director of membership for Alternate ROOTS, Inc.
Arien Wilkerson, Choreographer; dancer; filmmaker; director; producer; founder of TNMOT AZTRO PERFORMANCE ART AND DANCE INSTALLATION
An intimate gathering for the award recipients will take place in July, followed by the release of the recorded event. The program will include performances by the Kris Johnson Group (led by 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow Kris Johnson) and TeMaTe Institute for Black Dance (featuring 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow Ajara Alghali)—as well as remarks by award recipients and staff of Kresge Arts in Detroit, The Kresge Foundation and the College for Creative Studies. Video of the event program will be available July 27 at kresgeartsindetroitpresents.art.
Application information for the 2023 Kresge Artist Fellowships in Visual Arts and Literary Arts will be available in fall 2022.
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. In announcing the 14th cohort of award recipients, Kresge Arts in Detroit has thus far awarded 258 Kresge Artist Fellowships, 42 Gilda Awards, and 14 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards for a total of more than $7.36 million.