November 1, 2023
Application guidelines released
Here you’ll find the what, when, and how to successfully complete an application for Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards. Check below for the 2024 timeline for awards in the categories of Live Arts and Film & Music, determine whether you’re eligible to apply, and learn how fellows and Gilda Award recipients are chosen.
Application guidelines released
Online application opens
Application deadline
Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards announced
Thornetta Davis, 2018 Kresge Artist Fellow, photographed by Cybelle Codish, 2019 Kresge Artist Fellow
Live Arts
Dance, Choreography, Theatre Directing, Playwriting, Performance Art, and Interdisciplinary Work
Film & Music
Film Directing, Screenwriting, Animation, Music Composition, Music Performance, Sound Art, and Interdisciplinary Work
Kresge Artist Fellowships are awards of $25,000, 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.).
You are eligible to apply if you:
You are ineligible to apply if you:
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.
Kresge Artist Fellowships recognize artists who demonstrate:
Gilda Awards recognize artists who are:
Applications are reviewed by two independent panels, one for Live Arts and one for Film & Music . Panelists are a mix of national and local arts professionals who remain anonymous until awarded artists are announced in the summer of 2024.
Each year, we convene new panels who offer a new mix of artistic experiences and perspectives. Previous applicants are strongly encouraged to re-apply.
Make sure you understand every question. Gather your paperwork. Attend an information session.
Be clear and thoughtful. Think deeply about what you do and why it matters.
Select your best work and the work that best represents your practice and your vision.
Have a trusted reader—or two—read your application. Give it one last look. Hit submit.