Each September, Detroit Month of Design puts the city’s creative energy on full display, bringing together artists, designers, makers, businesses and residents through events across Detroit.
Eastern Market After Dark offers one of the clearest examples. The free event showcases more than 125 Detroit artists, designers and makers alongside music, food, galleries, shops and community programming.
But Detroit’s creative community is not limited to one event -- or even one month.
“What Month of Design reveals about Detroit’s creative economy is the breadth of its volume and range -- the industry and community leaders, cultural stewards and creative entrepreneurs who weave this ecosystem together year-round,” said Akua Hill, director of Arts and Culture at Gilbert Family Foundation.
As a sponsor of Detroit Month of Design and lead sponsor of Eastern Market After Dark, Gilbert Family Foundation helps bring attention to that work. Its broader Arts and Culture portfolio also invests year-round in the people, institutions and opportunities that help Detroiters experience the arts and allows creatives to build sustainable careers.
“Supporting the creative economy year-round means treating it as a true economic engine, not an annual occasion,” Hill said. “It is worthy of real investment in the systems and creative capital that make this city special, so its practitioners can live, thrive and build lasting careers here.”
Bringing creative experiences into Detroit neighborhoods
Month of Design is not confined to a single venue or cultural district. Its citywide approach brings programming and visibility to neighborhoods that may not always receive the same attention.
With support from Gilbert Family Foundation, six neighborhood organizations host Month of Design programming, with coaching and assistance from Design Core Detroit. Participants include Slow Stitch/Neighborhood Arts School -- a new Foundation grantee developing a neighborhood creative hub -- and longtime grantee Canfield Consortium, which partnered with the CONTAINER artist program.
These programs allow residents to engage with arts and culture where they live while giving local creatives opportunities to reach new audiences.
Building access and economic opportunity together
Gilbert Family Foundation’s investments focus on two connected priorities: expanding access for residents and creating economic opportunities for creatives.
“Neither one sustains itself without the other,” Hill said. “Access is what builds the audience and helps create demand. Economic opportunity is what makes the work sustainable for those producing creative works.”
Free events, neighborhood programming, public art and creative experiences in community spaces introduce more residents to Detroit’s creative community. Meanwhile, education, paid projects, residencies, professional networks and exposure help artists turn their talents into careers.
“For both to thrive, the ecosystem needs stronger infrastructure, consistent cultivation and coordination across sectors and geographies,” Hill said.
Creating pathways from creativity to a career
In 2021, Gilbert Family Foundation invested $10 million in Pensole Lewis College, helping the institution establish and open its Detroit campus. Pensole is Detroit’s only HBCU and the country’s only design-focused HBCU that provides hands-on, industry-connected education.
“Clearly defined and accessible creative career pathways are essential to a thriving arts and culture ecosystem,” Hill said. “As the nation’s only design-focused HBCU and Michigan’s first HBCU, PLC is directly carving out new pathways for students to go from creativity to career.”
The Black Footwear Forum, a free annual event at Pensole, demonstrates what that investment can make possible by connecting education, industry, community and exposure to design careers.
Artists also need paid opportunities and platforms for visibility. For a decade, the Small Business Murals Project has paired Detroit muralists with small businesses to create large-scale original artwork. Since 2017, the initiative has engaged more than 35 artists and produced more than 56 murals.
The artists gain paid experience, businesses receive distinctive public art and neighborhoods gain visible creative assets.
Creative entrepreneurs also need guidance for navigating the business side of their work. During a Detroit Masterclass at the Detroit Institute of Arts, filmmaker Spike Lee joined Detroit creatives, educators, storytellers and community leaders for conversations about creativity, culture and business.
Hill said the event brought creative talent and business acumen into the same room, “making the case that creativity is serious business.”
The programming offered practical guidance on industry best practices, pitfalls to avoid and balancing creative and business decisions.
“It was an opportunity for creative entrepreneurs at various stages in their careers to learn from the experiences and wisdom of various industry leaders and apply that to their own journey,” Hill said.
Preserving Detroit’s legacy and elevating its stories
Supporting Detroit’s creative future also means investing in the institutions and stories that have shaped its identity.
As the Heidelberg Project celebrates its 40th anniversary, Gilbert Family Foundation is investing $125,000 to help renovate its iconic Number House into an accessible community and artist-residency space and also support a leadership transition. It is the first major construction funding the organization has received and will help the Detroit arts institution enter its next chapter.
Through a separate $75,000 investment, Stories of Us and the Detroit Public Library are using Talking Drum sculptures and QR technology to invite residents to share their experiences. The funding supports stipends for 11 Detroit artists, an expansion of the storytelling platform across library branches and an exhibition at the Main Branch.
This initiative gives Detroiters an opportunity to participate in the city’s cultural life not only as audiences, but also as creators and storytellers.
A creative economy Detroiters can see and measure
For Gilbert Family Foundation, long-term success means a city where arts and culture are treated as essential civic and economic infrastructure.
“Long-term success looks like Detroit recognized as a national leader in arts and culture --where residents in every neighborhood have access to culturally resonant programming, creatives can sustain thriving careers here, and arts and culture are respected as both civic infrastructure and a driver of economic growth, not an amenity alongside it,” Hill said.
Within five to 10 years, Hill hopes that vision can be measured through jobs, education, fellowships, residencies, thriving neighborhood cultural hubs and stronger resources for creative entrepreneurs.
Detroit Month of Design offers a visible celebration of the city’s talent each September. But from Eastern Market and neighborhood murals to design education, artist residencies and community storytelling, the work continues throughout the year.
Detroit already has an extraordinary creative community. Sustained investment can help its artists and institutions connect, create, earn, grow and shape the city’s future.
Learn more about Gilbert Family Foundation and its work in Detroit.