The pandemic has created significant challenges for organizations with business models centered on in-person engagement. The arts and culture sector has been particularly strained, forced to reimagine what engagement looks like in the pandemic. Data from Grantmakers in Arts shows that as of the end of 2020 63% of creatives were unemployed due to the pandemic. According to a survey by Americans for the Arts, an…

When heart surgery in 2018 forced the conductor Leonard Slatkin to miss the final concerts of his decade-long tenure as music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble turned to an Italian conductor three decades younger, Jader Bignamini, to step in. The players and maestro hit it off. So much so that the orchestra announced on Wednesday that Mr. Bignamini, 43, would become its…

In the shadows of Detroit's tallest skyscrapers, dozens of homeless people shiver in the 17-degree cold. Ferocious wind gusts of 15 mph feel like cold knives stabbing the face. Such conditions claim the lives of countless homeless people every winter -- especially those without warm coats. Now, a nonprofit aimed at solving that problem has accidentally led to one of the most successful homeless employment…

In some ways, the overflow storage facility for the Detroit Historical Society isn't all that different from a grandmother's attic. There's a bunch of old board games, tons of out-of-date clothing and dusty sewing machines. But that's about where the resemblance ends. Chances are Grandma never had an iron lung, the arrow said to have killed Gen. George Custer or Mayor Coleman Young's armor-plated…

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) today announced the successful funding of phase one of Detroit Harmony, a major initiative to collaboratively expand the role of music in supporting the educational and social development of Detroit’s school children, while also growing economic opportunity for Detroit citizens through the provision of instruments and music education. Through a collaborative citywide effort, Detroit Harmony will put an instrument…

Pastor Larry Simmons, Executive Director of  Brightmoor Alliance, was recently highlighted on Here to Stay, an NBC News special discussing school attendance and a program to increase the number of black male teachers in Detroit. Watch Video

For the Rev. Larry Simmons, the notion that “we can do better” has guided his life of public service. While some may think it sounds pessimistic, Simmons sees the notion as just the opposite: an indication of hope. The drive to improve is “rooted in optimism,” Simmons says. “And if there’s one thing that distinguishes America, it’s our unbridled optimism.” “We are a well-known…

Brilliant Detroit works with high-need neighborhoods, areas with many young families and with a strong community base to build on. Its strategy is to bring families and neighborhood leaders together to discuss the area's needs and what they would like from a center. At the community’s invitation, the organization secures a house in the middle of the neighborhood and converts it into a community…