$5 Million Grant Set to Boost Arts In Detroit

According to a report in the Detroit Free Press today, Metro Detroit's nonprofit organization was awarded a $5-million grant intended to support the city's arts, increase job training, and expand free Internet access.

The grants were awarded by The John S. and James L. Knight foundation today at the Arts League of Michigan headquarters on East Grand River in Detroit.

Says Knight spokeswoman Brenda Price: "Detroit has always been a focus for the foundation...They wanted to give back to the communities they did their work in." Price also noted that the Knight brothers' foundation have contributed nearly $109 million during the past 50 years to the city.

A large part of the grant money will create online access for local residents.  

As stated in the Detroit Free Press, the grants include:

• $1.025 million to the United Way of Southeastern Michigan with support from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to help prepare low-skilled residents for skilled Detroit health care and green economy jobs.

• $1.01 million to the College for Creative Studies to join other funders in helping the college create an art and design campus at the new Taubman Center, originally a General Motors design facility. The center is expected to bring 2,000 people to the premises daily. Some 300 college students will live on site, giving the Creative Corridor the live-work spaces it needs to thrive.

• $866,000 to the Friends of the Detroit Public Library to expand free Internet access to the public at the Parkman Branch library by building a new technology and literacy center. The library will be able to serve an additional 400 patrons a day with access to the Internet.

• $810,000 to the Detroit Connected Community Initiative - a collaborative of the Community Telecommunications Network, Focus: HOPE, 4Cs/Family Place and Matrix Human Services - to increase high-speed Internet access to two large, low-income Detroit neighborhoods, Central-Woodward-Northend and Osborn-Northeast.

• $500,000 to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to expand and diversify its audience by creating a community concert series at places of worship, schools and malls.

To read the the report from the Detroit Free Press in its entirety, click here.

The John S. and James L. Knight foundation is a national organization with local roots that seeks opportunities that can transform both communities and journalism, and help them reach their highest potential. They strive to ensure that each community's citizens get the information they need to thrive in a democracy.