Detroit Knight Arts Challenge Celebration: A Knight Foundation Flickr set 

I am asked all the time why Knight Foundation funds in the arts. I don’t think I have ever conveyed it as eloquently as this column in the Detroit Free Press, by Rochelle Riley.

Riley attended our Detroit Knight Arts Challenge winners event on Tuesday night, where Knight Foundation awarded more than $2 million to 56 projects, and was moved to capture the essence of what the arts can do to lift the spirit and bring together a community.

As Riley writes: 

“I walked into the Fillmore Detroit theater Tuesday night and met Detroit’s soul.

The city’s soul is not made of dollars and companies. It lies in the creativity and passion and genius that has fueled art and the business of art. It lies in a fierce persistence to share spirit….

We know the city’s troubles, but we better not forget its soul. Souls lift cities. That is how the healing begins.”

We at Knight Foundation believe in the future of Detroit. It will be led and shaped by cultural creatives from all parts of the community.

And on Tuesday night we got to see some of those current and future leaders begin a new chapter.

By Dennis Scholl, vice president of Arts at Knight Foundation

Detroit Knight Arts Challenge Winners from Knight Foundation