Now through Aug. 9, five small Detroit arts organizations are vying for the Knight Arts Challenge People’s Choice Award, offering a $20,000 prize. Below, Jeff Sturges of nominee Mt. Elliott Makerspace, which provides a space where people can create, tinker and learn together, talks about why his group should get your vote. To see the other nominees and to text to vote, visit knightarts.org/peopleschoice. Q. Why should your group win the People’s Choice Award? A. Our collaboration (Mt Elliott Makerspace, Caribbean Mardi Gras Productions and 5e Gallery) is one of diverse cultures, backgrounds, skills and passions. The People’s Choice Award would allow us to share how we can mix these elements into an incredible annual event:  the Hyper Interactive Hip-Hop Mardi Gras Parade.  Caribbean Mardi Gras Productions has years of experience creating awesome costumes and floats for their annual Mardi Gras parades and festivals.  The 5e Gallery collective includes super-talented deejays, emcees, visual artists and dancer-performers whose impact extends well beyond Detroit.  Mt Elliott Makerspace is a network of skilled “makers” that can transform almost any idea into reality: from fire-breathing robots to wearable sound-responsive LED strobe lights.  Combining these elements through the creation of the annual Hyper Interactive Hip-Hop Mardi Gras Parade will create a mind-blowing, memorable event that will amplify our energies and hopefully engage more collaborators year after year.

Q. What would you do with the $20,000 prize? A. The prize would allow us to focus on planning for the parade and building up our creative and technical skill set so that we can realize our wildest ideas for costumes, floats and performances.  It will also provide us with the funds that we need to purchase the additional tools and materials needed for experimental prototypes. Perhaps most importantly, the prize will support mentorship opportunities and workshops for youth who wish to get involved in any aspect of creating the Hyper Interactive Hip-Hop Mardi Gras Parade.  The event will involve many disciplines: fundraising, communication, organizing, engineering, arts, etc.  In order for it to grow and sustain itself year after year, we will need to engage and “grow” youth along with it!

Q. What excites you most about the creative momentum in Detroit? A. We are inspired by the strong spirit of invention and innovation — invention because it involves completely new ideas never seen nor heard before, and innovation because it involves the application of new ideas and connections to existing movements and institutions.  Between stoves, automobiles, Motown and Techno, the inventions and innovations from Detroit have had a global impact, and we hope to continue this tradition in our own work.  We are likewise inspired by young people.  There is no shortage of energy and new ideas coming from Detroit youth, so we believe that it is very important to help them develop their ability to transform visions into reality as early in their lives as possible.  The Hyper Interactive Hip-Hop Mardi Gras Parade is our way of elevating the spirit of innovation, innovation and youth agency in Detroit.

To see all Knight Arts Challenge People’s Choice Award nominees and to learn how to vote, visit knightarts.org/peopleschoice.