Photo: The Wright Museum’s newly installed sculpture “United We Stand” is the first component of how they are using art to commemorate the 1967 civil unrest. Credit Annistique Photography.
DETROIT – Sept. 16, 2016 – Seven Detroit cultural organizations will receive funding for projects that explore the origins and impact of the city’s 1967 civil unrest. Because the arts sector is essential to interpreting this defining event in the city’s history, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has committed $682,000 to support new efforts that seek to advance the dialogue surrounding the conflict’s underlying causes and legacy.
In July 1967, a time of increased tensions in Detroit, an early-morning police raid in a predominantly African-American neighborhood sparked what became one of the deadliest and most destructive civil disturbances in U.S. history. The selected projects place that summer’s events in the context of race relations locally, nationally and historically, while also using the anniversary as a launching point to help residents shape the city’s future.
Several project are fueled by oral histories from Detroiters, collected then and now – and are represented in theater, dance and an exploration of the music of the time. They feature work by Detroit playwright Dominique Morisseau, crowdsourced footage of events left unedited, and the Detroit Historical Society’s three-year Detroit 67 effort to look back to “move forward.”
“Journalists can report what happened, but artists can describe what it means and how it feels on a deep, human level,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president. “Detroit artists can interpret the events of 1967 and create empathy among neighbors who share a past, present and a future.”
These projects surfaced through the Knight Arts Challenge, a community-wide initiative funding the best ideas for the arts in Detroit. Because of the importance of the 50th anniversary, and the ongoing dialogue surrounding it, Knight Foundation decided that these efforts merited special consideration.
These projects complement the work of the Knight and Ford Foundation-funded Detroit Journalism Cooperative, whose yearlong project, The Intersection, explores whether the social and economic conditions that sparked the tragic events of 1967 have improved in Detroit.
“With contributions from arts organizations and others who lived through and reflect upon the summer of 1967, these projects ensure that Detroiters tell their own stories and continue to shape our city’s narrative,” said Katy Locker, Detroit program director for Knight Foundation.
The grant recipients are:
Big City Films ($100,000) To engage the community in a dialogue on race relations and the unrest of 1967, conversations will ultimately shape a school curriculum for a new documentary series on the events of that summer
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History ($125,000) To use the arts to examine the 1967 civil unrest in historical context, and broaden the conversation around the city’s future, with a series of exhibitions, performance art and a memorial fence that will gather Detroiters’ reflections
Detroit Historical Society ($200,000) To engage the community in the creation of “Detroit ’67: Looking Back to Move Forward,” an exhibition that spans 100 years, puts the unrest in context and uses the city’s collective history to help residents define Detroit’s future
Detroit Institute of Arts ($30,000) To offer a raw look at the 1967 era in Detroit by presenting an immersive screening of unedited archival films and crowd-sourced home movies from the period, in partnership with the Detroit Free Press, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Walter P. Reuther Library and the Prelinger Archives
Detroit Public Theatre ($60,000) To spark meaningful dialogue in communities and schools across the city with a mobile production of “Detroit ’67,” a play by native Detroiter Dominique Morisseau about a brother and sister who find themselves caught up in the uprising
The Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University ($100,000) To tell the stories of the many overlooked women and girls involved in the 1967 Detroit unrest by bringing together oral history, theatre, poetry and dance in “AFTER/LIFE,” a new production developed by Lisa Biggs
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit ($67,000) To examine how music can be a catalyst for social change with a large-scale group exhibition called “Sonic Rebellion: Music as Resistance,” which looks at the connections between Detroit’s music and visual arts scenes and its political history
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once owned newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.