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Detroit announces recipients of first-ever ACE Honors, given to those who contributed to city arts

Posted at 11:19 AM, Oct 25, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-25 11:19:53-04

(WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced the recipients of the first-ever Detroit ACE Honors.

The honor salutes lifetime achievement and celebrates artists and arts patrons who have contributed 25 years or more of service to Detroit arts and cultures.

The first recipients are:

  • Elizabeth "Betty" Brooks – Board member of the Detroit Historical Society, Motown Museum, Detroit Jazz Festival, Detroit Institute of Arts, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Michigan Opera Theatre
  • David Dichiera – Founder of the Michigan Opera Theatre and former president of Opera America
  • Robert S. Duncanson – Painter who established a studio in Detroit in 1849 and would become one of the most accomplished African American painters of the 1850s and 1860s
  • Leroy Foster – Portrait painter and muralist who painted several public commissions in the City of Detroit
  • Tyree Guyton – Creator of the Heidelberg Project
  • Vera Heidelberg – Co-chair of first Classic Roots Celebration sponsored by the DSO which recognizes African American contributions to classical music
  • Artis Lane - Portrait artist and sculptor known for works featuring several people. First woman to be admitted to Cranbrook Art Academy
  • Charles McGee – Painter and sculptor with work featured at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American Museum and more. Also the founder of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit
  • Charles Nielbock – Architectural ornamental metal & design artist with work featured in Fox Theater restoration
  • Dudley Randall – City of Detroit's first Poet Laureate who is is called "the Father of the Black Poetry Movement” by Black Enterprise Magazine;
  • Gretchen Valade – Philanthropist and leading patron of several Detroit art institutions
  • Marilyn Wheaton – Longtime director of Detroit's cultural affairs department
  • Debra White-Hunt – Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy
  • Shirley Woodson – Painter known for large-scale figurative work featured at the DIA and Wright Museum, long-time Detroit Public Schools teacher and supervisor of fine arts
  • The Kresge Foundation – Honored for awarding more than $6.7 million through Kresge Arts in Detroit's Kresge Eminent Artist Awards, Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards