2024 Annual Giving

We are deeply grateful for the community of supporters—funders, volunteers, advocates, and friends—who have helped sustain the Downriver Council for the Arts (DCA). Your care for our mission has been a source of comfort and encouragement, especially through uncertain times. While the arts and cultural sectors have made progress over the past few years, the proactive strategies we implemented have now become reactive measures as we face challenges with dwindling funding that was once more readily available.

As a nonprofit cultural institution, your support provides the public access to the arts—ensuring everyone has the opportunity to see, study, and experience creativity in its many forms. Rising costs and lack of available funding have made it increasingly difficult to keep offering the free and low-cost arts programs that so many of you have come to rely on. Our programming demand continues to grow, and with your help as we look to the future, we are focused on deepening our efforts in equity, inclusion, and community engagement. Our belief remains steadfast: everyone deserves to be part of our creative family.

As we work to preserve and expand our offerings for the nearly 400,000 residents of the Downriver region, we humbly ask for your help. Your gift will continue providing the arts programs that nurture artists, inspire students, and enrich the lives of everyone in our community.

Your investment makes it possible for groups like the Downriver Detroit Student Film Consortium, Be Well My Friends, Wyandotte Martial Arts, the Chamber Artists of Southeast Michigan, ARC, Downriver Poets & Playwrights, the Creative Art Society and more to provide opportunities for all community members to engage in meaningful cultural events.

Your arts center will be improved with the City of Wyandotte’s infrastructure project, which includes $2 million dollars towards the rehabilitation of the DeSana Center for Arts and Culture building. These much needed repairs and improvements will help make your arts home even more effective in providing cultural programming to Downriver. 

Every donation to the Downriver Council for the Arts makes a difference.

As we close out this year, we hope you will consider a gift of $100, or a larger gift of $250 or $500, which will have an even greater impact. For gifts of $1000 or more, we are pleased to offer an exclusive, limited-edition artwork created by one of our DCA member artists, along with special recognition on our website and in our annual report.

We ask you to reflect on the importance of the arts in your lives. Your generosity ensures that the DCA remains a vital part of our community—continuing to inspire and enrich the lives of artists, students, and families for years to come. If you would like more information about our programs, or have ideas for how we can collaborate to better serve the community, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are always happy to answer questions or explore new opportunities for partnership.

In this season of gratitude, we want to express our heartfelt thanks for the many ways you have supported us and the arts. Your continued generosity and kindness are invaluable, and we are incredibly lucky to have you as part of our community.