A team of four students from College for Creative Studies took first place for their sustainable spray paint, FlowState, at the international Biodesign Challenge Summit (BDC) held at Parsons School of Design in New York City in June. The students formulated a temporary paint made from upcycled food waste streams, addressing health and environmental concerns of traditional spray paint. The team also developed a research-backed brand strategy and visual identity to accompany their final product. Winning team members were Maxim Van Duyne (MFA Design for Sustainability), Abigail Carballo (BFA Product Design), O’Dell Carson III (MFA Color and Materials Design) and Amber Tao (MA Color and Materials Design). Guiding the project was Melanie McClintock, CCS alumna and Chair of Color & Materials Design.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” said McClintock. “The team jumped into working with the community immediately after receiving the brief and let the community’s needs drive their concept.”

To better understand local needs and fine-tune their finished product, the team had a sponsored partnership with Brittany Dabney at Ecosphere Organics, a collaboration with LeJuan Council at Feed Your Neighbor and received BDC mentorship from Jennifer Willet, Director of the Incubator Art Lab in Windsor, Canada.

A Color & Materials Design student wearing a white lab coat demonstrating the application of their sustainable spray paint from upscaling food waste streams

This win marks the third time CCS has taken home the first-place prize, the Glass Microbe, competing among 50+ international schools from over 17 countries. “While it’s always a heavy lift,” McClintock said, “watching the students connect with people of like minds — who are at the intersection of design, science, play, materiality, and sustainability — and see the smiles on their faces when being seen and understood…this is the greatest gift.”

CCS students presenting their project Flowstate from a sponsored studio with Ecosphere Organics at the annual Biodesign Challenge Summit in 2026
Three Color & Materials Design students wearing white lab coats demonstrating their method for creating sustainable spray paint from upscaling food waste streams
Two students wearing white lab coats demonstrating their method for creating sustainable spray paint from upscaling food waste streams
Students presenting their final for a Color & Materials Design sponsored studio with Ecosphere Organics

Christina deRoos, a driving force behind Kresge Arts in Detroit (KAID) for over a decade, recently stepped down as director of the program renowned for its robust, innovative, and steady support of individual artists. She leaves a legacy of increasing opportunities for artists and advancing equitable funding in Detroit.

Since 2008, KAID has been a cornerstone of metro Detroit’s artistic community, investing in creatives across Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies, the program will have provided $10 million through unrestricted awards after the upcoming announcement of the 2025 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Awards.

“It’s hard to imagine Kresge Arts in Detroit without Christina deRoos at the helm. She has been far more than a collaborator…she has been a true catalyst. Christina has challenged us, inspired us, and fundamentally redefined what this program can mean to artists and to the city. Her imprint is indelible, and our gratitude is boundless.” -Rip Rapson, President and CEO, The Kresge Foundation

An accomplished visual artist, curator, and artist organizer, deRoos joined the program in 2013, hired by founding director Michelle Perron (currently director of the executive office for The Kresge Foundation). With a holistic and responsive approach to program design and administration, deRoos and KAID’s team of artists evolved the program in service of increasing artists’ compensation and creative freedom.

Working closely with The Kresge Foundation, the program doubled its Eminent Artist Award, now $100,000 per year, and fellowship award amount, now $50,000 per year, and also increased the number of artists receiving awards each year. This culminated in the distribution of over $1,000,000 via 35 awards, marking KAID’s 15th program year and The Kresge Foundation’s Centennial year.

Additionally, KAID’s “by artists, for artists” approach was instrumental in advocating for improved working conditions for artists. As a result, KAID received W.A.G.E. certification(Working Artists and the Greater Economy), the first model of its kind to establish a sector-wide minimum standard for compensation as well as a clear set of guidelines for the conditions under which artistic labor is contracted.

In 2020, accepting The Kresge Foundation’s request to design and deliver professional development and career support opportunities for the Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients, deRoos led the KAID program to substantially expand its annual program operations. Event and exhibition opportunities, legal and accounting support, and more were developed and produced by a staff of artists in collaboration with KAID program alumni as well as local media outlets and service providers. Highlights include:

EXHIBITIONS:

  • KAID facilitated two online exhibitions, Flash Your Lights (2024) and Counterspells(2025), on view now through July 10.
  • The 2024 in-person exhibition, Representation, curated by Wayne State University, presented the work of 17 Kresge Artist Fellows in honor of the program’s 15th anniversary.
  • In 2019, a multidisciplinary exhibition, Parallel Visions, curated and produced by Wasserman Projects in honor of the KAID program’s 10th anniversary, featured 13 Kresge Eminent Artists, Kresge Artist Fellows, and Gilda Award recipients drawn from the 2008 – 2018 artist cohorts.

FILM SERIES

  • From 2017 – 2025, the award-winning KAID film series expanded to feature dozens of Detroit-based filmmakers and evolved to invite any style of film. Fellows’ films have been screened as part of film festivals locally, nationally, and internationally. Online and in-person film premieres were presented in collaboration with DPBS (formerly DPTV), Trinosophes, Cinema Detroit, and the Detroit Institute of Art’s Detroit Film Theatre.

ESSAYS, PODCASTS, & ARTIST SALONS

  • The Practice essay series paired Kresge Artist Fellow Lillien Waller with an array of fellows and Gilda Award recipients to explore and amplify the distinctions among their creative approaches.
  • An 8 episode podcast series, Subject Matters, hosted by Imani Mixon and co-produced with Red Bull Arts, explored the perspectives of 18 artists, including 11 fellows and Gilda Award recipients.
  • The 22 episode Artist Salon series, co-produced with WDET, featured 50 Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients in conversation with Chris Campbell, Orlando P. Bailey, and Ryan Patrick Hooper.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

  • KAID offered five years of support for the editors and featured artists in the Metro Times Fiction Issue(2020 – 2024).
  • Three Sidewalk Detroit collaborations took place, including a neighborhood performance series during Covid and artist support for Sidewalk Festival, featuring work by Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients.

www.ccsdetroit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BakpakDurdenphoto_LivinforMedia.jpeg Bakpak Durden

“Collaborating with Christina was a transformative opportunity for us to deepen our relationships and encourage radical place-based spatial interventions with some of Detroit’s most dynamic artists,” said Ryan Myers Johnson, former KAID coworker and current executive director at Sidewalk Detroit. “Christina was an exceptional partner, providing financial support and thought partnership on community facing initiatives that served as a powerful collision of creative experimentation, justice and artist empowerment through direct artist commissions at the Sidewalk Festival as well as an several iterations of our Now:Future Initiative, a conference and now residency that encourages artists to explore issues of economic security and spatial justice.”

Working with CCS, deRoos built intentional relationships between KAID and other CCS programs during her tenure to increase opportunities for Detroit artists while contributing to CCS’s mission as a premier art and design college. Kresge Artist Fellows have given lectures at CCS, curated CCS’ alumni exhibition, and been featured in Design Core’s Detroit Month of Design.

www.ccsdetroit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CA9A7234-scaled.jpg 2023 Kresge Artist Fellow Mario Moore works with CCS students on campus

“Christina has made outstanding contributions to the KAID program over the past decade, demonstrating dedication and consistent care and commitment to the metro Detroit arts community,” said Don Tuski, President of CCS. “Her guiding principle of ‘we work for the artists of Detroit’ inspired the program’s approach to engaging artists from a place of trust, service, and collaboration.”

deRoos has been planning since 2024 to depart the KAID team to focus on her artistic practice and expand her freelance work, coaching emerging and established leaders in arts and culture and supporting philanthropic initiatives advancing economic justice and abundance economies. She spent the past six months as the Director of Leadership Transition, supporting KAID’s new leadership and their preparation to ensure strong programming and resources for artists will continue.

www.ccsdetroit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/KGMcGowan_2025_by-Noah-Stephens-scaled.jpg Katie McGowan

KAID continues to be staffed by a team of active artists, including Asukile Gardner, Nicole Peterson, Angelina Starceski. As announced earlier this year, succeeding deRoos as director is Katie McGowan, an interdisciplinary artist and advocate.

McGowan joined the KAID team as managing director in September 2018, was promoted to deputy director in 2022 and director earlier this year. Since 2021, she has led the selection process of the Kresge Eminent Artist Award, most recently awarding virtuoso jazz bassist and educator Marion Hayden, as well as the Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Awards, which will soon include a 2025 cohort of artists to be announced later this month. McGowan created and produced the In the Air: Voices from Detroit and Beyond series with Wayne State University and the KAID Featured Photographer project, currently highlighting 2021 Kresge Artist Fellow Brian Day as he shares monthly documentation of studio practices and public art by Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients.

A native metro Detroiter, McGowan brings deep ties to the local artistic community, having co-founded the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit’s DEPE Space Residency program and served as program director for the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Her personal art practice explores the intersection of literary and performance art, often resulting in genre-bending nonfiction reportage. McGowan holds an MFA from The University of Iowa in Intermedia, as well as MA and BA degrees from Wayne State University in English.

CCS alumna Elizabeth Salonen made waves at NeoCon 2025, partnering with Bernhardt Design to create a captivating experience in their showroom, Space 320 at The Mart. Salonen, a distinguished multidisciplinary artist-designer, has unveiled “Meditations on Canvas,” a series of seven meticulously hand-stitched large-scale works that truly embody her unique Finnish design ethos: functional beauty intertwined with a deep connection to materiality.

Salonen’s creative journey is extensive. She founded Mottoform, her design studio, in Helsinki in 2005, later moving its base to Ontario, Canada. Her expertise spans a wide array of disciplines, from product design, ceramics, and textiles to interiors, lighting, and the crafting of collectible art and objects.

Her innovative work has garnered international acclaim, including the prestigious honor of being named Industrial Designer of the Year in Finland in 2012. She graduated from CCS with a degree in Industrial Design.

First fellowship cohort in history of program to receive $50,000 each

Kresge Arts in Detroit announced the 2025 Kresge Artist Fellowships and Gilda Snowden Emerging Artist Award recipients. Twenty-five artists received the no strings attached prize from the program, administered by the College for Creative Studies (CCS) on behalf of The Kresge Foundation.

For the first time in history, each Kresge Artist Fellow will receive a $50,000 award, up from $40,000 last year—doubling the original $25,000 fellowship established in 2008.

“Each year, the Kresge Artist Fellowships reaffirm a profound truth: that Detroit’s creative community is a force of resilience, vision, and transformation,” said Rip Rapson, President and CEO of The Kresge Foundation. “This year’s recipients exemplify the depth and breadth of artistry rooted in this city—from poetry that reclaims identity and uplifts voice, to visual work that reframes legacy, place, and memory. Together, their contributions move us beyond what is seen and heard, into what must be felt—reminding us that the arts are not simply reflections of Detroit’s vitality, but active architects of its future.”

The 17th cohort of artists consists of 5 Kresge Artist Fellows in Literary Arts and 10 Kresge Artist Fellows in Visual Arts, in addition to 3 Gilda Award recipients in Literary Arts and 7 in Visual Arts. Awards in each category are proportional to the relative number of applications received.

Visual Arts Fellows

Taurus Burns, Painting (CCS Alumni) Donald Calloway, Interdisciplinary Work (CCS Alumni) Malak Cherri, Painting Allana Clarke, Interdisciplinary Work Maya Davis, New Media (CCS Alumni) Kimberly LaVonne*, Ceramics Elise Marie Martin, Installation (CCS Alumni) Ivan Montoya, Painting (CCS Alumni) April Anue Shipp, Interdisciplinary Work Slumdog Visionaire, Photography

Literary Arts Fellows

Louis Aguilar**, Creative Nonfiction Beenish Ahmed, Fiction Anetria Cole*, Playwriting Marwa Helal, Poetry Brittany Rogers*, Poetry

*past Gilda Award recipient **past Kresge Artist Fellow

Since its founding, Kresge Arts in Detroit has awarded nearly $10 million in unrestricted dollars directly to Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county artists through 17 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards, 317 Kresge Artist Fellowships, and 72 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each).

“We consistently receive feedback from artists about the transformative impact of these awards—they open doors, create connections, afford time for rest, and offer capacity for artistic growth and exploration,” said Katie McGowan, director of Kresge Arts in Detroit. “Unrestricted grants underscore the core principle that artists deserve to be respected and valued. We look forward to seeing how this increased monetary investment in individual artists strengthens the arts and culture landscape in Detroit and beyond.”

Elevating Artists’ Careers

In addition to the monetary prize, Kresge Arts in Detroit connects fellows and Gilda Award recipients to legal and accounting support, promotional opportunities, and more. Fellows also are invited to participate in a film series highlighting Detroit artists. The films featuring the 2024 Kresge Artist Fellows premiered on Detroit PBSand are available online.

“The incredible class of 2025 Kresge Fellows and Gilda Award recipients displays the rich diversity of the arts in Detroit,” said Don Tuski, President of the College for Creative Studies. “The College for Creative Studies is proud to honor these artists and their outstanding artistic achievements.”

The Gilda Snowden Emerging Artist Awards

Gilda Awards are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of beloved Detroit artist and mentor Gilda Snowden(1954–2014). The recipients are selected from the applicants for the Kresge Artist Fellowships. Gilda Awards recognize early-career artists who are:

  • gaining momentum
  • demonstrating exceptional potential through creative risk-taking
  • pushing the boundaries of their chosen art form

Gilda Awards in Visual Arts

Akea Brionne, Interdisciplinary Work Taylor Childs, Fiber (CCS Alumni) Jimel, Photography Amara Murphy, Photography Oshun, Painting Frisly Soberanis, New Media Cat Washington, Fiber

Gilda Awards in Literary Arts

Laura Kraftowitz, Creative Nonfiction Megan Peiser, Creative Nonfiction Maddox-Julien Slide, Fiction

A Competitive Selection Process

Artists were selected through a months-long review process involving new panels of local and national arts professionals to reduce bias and provide fresh perspectives. Selection is based on:

  • a demonstrated track record of artistic achievement and high-quality work,
  • the potential to grow and advance one’s artistic career; and
  • the potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metro Detroit.

“I believe this cohort of artists represents how multifaceted excellence can be,” said Sharbreon Plummer, 2025 Visual Arts panelist. “They are thinking critically about their respective practices and are unafraid to push boundaries within their respective media.”

2025 Visual Arts Panelists

Ethan Bach, Experiential artist; Founder and executive creative producer, Alt Ethos Mariam Ezzat, Sculptor; 2019 Kresge Artist Fellow Asia Hamilton, Photographer; Curator; Gallerist; Administrator, Columbia College of Arts Chicago Sharbreon S. Plummer

“The 2025 Literary cohort feels like a slow drive through Detroit,” said 2025 Literary Arts panelist Jeni De La O. “Street to street the scenery changes, but mile after mile the feeling is the same: craft without pretension, precision with heart.”

2025 Literary Arts Panelists

Michael Awkward, Gayl A. Jones Professor of Afro-American literature and culture, emeritus, University of Michigan Jeni De La O, Poet; Creator, The Brown Study; 2021 Kresge Artist Fellow Michelle Cruz Gonzales, Author; Menopunk; Professor of composition and creative writing, Las Positas College Josh Malerman, Author; songwriter; film director/producer; cartoonist Lev Mirov, Poet; Author; Fabulist; Interdisciplinary Artist; Historian; Doctoral candidate at Antioch University

Artist Information: For artist bios, photos, social media handles, and contact information, please visit 2025 PRESS FOLDER.

Kresge Arts in Detroit is generously funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies. The goals of Kresge Arts in Detroit are to enrich the quality of life for metro Detroiters by helping artists provide a broad spectrum of cultural experiences; celebrate and reflect the richness and diversity of our community in all its aspects; heighten the profile of arts and artists in our community; and strengthen the artistic careers of local

Artists. Since 2008, Kresge Arts in Detroit has awarded nearly $10 million through 17 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards, 317 Kresge Artist Fellowships, and 72 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each). The fellowships are currently $50,000 each and the Eminent Artist Award is $100,000. kresgeartsindetroit.org

The Kresge Foundation The Kresge Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress. Today, Kresge fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities, seeking to dismantle structural and systemic barriers to equality and justice. Using a full array of grant, loan, and other investment tools, Kresge invests more than $160 million annually to foster economic and social change. For more information visit kresge.org.

The College for Creative Studies (CCS). The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and authorized by the Michigan Department of Education to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. CCS, located in midtown Detroit, strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS fosters students’ resolve to pursue excellence, act ethically, engage their responsibilities as citizens, and learn throughout their lives. With world-class faculty and unsurpassed facilities, students learn to be visual communicators who actively use art and design toward the betterment of society.

The College is a major supplier of talent to numerous industries, such as transportation, film and animation, advertising and communications, consumer electronics, athletic apparel, and many more. Its graduates are exhibiting artists and teachers, design problem solvers and innovators, as well as creative leaders in business. collegeforcreativestudies.edu

Counterspells is a digital exhibition featuring the 16th cohort of Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients running May 22 – July 10. This is the second online exhibition presented by Kresge Arts in Detroit.

View Counterspells

Counterspells explores how artists engage with and respond to the powerful, invisible energies all around us. The work presents personal acts of creation shaped by collaboration, introspection, and rebellion. Viewers are asked to notice how each artist channels their craft and ideas into the new and re-imagined work featured in this exhibition.

Featured artists include:

  • Ava Ansari
  • Stevie Soul
  • Flying Cardboard Theater
  • Tamara Finlay
  • Ms. Shirel
  • Hannah E. Fahoome
  • Maurice Draughn
  • Maddie Shubeck
  • Steffanie Christi’an
  • Galaxy
  • Lara Sfire
  • Weam Namou
  • Na Forest Lim
  • Katy Dresner

Counterspells is Kresge Arts in Detroit’s second online exhibition. The exhibition is part of KAID’s career support offerings. In addition to the monetary prize, each fellow and Gilda Award recipient is invited to participate in career support offerings during their award year.

The online exhibition website was designed by Echo Charlie.

Kresge Arts in Detroit is generously funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies. Since 2008, Kresge Arts in Detroit has awarded over $9 million through 17 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards, 302 Kresge Artist Fellowships, and 52 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each). The fellowships and Eminent Artist Award are currently $50,000 and $100,000 respectively.

CCS’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Sabrina Nelson, ’91 Fine Arts, will never forget her first visit to College for Creative Studies.

It was 1985, and Nelson was fresh out of Detroit’s Cooley High School. The graphic designer at her summer job with the State of Michigan — CCS alum Rob Kangas, ’80 Photography— had encouraged her to apply, even going as far as setting up her admission interview and dropping her and her sketchbook off at the Yamasaki Building.

A mom at 15, Nelson had filled her sketchbook with drawings of her baby and other things important to her, like the covers of her favorite Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson and Prince albums, along with the required calligraphy. She wasn’t aware that she’d needed a portfolio, or even what one was — until the admissions counselors pushed her artwork back across the table and said, “No, you’re not ready.”

“I was angry. I felt ignored. I felt invisible,” said Nelson, who left the interview without being offered advice or even a tour. “And because I’m hyper independent, it pissed me off.”

Although the expression “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” may not have been intended for art school rejections, it certainly applies to how Nelson handled hers. While she waited for Kangas to pick her up, she explored campus on her own. Sketchbook tucked under her arm, she walked through the Industrial Design studios, asking students to show what they were working on, knowing she was equally capable.

“I felt ashamed because I knew I was an artist and I knew I was good,” Nelson said.

Kangas made Nelson another appointment, this time with Hope Palmer at Henry Ford Community College (now Henry Ford College). She was accepted and stayed for a year and a half, with Palmer advising her on what classes to take.

“I left with a 4.0 and a hell of a portfolio,” she said. “And I made another appointment with the same people who rejected me.”

Although the three admissions counselors didn’t remember Nelson from her first CCS interview, they wouldn’t forget her again. Impressed with her portfolio, especially her figure and life drawings, they not only offered her admission but also nearly a full tuition scholarship.

By that time, Nelson was 20 and the mother of two. Still nursing her son — Mario Moore, ’09 Illustration, recipient of CCS’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award — she took the campus by storm. She asked to work in the Admissions Office for her work-study, hoping to ensure no other CCS hopefuls left rejected and dejected. She raised her voice when Black artists weren’t studied in art history classes. Children often in tow, she served on student government and as president of BART (Black Artists Researching Trends).

View Sabrina’s work at https://www.sabrinanelsonart.com/

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The College for Creative Studies (CCS) celebrated its fifth iteration of The Show, which took place on April 26, 2025 at 7 p.m. at the General Motors Design Dome. Featuring over 100 looks from 26 students enrolled in CCS’s Fashion Design Program, this year’s runway presentation marked 10 years since the department’s inception in 2015.

The Show 2025 featured collections from Bridget Weiss, Morgan Novetsky, Jackie Kramer, Nicholas Alberto Madruga, Justin Hilberer, Emma Wilson, Meka Johnson, Robert Robinson, Santino Giglio, Luka Galle-Callahan, Sophia Jensen, Avery Mangum, Sarah Nofar, Bryce Truby, Aidan Richards, Bryn Hazen, Athan Hillman, Imani Stowers, Quade Feller, Kaiden McArthur, Maxwell Honeycutt, Veronica Wardowski, Izzy Abohasira, Marwa Bissada, Falina Jimerson and Griffin Mesner.

The show had over 400 guests throughout the evening. Notable attendees include Rea Brayshaw, Office Magazine; Chuck Bennett, Fox 2 News Style Ambassador; Awenate Cobbina, Bedrock; Cassell Ferere, Forbes; Catherine and Nathan Forbes, The Forbes Company; Ralph Gilles, Stellantis; Darwin “Detroit Dar” Gordon, Influencer; Ryan Patrick Hooper, WDET; Erica Jackson, Soho House; Roslyn Karamako, Detroit is the New Black; Danialle Karmanos?, Mad Dog Technology; Nate Lynn, Detroit Lions; Diane Mahady, Hèrmes; Tiff Massey, Artist; Mario Moore, Artist; Ann-Marie Mountford, Caleres; Ekanem N. Obong, Michigan Senate; Youwie Roes, KV Roes; Michael Simcoe, Senior Vice President of GM Global Design; Brittany Simmons, Influencer; Gretchen Valade, Carhartt; Millie de la Valette, Louis Vuitton; Tony Whlgn, Artist; Angela Wisnieski, Coup de’Tat; Jennifer Witcher, DJ Minx.

To commemorate this milestone, the theme of this year’s show is “Icons,” celebrating the individuals, institutions and movements throughout history that make Detroit the iconic city it is. As an institution that fosters the next generation of artists and designers in Detroit through its unique experiential learning model, CCS hopes to contribute to furthering the city’s creative economy with its annual runway presentation. The Show brings together entrepreneurs, recruiters, tastemakers and industry professionals to showcase CCS’s fresh class of emerging designers.

Featuring capsule collections from a select group of senior, junior, sophomore and freshman students enrolled in the program, The Show presented a broad range of cutting-edge designs in apparel and accessories. This year, The Show’s media partner was SEEN Magazine.

The CCS Fashion Design Program, heralded as the largest and most equipped fashion accessory design department in the United States, was established a decade ago under the leadership of renowned footwear designer and Linda Dresner Endowed Chair in Fashion Design Aki Choklat. Thanks to the addition of Antwerp designer Rey Pador as associate professor and full-time faculty member, and countless contributions from the department’s dedicated faculty, the department has fully expanded to include Apparel Design, making it the robust program it is today.

The program has grown exponentially over the last ten years, equipping students with the tools they need to enter the job market through supplementary resources such as its Fashion Design Advisory Council. With representatives from Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Tapestry, Hermès, Caleres, Carhartt, CFDA and more, students have the opportunity to engage with these fashion houses and organizations through semester-long sponsored projects as well as jury evaluations twice per year. Looking ahead to the next decade, CCS announced last fall that they have submitted a fashion business management program for 2026 accreditation.

Designed in 1956 as part of Eero Saarinen’s mid-century modern campus, the GM Design Dome revolutionized the automotive industry, marking the first time cars were presented as works of art. Widely recognized today as a historical landmark representing architectural and automotive innovation, the Design Dome’s bold modern aesthetic aligns closely with The Show’s vision, putting designers at the start of their careers in front of a global audience.

SENIOR COLLECTIONS

Justin Hilberer

CCS Senior Justin Hilberer’s collection, Preservation, explores the concept of evolution, honing in on the adaptability of animals. Hilberer’s collection is reflective of how human beings emulate tactics of survival. Drawing parallels between brutalist architecture and cold, uncanny feelings associated with survival, he combines mixed metals, leather and animal fur, manipulating these materials into large, boxy shapes. Referencing how technological advancements by humans speed the process of everyday tasks, all pieces in Hilberer’s collection are meticulously hand-sewn. As a jewelry minor, he incorporates hammer-formed masks and neck pieces, as well as hand-spun chain mail to adorn many of the collection pieces.

Meka Johnson

Inspired by the seven deadly sins, CCS Senior Meka Johnson’s collection, Ambrose, is a gothic spin on wedding attire. Johnson has created seven elaborate gowns that personify each of the deadly sins, signifying their individual relationship to emotional betrayal. Primarily working with satin, tulle, crinoline and cotton, Johnson has fulfilled a need for garments that fall outside of traditional white wedding attire.

Jackie Kramer

CCS Senior Jackie Kramer weaves sacred geometry into every aspect of her final collection. Titled Courage is a Virtue, Kramer follows the parameters of the “golden mean,” or desirable middle ground between two extremes. For this collection, she utilizes leather and wood as her extremes. Every shape crafted into her accessories references geometry, with her primary shapes being a half circle, circle and triangle. She has ensured every piece has an intersection point between the wood and leather to create this middle ground. Her collection is grounded in the famous quote from Aristotle, “Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible.”

Nick Madruga

Titled “BIONICK,” CCS Senior Nick Madruga’s collection pays homage to his younger self and his relationship with nature. Driven by what he refers to as “simple construction with interesting shapes,” Madruga’s design philosophy leads him to create larger-than-life silhouettes with unconventional, upcycled materials. All garments were constructed by hand and are complemented by custom 3D-printed shoes.

Morgan Novetsky

CCS Senior Morgan Novetsky’s senior accessories collection hones in on the concept of leaving a legacy. As many designers struggle with anxieties of being forgotten or not leaving an impact on such a saturated fashion industry, EMET-met explores these emotions that can hinder personal growth. With all shoes and bags made by hand, many pieces appear unfinished or peel back to reveal the technical process of shoe-making, showing how feelings of uncertainty can slow the path to success.

Bridget Weiss

CCS Senior Bridget Weiss’s technical approach to design led her to her collection thesis exploring the domination of technology and machines over nature, and how these man-made entities attempt to mimic qualities of living organisms. With nods to aquatic life in contrast to automotive construction, her collection, titled Seal the River at it’s Mouth Take the Water Prisoner, utilizes wood, leather and 3D-printed aluminum fixtures to create smooth, shiny textures that intersect with fluid movement.

Emma Wilson

Gaia Carnis, CCS Senior Emma Wilson’s final collection, represents parallels between the exploitation of women and nature, subverting the way both are traditionally perceived as beautiful. Wilson takes the romanticization of women throughout history and traditional gardens with reference to the Enlightenment era and spins them to the grotesque. Working with leather, transparent lamb skin, hair, possum fur and even worms, Wilson encourages viewers to find beauty in the less appealing facets of womanhood and nature.

A new Student Access and Earnings Classification recognizes institutions that foster opportunities for student success

College for Creative Studies has been designated as an Opportunity College and University the Carnegie Classifications, recognizing CCS as an institution that can serve as a model for studying how campuses can foster student success.

The Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation is part of a newly developed Student Access and Earnings Classification published this month by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education. This new classification examines the extent to which institutions foster opportunities for student success by measuring whether institutions are enrolling students reflective of the communities they serve and how the earnings of those students compare to peers in their area. In 2025, 479 institutions have been identified as Opportunity Colleges and Universities, which is about 16% of all U.S. colleges and universities that are in the Student Access and Earnings Classification. CCS is the only Opportunity school in Michigan with an art and design specialty focus.

The methodology for the new Student Access and Earnings Classification uses multidimensional groupings of the 2025 Institutional Classification to evaluate student access and earnings between similar colleges and universities.

Read the 2025 Student Access and Earnings Classification for more information about the designation, including the methodology.

About the Carnegie Classification

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed the classification in 1973 to support its program of research and policy analysis, and it was updated in 1976, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2025 to reflect changes among colleges and universities. It will next be updated in 2028, with subsequent updates every three years.

About the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

The mission of the Carnegie Foundation is to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving transformational change in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, Pell Grants, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education.

About the American Council on Education

ACE unites and leads higher education institutions toward a shared vision for the future. With more than 1,600 member colleges, universities, and associations, ACE designs solutions for today’s challenges and advances public policy to support a diverse and dynamic higher education sector. Learn more at www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on X (formerly Twitter) @ACEducation and LinkedIn american-council-on-education.

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CCS is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Publishing Awards, honoring the impactful scholarly and creative contributions of our faculty and staff. This year’s distinguished recipients are:

  • Academic Award Winner – Karen McGarry, Associate Professor, Art Education McGarry, Karen. “Educating the Whiteness Out.” The Intersectionality of Critical Identities in Art Education, edited by S. Willis, R. Shin, and A. Richards, International Society for Education through Art (InSEA), 2024, pp. 12–22.
  • Creative Award Winner – William Langford, Adjunct Faculty, Liberal Arts Langford IV, William T. Detroit: Workers, Teachers, Lovers. Finishing Line Press, 2022.

The CCS Publishing Award acknowledges outstanding publications from our community. Faculty and staff interested in the 2026 award can look for details in September. The submission deadline for the 2025 review cycle is December 1, 2025.

The CCS Publishing Award celebrates the scholarly and creative publishing efforts of faculty and staff by selecting two faculty or staff members who, in the two calendar years prior to the nomination deadline, published exemplary scholarly or creative work as determined by the selection committee.