Creativity may begin with an idea, but bringing that idea to life takes opportunity, encouragement and a community willing to invest in what comes next.
That spirit filled the General Motors Auditorium at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education on October 13, as the College for Creative Studies welcomed donors, trustees, students, alumni, faculty and friends for its third annual Donor Appreciation Celebration.
The luncheon brought together donors and students, illuminating what can happen when talent and ambition are met with opportunity and support.
Welcoming guests on behalf of the CCS Board of Trustees, Board Chair Jim Nicholson reflected on the importance of sustaining opportunities for emerging artists and designers.
“CCS has always believed that creative talent deserves the opportunity to be developed,” Nicholson said. “Scholarship support helps ensure that extraordinary potential is not limited by financial circumstance. Investing in our students is one of the most meaningful ways we can help shape the future of this institution.”
Detroit’s Creative Future
This year’s celebration highlighted CCS’s growing partnership with the Gilbert Family Foundation, whose investment is creating pathways for Detroit students to discover, pursue and complete a creative education.
Darnell Adams, Vice President of Detroit Community Initiatives for the Gilbert Family Foundation, spoke about the Foundation’s commitment to expanding opportunity for Detroit students and investing in the city’s next generation of creative talent.
In 2025, the Gilbert Family Foundation doubled its commitment to the Gilbert Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship, bringing the fund to $2 million. The endowment supports scholarships for Detroit students attending CCS, with two students selected each year to receive $50,000 in scholarship support distributed across four years.
The Foundation has also invested in precollege scholarships that introduce younger students to art and design education and completion scholarships that help current Detroit students persist through graduation.
“We are deeply grateful to the Gilbert Family Foundation for their extraordinary commitment to Detroit students and to CCS,” CCS President Don Tuski said. “Their investment creates opportunity at every stage — from helping young people discover what’s possible through precollege experiences, to making a CCS education attainable, to helping students reach graduation. That kind of sustained investment in creative talent strengthens our College, our city and the creative industries our graduates will go on to shape.”
Opportunity in Action
Scholarship support took on a deeply personal meaning as one CCS student shared how it has shaped her education, creative growth and opportunities beyond the classroom.
Madelane Martinez, a junior studying Studio Art & Craft, shared how scholarship support has helped make her CCS education possible. The daughter of immigrants from Honduras and Mexico and the first in her family to attend college, Martinez spoke about the sacrifices her family has made, the challenges they have faced and the encouragement that has fueled her creative journey.
At CCS, Martinez has found a deeper connection to her Latina identity through ceramics and has continued to grow as an artist. Her talent and dedication led to her selection as a Valade Scholar, part of a program established by the Valade family to recognize promising Studio Art & Craft students and give them greater freedom to pursue their creative development.
“Receiving that scholarship completely transformed what was next for me,” Martinez shared. “Any doubt and worry left my body and I was so sure that I was meant to do what I was doing.”
That opportunity has allowed Martinez to devote more time and energy to her practice and pursue experiences beyond the classroom. This summer, she traveled to Zimbabwe for an artist residency, where she studied local clay bodies, experimented with processing wild clay and explored tile making.
“Molly and the Valade family, you’ve made my dream a reality,” she said. “Thank you for showing me that this isn’t impossible.”
Throughout the afternoon, the stories and connections in the room reflected the many ways investment in CCS students can shape what comes next — expanding access to an education, providing the freedom to grow creatively, opening doors to transformative experiences and connecting students with industry through sponsored projects and real-world creative work.
Together, those opportunities prepare emerging artists and designers to bring new ideas, perspectives and creative solutions into their professions and communities. And they reflect something shared by everyone gathered that afternoon: a belief in creative talent, and in the extraordinary things that can happen when it is given the opportunity to grow.
The celebration concluded with conversation and connection among students, donors and partners — relationships that will continue to shape CCS, Detroit’s creative community and the industries its graduates will help lead. View the full event photo gallery here.
For more information about establishing a scholarship, supporting student experiences or partnering with CCS, please contact Katie Rusak at [email protected] or 313.664.7861.
