Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
Detroit Opera to Perform Free Holiday Concert at Host Holy Redeemer Church
Colombian-American soprano Catalina Cuervo returns to Detroit to perform a free gala program at Detroit’s Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, in the heart of Mexicantown, at 7 p.m. Dec. 17.
The concert will feature holiday classics and sacred pieces in English, Latin, and Spanish. Also performing will be guitarist Álvaro Andrés Bermudez; pianist Nathalie Doucet, Detroit Opera’s head of music; and four emerging artists — soprano Melanie Spector; mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija; tenor Leo Williams, and baritone Ben Reisinger.
Spector, Barkidjija, Williams, and Reisinger are participants in Detroit Opera’s 2022-23 Resident Artist Program, selected from among hundreds of singers who applied for the program.
The holiday concert is a result of Detroit Opera’s ongoing work to deepen connections with the southwest Detroit community. In 2016, Detroit Opera board member Jesse Venegas and his wife, Yesenia, formed a partnership with Holy Redeemer Church. Presentations at the church have included concerts by Cuervo in 2017, soprano Cecelia Violeta López in 2019, and Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” in 2018.
Forbes Ranks Fratarcangeli Wealth Management Among America’s Best
Forbes has ranked Fratarcangeli Wealth Management in Bloomfield Hills No. 10 on its list of America’s Top Wealth Management Teams: Private Wealth. This is the first time the Fratarcangeli Wealth Management team has been included on this prestigious list.
Led by managing principal Jeffrey Fratarcangeli, Fratarcangeli Wealth Management is comprised of 23 team members and has offices in Florida, Indiana, Michigan, and New York. As of Sept. 30, the team has $3.53 billion under management, and its clients include athletes and entertainers, publicly traded companies, foundations, government agencies, and many other entities.
“Over the past five years, our practice’s assets under management have increased more than three-fold, and I believe that is a direct reflection of the level of service our team provides to our clients,” Fratarcangeli says. “We work with nearly 700 households to create tailored, individual investment strategies to help them reach their financial goals and preserve wealth for future generations.”
Ferndale’s Gage Cannabis Opens Cookies Location in Jackson
Gage Cannabis Co., based in Ferndale, has opened a new flagship cannabis provisioning center in Jackson at 118 N Columbus St.
The dispensary will be operated by Gage through a partnership with Cookies, one of North America’s leading lifestyle and cannabis brands.
“Gage is excited to bring the acclaimed Cookies experience to more cannabis enthusiasts in the Midwest,” says Mike Finos, president of Gage. “This expansion reiterates the strength of our partnership with Berner and Cookies, the most recognized names in cannabis.”
Cookies Jackson will carry the entire family of Cookies products, including but not limited to the Cookies, Lemonnade, Runtz, Minntz and Grandiflora lines.
“Michigan cannabis consumers are educated connoisseurs just like Californians,” says Berner, rapper, entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Cookies. “I’m a big fan of the vibes and distinctive cannabis culture in Michigan, and I’m looking forward to bringing more of our celebrated cannabis cultivars and unique Cookies customer experiences to one of the biggest up-and-coming markets in the country.”
For more information, visit cookiesmichigan.com.
Applications Open for 2023 Kresge Artist Fellowships
Metro Detroit artists are invited to apply online for a 2023 Kresge Artist Fellowship, funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by Kresge Arts in Detroit at the College for Creative Studies.
For the 15th consecutive year, Kresge Arts in Detroit will award 20 fellowships and 10 Gilda Awards to artists of all career stages living and working in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Kresge Artist Fellowships are $25,000, no-strings-attached awards taht include professional development support and the creation of a short film highlighting the artist’s work.
The fellowships and Gilda Awards will be divided between the two categories — Literary Arts and Visual Arts — based on the relative number of applications received in each category.
Fellowship selection criteria includes: a demonstrated track record of artistic achievement and high-quality work, the potential to grow and advance in one’s career, and the potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metro Detroit.
Early career artists also are encouraged to apply for one of the 10 available Gilda Awards, which are $5,000 unrestricted prizes for emerging artists living and working in the tri-county area. The awards honor the legacy of Gilda Snowden (1954–2014), who was one of the 18 inaugural artists to receive a Kresge Artist Fellowship in 2009, and who taught painting at the College for Creative Studies for more than 30 years.
The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2023.
Kresge Arts in Detroit staff will conduct an online info session for first-time applicants from 5-6:30 p.m. Dec. 14. A second online Q&A session for all applicants will take place from 5-6:30 p.m. on Jan. 12. For more information about these sessions, visit here.
WCC, Sprinkler Fitters Union Extend Partnership to Educate, Train Workforce
Washtenaw Community College (WCC) in Ann Arbor and the Road Sprinkler Fitters of the United Association, Local 669, have extended their partnership to educate and train craftsmen to meet workforce needs.
Since WCC and Local 669 started working together 15 years ago, nearly 5,000 apprentices have completed the five-year program, which blends on-the-job training, hands-on training, and virtual training that features online access to courses offered through Washtenaw Community College.
“We are proud to partner with Local 669 in this program that sets the standard for education and training and meets workforce needs,” says Rose B. Bellanca, president of WCC. “These skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen save lives and protect property through the highest quality of installation, repair and maintenance of fire protection systems.”
Arab American National Museum Features ‘Souvenirs from the Future’
The new art installation at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn — “Souvenirs from the Future” — presents visitors with the opportunity to surround themselves with “artifacts” from a fictional SWANA-inspired (Southwest Asian North African) city from the future.
As part of the museum’s Cultivate and Grow Artist Residency Program, artists Dahlia Elsayed and Andrew Demirjian set out to tell a story about a future place they’d want to live.
The Arab Futurism ethnographic exhibit tells the story of the future city of “Mustaqbaaaahpolis” (future-breath-city), a city built on the interchange of ideas, aesthetics, and knowledge in a system liberated of chrononormativity and extractive economic systems.
Like in a traditional museum exhibit, the artists tell the story of “Mustaqbaaaahpolis” through imagined “artifacts,” including calendars, maps, household items, and clothing paired with wall labels.
“The future here is more positive than most futuristic visions,” says Demirjian. “So much sci-fi is all dystopian and so hopeless but what about considering a better world?”
Elsayed adds: “A world where we can take care of ourselves and each other, while free from the constraints of time and money? We’re hopeful.”
Unlike a traditional exhibit reflecting on a past civilization, Elsayed and Demirjian invite visitors to look forward to reflect on possible futures. Elsayed and Demirjian created every aspect of the installation from the designs on the apparel to the books on display. This included the artists creating their own language, a combination of multiple languages, in which the books are written. One reflective children’s book reads: “And they used to spend their whole lives working at jobs they didn’t like … and they sat at desks.”
The exhibit is located in the Cultivate and Grown area of the Arab American National Museum and will be open to visitors through May and is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Friday and noon-6 p.m. on Saturday. General admission to the Arab American National Museum is $8 with discounts for seniors, students, and educators. Guests can enter the museum through the front door located on Michigan Avenue. Free, lighted parking is available in the large municipal parking lot behind the museum.
