Detroit’s Carr Center, a premier destination for Black arts in the city, has lost its home in Midtown’s cultural center. Though the organization no longer has a brick-and-mortar home, CEO Oliver Ragsdale, Jr. told the Free Press its programming will continue at partner venues in the area.
“We had some back rent,” Ragsdale explained of the center’s situation in the tony Park Shelton building. “Last year, we paid over $150,000 in rent, but we still had stuff from [before], and we couldn’t get in front of it.”
Ragsdale opted to maintain a positive outlook about the future, emphasizing the phrase “And still they rise.”
“We have a new partnership with Cathedral Church of St. Paul,” he said, “where we will be doing some programming. It’s a phenomenal, phenomenal space. Very gothic, beautiful, and it has an incredible organ instrument, so we’re going to do an organ series with three top-of-the-line African American organists. We’re going to do a classical series. And we’re going to bring back the legacy concerts that we did with the Urban Art Orchestra last fall.”
Ragsdale said Carr will also partner with prestigious east side gallery The Shepherd.
“Starting at the end of June, we’re doing a three-month residency at The Shepherd with The Gathering Orchestra and special guests,” he said. “Those are going to be outside, Thursday evenings, with a rain date for Friday evenings.”
This week, the Carr Center announced a Midtown jazz crawl spread across the first two weeks of May and featuring concerts at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Historical Museum. Also upcoming: the return of its annual summer dance intensive, to be held in July on the Wayne State University campus.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the center has struggled to stay financially afloat while continuing to offer good-quality programming as staff dwindled. In 2024, when the center was in danger of closing altogether, Debbie Allen (who has, in past years, taken part in the summer dance intensive) told the Free Press: “The Carr Center is its own Kennedy Center right there in Detroit. That’s what it is.”
Ragsdale said that given the current situation, he’s going around the community, hat in hand.
“We’re out begging,” he said. “We’re doing all of the traditional fundraising things, meeting with donors. We’re still working on that concept I talked to you about a couple years ago, looking for a major patron with a model that looks sort of like the DIA — $1 million per year for 10 years.
“Historically, arts organizations get somewhere in the neighborhood of 60% of their revenue from individual donors. Black arts organizations get about 6%. So we’re always playing catch-up to try to fill the hole, and the hole is obviously pretty significant. Our concept is to get a long-term commitment that undergirds the organization for the long haul and gives it the ability to not sweat and be able to keep doing that high level of excellent programming that the organization is known for.”
As the center continues to apply for grants and seek angel donors, Ragsdale isn’t worried about the future. When asked about it, he smiles.
“And still,” he said, “they rise.”
For more information about the Carr Center, visit thecarrcenter.org.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit’s Carr Center loses home, but its arts programs will continue
Reporting by Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
