Produced by Design Core Detroit, the festival celebrates why Detroit is the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the U.S. Since 2011, it's been a powerhouse for connecting creatives, amplifying their work globally, and proving that Detroit is a hub of design excellence.
2025: A Milestone Year
Celebrating the past, shaping the future.
Produced by Design Core Detroit, the festival celebrates why Detroit is the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the U.S. Since 2011, it's been a powerhouse for connecting creatives, amplifying their work globally, and proving that Detroit is a hub of design excellence.
With interactive in-person, outdoor, and virtual experiences, the festival features exhibitions, installations, product launches, tours, hands-on workshops, and thought-provoking discussions. Last year, 250+ creatives, 95 events, and 60,000 attendees made it an unforgettable experience.
CURATORIAL COMMITTEE
2025 Curatorial Committee
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Brittanie Dabney, Ecosphere Organics
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Dorota Coy, Art Clvb
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Josh Smith, Who’s Dat
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Keith Butler, Detroit Boys Club
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Kirsten Jordan, Ford Design
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Laura Gibson, Eastern Market Corp
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Lauren Hood, AfroUrbanist
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Michael Scamardella, Lino Realty
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Rachel Nelson, Concetti
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Sara Fallahi, Stellantis
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Tanya Saldivar-Ali, AGI Construction
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Patrick Ethen, Lighting Designer
The Process
As one of the only design festivals that is co-created with community, the Detroit Month of Design is unique in its commitment to providing inclusive and accessible avenues for participation.
Each year, events on the festival calendar are selected by an intersectional curatorial committee, ensuring that a diverse cross-section of voices weighs in on the festival calendar each year.
Our 2025 committee reviewed applications to curate the festival calendar based on factors like authenticity, storytelling, collaboration, feasibility, alignment with one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and social impact.
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2025 Curatorial Committee
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Brittanie Dabney, Ecosphere Organics
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Dorota Coy, Art Clvb
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Joshua A. Smith, Who's That?
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Keith Butler, Detroit Boys Club
-
Kirsten Jordan, Ford Design
-
Laura Gibson, Eastern Market
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Lauren Hood, Institute for AfroUrbanism
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Michael Scamardella, Lino Realty
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Rachel Nelson, Concetti
-
Sara Fallahi, Stellantis
-
Tanya Saldivar-Ali, AGI Construction
-
Patrick Ethen, Lighting Designer
2025 Curatorial Committee
A note from the festival director
15 years of creativity, culture, and collaboration
Design is inherently collaborative. It flows freely across borders, industries, and identities, and the Month of Design embodies that. The vast majority of events are independently organized, and they draw freely from an eclectic range of disciplines— art, fashion, food, history, music, technology, sustainability, urban planning, and more.
It’s a wide-reaching, electric, and beautifully diffuse festival, held together by a shared belief in the real-world value of creativity. None of it would be possible without Design Core’s dedicated staff, generous donors, and the hundreds of artists, creators, storytellers and activists who bring this experience to life.
Most of all, it’s powered by the tens of thousands of participants who show up each year with curiosity, intention, and the desire to connect.
About Design Core Detroit
Creating opportunties for creative businesses of all sizes
Located in Detroit's historic New Center neighborhood, Design Core is an economic development organization dedicated to building our regional economy.
As the steward of Detroit’s UNESCO City of Design designation, Design Core tells Detroit’s design story locally and globally. Design Core champions the transformative power of design in Detroit by supporting the creative problem-solvers using design solutions to improve our city’s economy.
Design Core creates and provides opportunities for individuals to grow their creative businesses through business development programs, visibility opportunities, connectivity initiatives and inclusive coalition building.
Through these platforms, Design Core provides established firms with opportunties to increase their reach and visibility, recruit emerging talent, contribute to our region's creative ecosystem and position their firms as thought leaders in their field.
Design Core Detroit Team
