PRESS RELEASES
Marion Hayden | Kresge Foundation
Detroit Bassist Marion Hayden Awarded $100,000 as
2025 Kresge Eminent Artist
Hayden Follows Noted Jazz Artists Wendell Harrison and Marcus Belgrave as Recipient of
Kresge Foundation Honor
Marion Hayden / Photo by Erin Kirkland
Award-winning jazz bassist, composer, educator and mentor Marion Hayden has been named the 2025 Kresge Eminent Artist. The annual award – which comes with $100,000 – is regarded as metro Detroit’s highest arts honor.
Hayden, 68, is the 17th recipient of the annual award which was established in 2008 to recognize metropolitan Detroit artists for a lifetime of achievement and contributions to the region’s cultural communities.
Hayden is the third jazz musician and the first musician of her generation to receive the award following legendary Tribe members Wendell Harrison and the late Marcus Belgrave, both of whom Hayden has played with and learned from extensively. The other jazz-adjacent recipient is Leni Sinclair, renowned for some of the most famous images of the likes of John Coltrane, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, the MC5 and others. (More about all the past Eminent Artists here.)
The awards are funded by The Kresge Foundation, a national foundation based in metro Detroit. The awards are administered by the Kresge-funded Kresge Arts in Detroit office of the College for Creative Studies. (See more about Kresge, KAID and CCS below.)
Hayden first came to prominence nationally as a co-founder of the Grammy-nominated Straight Ahead, which made headlines in the late 1980s as the first all-female jazz group to be signed to Atlantic Records, and one of the few all-female jazz groups to record for a major label since the big band era. Straight Ahead launched the national career of violinist and MacArthur Genius Award winner Regina Carter and continues to perform around Detroit and beyond.
The who’s who of others locally and nationally Hayden has collaborated with includes DeeDee Bridgewater, Kirk Lightsey, Steve Turre, Jon Faddis, Kamau Kenyatta, James Carter, Kareem Riggins, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ingrid Jensen, Nicolas Payton, Alvin Waddles, Charlie Gabriel of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Cindy Blackmon Santana and Gregory Porter.
Indicative of her busy schedule, last week she performed an original score for Oscar Micheaux’s silent film of The Symbol of the Unconquered at the Detroit Institute of Art. On Feb. 13 she returns to the DIA to lead a tribute to the late Roy Brooks, another of the Detroit legends who she worked with and whose legacy she honors. That performing-composing schedule is in addition to being the Geri Allen Collegiate Lecturer in the University of Michigan Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation (a position named after the late Detroit musician, one of Hayden’s contemporaries and peers). Hayden also teaches at Oakland University.
Hayden’s Eminent Artist award comes with the production of a short film to debut this spring on the Detroit PBS affiliate on March 31 (contact Jordan Duckens jordan@kresgeartsindetroit.org to receive details when they are finalized) and the production of a monograph which will be distributed to the public at no cost while supplies last (click here to sign up to receive a copy). The Marcus Belgrave, Wendell Harrison and Leni Sinclair monographs are no longer available in hard copy but can be downloaded from this page.)
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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.
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 over $9 million through 17 Kresge Eminent Artist Awards, 302 Kresge Artist Fellowships, and 62 Gilda Awards ($5,000 each). The fellowships are currently $50,000 each and the Eminent Artist Award is $100,000. kresgeartsindetroit.org
The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college authorized by the Michigan Education Department 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. ccsdetroit.edu
For more information and to arrange interviews:
Christine Jacobs, cmjacobs@kresge.org
Photos can be found here and here.
Hear Marion Hayden on Spotify here and with her latest on Bandcamp here.
Watch YouTube performances here and here.
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