The window is open for artist organizers to apply for the upcoming MdW Summit Detroit! Artists working in the Midwest, building structures of support for other artists and stewarding cultural ecologies, we hope that this is the gathering you’ve been waiting for. We’re converging hundreds of folks like you for 6 days in Detroit next June!

Are you an artist organizer?

You tell us… so far our coalition has included: radical publishers who share the means of production, creative activists who host art builds, culture bearers who help others bear too, apartment gallerists who turn whatever extra space they have into exhibitions, and holders-down of culture and collaboration at that weird nonprofit space in your town from the 70s.

What are we gathering for?

The gathering will shapeshift between a “professional” conference, region-wide exhibition, artmaking residency, book fair, activist summit, and whatever else the participants want to make it. Because we are bringing together artists and culture-bearers whose role in their regions is to connect people, we celebrate that the most vital (and urgent) aspect of our gathering is gathering itself.

Where’s it happening?

Centered at the Boyer Campbell Building, a 60,000 square foot warehouse in the Detroit Design District, the MdW Summit spans 6 days, features dozens of workshops and panels, and brings participants to artist-run spaces and platforms all around the city. Over the weekend, we’ll invite local artists and organizers to public exhibitions and a publications and multiples fair staged throughout the building.

How Many People? Can you cover some gas?

Attendance is limited by the scale of the building, but we hope to invite at least 200 people to the conference, and thousands will be welcomed for the public programs, and we will do our best to mitigate costs for those traveling to join us. Plus: dinner’s on us. Come eat and talk with us.

Who’s doing this?

The 2026 Detroit Summit is organized by the MdW Coalition, a group of artist-run projects, platforms, and spaces dedicated to growing our shared ecosystem of interconnected art and organizing scenes from across the Midwest. We invite other folks doing work like ours to collaborate with us to build lasting coalitions of purposeful, artist-led action.

Stay tuned for more as we work with invited participants and Detroiters to build the best gathering we can.

Questions? Get in touch at info@mdw.art

APPLY TO THE 2026 MdW SUMMIT