Arab American National Museum receives $100,000 grant for powerful theater production

Dearborn’s Arab American National Museum, the world’s largest institution dedicated to Arab American history and culture, has received a $100,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation’s 2024 Joyce Awards.

The funding, awarded in collaboration with writer, director, and performer Andrea Assaf, will support the development of DRONE, a live theater production exploring the ethical and human implications of drone warfare.

The Joyce Awards, active since 2004, aim to support artists of color throughout the Great Lakes region in creating community-centered work. This year’s funding is the largest total amount ever awarded by the program, with $500,000 allocated across five projects.

Locally, Assaf’s project will feature a multimedia approach that combines theater, live music, and digital design, informed by community engagement methods such as story circles and art-based dialogues. It will actively involve the surrounding community of Dearborn — home to the country’s largest Arab American population — as well as local veterans and anti-war activists.

“DRONE sits at the intersection of so many critical issues, tackling topics such as surveillance, immigration, PTSD within the veteran community, moral injury and much more,” Assaf said in a press release. “This work offers a constellation of entry points for people to join the conversation, regardless of identity. Drone policy is not something we have the luxury of ignoring; my hope with this work is to facilitate a dialogue that will shape the future of these policies and empower the public to exercise their agency in the face of these urgent concerns.”

In addition to Assaf, the 2024 Joyce Awards recognized Marcus Elliot with the Detroit Parks Coalition, Terry Guest with Chicago Children’s Theatre, Katie Ka Vang with Theater Mu, and Edra Soto with The Sculpture Center.

“The 2024 awardees join an outstanding group of artists and leaders who have built a legacy of transformative art across Great Lakes communities,” Joyce Foundation President and CEO Ellen Alberding said in a statement. “As we mark two decades of the Joyce Awards, we want to celebrate the artists and communities who have enriched the Great Lakes region, and those who will build on this work in the years to come.”

Joyce Foundation Culture Program Director Mia Khimm added, “This year’s Joyce Awards artists and organizations are responding to some of the most urgent issues facing our region and beyond. From addressing the impacts of incarceration and war to invigorating and expanding access to public spaces and highlighting the diversity of immigrant experiences and cultural identities, these transformative projects will promote healing and community connections while inspiring social change. We’re proud to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Awards by celebrating the work of artists, organizations and communities that are helping us to imagine and build a more equitable and vibrant future for the Great Lakes region.”

More information about the 20th anniversary of the Joyce Awards and the 2024 recipients is available at joycefdn.org/joyce-awards.