Mission & History
Mission
Detroit Artists Market is a non-profit gallery committed to contemporary art and to connecting artists, collectors and communities.
Vision
The foremost destination to exhibit, collect and learn about contemporary art in Detroit.
DAM is committed to exhibiting and selling the work of local artists. Each year DAM sells $100,000 in original artwork and distributes $66,000 in commissions to 500 local artists, more than any other nonprofit gallery in this area.
History
The Detroit Artists Market (DAM) was founded in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, and is one of the oldest continuously operating contemporary art galleries in the Midwest. A group of local art patrons, led by Mildred H. Lee Simpson, recognized that local artists needed a place to exhibit and sell their work.
Originally called Detroit Young Artists Market, the gallery was created to provide a source of income for artists under the age of 30. In 1936, the gallery’s name changed to Detroit Artists Market (DAM), which reflected the growth of the organization as it began to exhibit both emerging and established Detroit artists of all ages and stature.
In addition to providing artists with the means of a livelihood, DAM’s founders had another goal: educating public taste through the exhibition and sale of work by the finest of Detroit’s local artists. DAM ran solely on the help of volunteers and board members, up until the first salaried manager in 1969.
Today, the gallery is rooted in the history of Detroit art and culture. For more than 90 years, DAM has fulfilled its mission by presenting contemporary exhibitions, educational programs, and public events while helping artists develop sustainable careers through professional development, entrepreneurship training, scholarships, and opportunities to exhibit, sell their work, and connect with new audiences.
