ProsperUs Detroit business program for creative entrepreneurs closes applications Sept. 27

Detroit's creative entrepreneurs have a few days left to sign up for a program built to sharpen the business side of their craft.

ProsperUs Detroit is accepting applications for the Detroit Creative Futures program, and the window closes Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM.

The program is presented by ProsperUs Detroit in partnership with Design Core Detroit and powered by the Gilbert Family Foundation.

It runs as a 10-session business development program built to help Detroit's creative entrepreneurs strengthen the business side of their creative work.

Sessions cover pitching and business storytelling, legal and business essentials, pricing and financials, contracts and proposals, marketing and sales, market research, and business planning and growth, with insights from industry experts.

The program is a fit for Detroit-based creative entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least a year and are already generating revenue from their creative products, services, or artistic practice.

That reaches a wide swath of the city's makers: designers, writers, musicians, performing artists, filmmakers, photographers, fashion and apparel makers, jewelry makers, ceramicists, textile artists, furniture makers, and handmade goods producers.

For a city with as many independent makers as Detroit, the business skills are often the missing piece. A strong artist can still lose money on a bad contract or an underpriced commission. A course that walks makers through pricing and the legal basics aims right at that gap. This is a Detroit program for Detroit talent already doing the work.

Applications opened Tuesday, September 15, 2026 and close Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM. That short runway is the catch, so anyone interested should start the application now rather than over the weekend.

For anyone still deciding, there is an information session on Thursday, September 24 from 12:30 to 2:30 PM at the Jefferson Hub, 950 Selden St., Detroit, MI 48201.