Featured News
Growing Native Plants to Restore Lake Superior’s Shoreline
Native plants play an important role in protecting Michigan's natural resources. They provide habitat and food for birds and pollinators, help prevent erosion, and support the health of coastal ecosystems. Yet in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, finding native plants and seeds adapted to the region's climate can be difficult. In 2021,…
Engaging Communities in the Restoration of the Detroit River
The Detroit River is one of Michigan's most important waterways. It connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie and provides drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities for millions of people in southeastern Michigan. Yet decades of industrial activity and pollution have left portions of the river's shoreline seriously contaminated,…
Beyond the High Chest: Expanding the Story of American Furniture
When most people hear the term "masterpiece," they imagine an object of exceptional beauty, craftsmanship, or historical importance. But who decides what qualifies as a masterpiece? And how have those decisions shaped our understanding of American history? These questions are at the center of Challenging Masterpieces: Art and Identity in…
Climate, Water, and Place: Why Small Grants Matter in Complex Systems
At the Americana Foundation, our work in natural resources has reinforced an important lesson: meaningful environmental progress rarely occurs in a straight line. Issues such as water quality, watershed restoration, and climate resilience are shaped by interconnected systems - ecological, economic, political, and social. Because of this complexity, progress often…
Early-Stage Support and Lasting Impact: Lessons from an Investment in Food Access
At the Americana Foundation, we have long believed that foundations making modest grants play an essential role in philanthropy-particularly when ideas are still forming, outcomes are uncertain, and larger investments have yet to materialize. Our grantmaking experience has shown us that well-timed, carefully scoped support can help promising approaches move…
Building Community Stewardship to Protect the Rouge River and the Great Lakes
With support from the Americana Foundation, Friends of Rouge Park plans to strengthen community-driven stewardship of Rouge Park - one of the most ecologically significant and under-resourced landscapes in Southeast Michigan. At more than 1,100 acres, Rouge Park contains 4.7 miles of the Rouge River, a major tributary to the…
Muskegon River Watershed Assembly Launches Friends Initiative
With support from the Americana Foundation, Muskegon River Watershed Assembly (MRWA) launched the Friends of the Muskegon River initiative to strengthen community-driven stewardship across the Muskegon River watershed-a large and complex system that ultimately drains to Lake Michigan. The project focused on reconnecting area residents to watershed protection and restoration…
Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation
On November 6, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) welcomed the Americana Foundation Board of Trustees for an exclusive tour of Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation, led by Dr. Denene De Quintal, the DIA's Associate Curator for Native American Art, who also serves as an Americana trustee. The exhibition, which is the DIA's first major Native American‑art exhibition…
Whose Revolution? Reframing the American Revolution at the Concord Museum
As the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts, has taken bold steps toward reshaping how we remember its beginnings. In March 2025, the Museum opened a new special exhibition entitled Whose Revolution, which explored the many different meanings of revolution in…
New Grant to GVSU-WGVU will Support a Documentary Honoring Michigan Statehood
The Americana Foundation is pleased to award a grant to GVSU-WGVU Public Media in support of Frontier to Freedom: Wilderness, Revolution, and Michigan Statehood, a new documentary produced by Manitou Films for PBS. This one-hour film will mark the nation's semi-quincentennial by exploring Michigan's evolution from a vast wilderness to its…