For more than 30 years, Planet Ant has been a staple of Metro Detroit. It’s a place where risks are taken, legends are born, and lives are changed. But right now, we are facing an external threat that we can't "yes and" our way out of.
The Reality: Planet Ant is Under Attack.
Since 2025 we have lost nearly 50% of our annual grant funding
In the nonprofit world, "grant cuts" sounds like a boring bureaucratic hiccup. In the real world, it means the foundation of our house has been hit by a wrecking ball. The institutions that used to support the arts are pulling back, leaving independent theaters like ours to fend for themselves.
Why This Matters
When grants disappear, the attack is on:
Our Local Artists: The people who write, perform, and tech the shows you love.
The Training Center: The scholarships and spaces that keep our community growing.
The Buildings: Keeping 3 locations running isn't cheap.
You: Our community represents something the powers that be find scary. Smart creative people working together for the greater good.
You Can Fight Back
We aren't asking for a handout; we're asking for a buy-in.
Our Training Center is the heartbeat of the Ant. Invest in your own creativity to fund ours. Or, buy a gift certificate for a student in need.
Fill the seats. Bring a friend. Every ticket is a vote for independent art. Take advantage of our season ticket package!
We got stuff that needs fixin’. If you have time and talent, we want you in the trenches with us. Or donate directly to a project you want done.
Whether it’s $5 or $500, every cent goes toward the theatre and the people you love.
The Money Stays Here
We want to be 100% transparent: Every dollar you spend at Planet Ant, whether at the Black Box, a class, or the donation jar, goes directly toward paying local artists and maintaining this space. We don’t have a "corporate office." We have 4 part-time employees (only 20 hours a week) and a volunteer Board of Directors.
As we all work toward building a better Ant for the future we may run into some issues.
We humbly ask for your patience with us.
Sometimes a payment might be late as we may have to make sure something doesn’t get shut off. Sometimes a thing around the place is gonna be broken for longer than we want it to be. If you’ve been with us during these recent times you know we’ve dropped the ball a couple times but we’ll never stop picking it back up and working hard for our community.
Every day our goal is to work toward making things better, more consistent and having more transparent communication.
Times are tough, and we know they’re tough for you, too.
We appreciate you more than we can put into words (also because we can't afford a professional copywriter right now).
We’ve been in Hamtramck for over 30 years. With your help we’ll be here 30 more. We exist due to the passion, creative energy, innovation, and love of Metro Detroit.
Thank you for sticking with us as we work hard to make sure our current situation is something that makes us even more resilient in the future.
Thank you. Together, we can make it.
