DETROIT, Aug. 21, 2026 – MotorCities National Heritage Area has awarded $14,832 in 2026 Mini-Grants to 10 Michigan organizations for projects that preserve, interpret and promote the state’s automotive and labor heritage. The Mini-Grant Program provides up to $1,500 for short-term, high-impact projects that help move ideas from concept to reality. Unlike MotorCities’ larger Challenge Grants, Mini-Grants do not require a matching contribution and can support projects such as tours, field trips, conferences, lectures, planning and studies.
“We’re excited to invest in these creative projects and the communities bringing Michigan’s history to life,” said Executive Director Shawn Pomaville-Size of MotorCities National Heritage Area. “Our organization is proud of each mini-grant recipient and celebrate their projects that are turning Michigan’s automotive and labor heritage into experiences people can see, hear and engage with.”
Buckham Alley Theatre — $1,500: The Flint theater will produce Plant Security, a new comedic stage play by Richard W. Hingst that draws on the experiences of longtime automotive workers and explores the human impact of 1980s outsourcing and changing workplace culture in automobile assembly plants. The production, scheduled to culminate in six performances in October 2026, will use theater to interpret Michigan’s automotive and labor history while bringing audiences to Flint, known as “Vehicle City.”
Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum — $1,500: The grant will support the relocation and redesign of the museum’s popular Dealership Exhibit and its sit-in Model T as construction of new restrooms requires the exhibit to be moved. Funding will help cover materials, carpentry, exhibit wall restoration, wallpaper replacement, updated lighting and the reframing and display of artifacts, including a period typewriter.
Michigan Military Technical & Historical Society — $1,332: The organization will use the grant for its World War I-era Model T Wheel Restoration Project. The museum recently completed a tribute Model T representing Michigan-built vehicles that supported the war effort, but the vehicle’s aging original wood-spoke wheels are not considered safe for road use. Restoring the wheels will allow the vehicle to participate safely in parades and public history events, including the Old Car Festival at Greenfield Village, providing a mobile educational exhibit about Michigan’s industrial contributions during World War I.
Packard Proving Grounds Historic Site / Packard Motor Car Foundation — $1,500: The grant will support replacement of two deteriorated “You Auto Know” MotorCities National Heritage Area interpretive signs at the Packard Proving Grounds. New panels made with durable, weather- and UV-resistant materials will improve readability and strengthen visitors’ understanding of the historic property. The project also will enhance the site’s appearance and long-term sustainability as it prepares for its 100th anniversary in 2028.
Michigan Rosies (Rosie the Riveter Association of Michigan) — $1,500: The grant will support a year of programming for Michigan Rosies, a new Michigan-based nonprofit dedicated to honoring, educating and engaging the public around Rosie the Riveter and World War II history within the context of Michigan’s labor and industrial heritage. Funding will help the organization strengthen its foundation while developing educational initiatives, public programs and community partnerships highlighting the contributions of Michigan workers, particularly women, during World War II.
Michigan Labor History Society — $1,500: The organization will use the grant for its Transcending QR Code Project, which will place permanent, weather-resistant QR code markers near Transcending, the Detroit Hart Plaza landmark dedicated to organized labor. Visitors will be able to use their smartphones to access information about the landmark and its connections to Detroit’s labor and civil rights history. Grant funds also will support a new informational trifold featuring the QR code for distribution at labor events and Michigan Labor History Society tours.
Michigan Labor History Society — $1,500: A second Mini-Grant will support the Michigan Labor History Society Student Bus Tour, providing a free Detroit labor history tour for interested high school and college students in the metro Detroit area. The tour will begin at the Ford Hunger March Memorial and conclude at Hart Plaza, home of the Labor Legacy Landmark, with stops at other significant labor history sites along the way.
Grosse Pointe Historical Society — $1,500: The grant will support research and development of a PastPerfect virtual exhibit, “Homes of the Auto Barons: The Automotive Legacy of Grosse Pointe.” The project will identify and curate primary source materials related to early 20th-century automotive executives who lived in Grosse Pointe and make those materials accessible through a digital exhibit. Also, the project is intended to encourage the discovery of additional records and artifacts while demonstrating the potential for future permanent exhibits on the community’s automotive legacy.
Downriver Delta Community Development Corp. — $1,500: The grant supported March On! 2026, the organization’s annual commemoration of the 1932 Ford Hunger March, when Ford workers marched during the Great Depression. The event concluded at UAW Local 600 with music, food and a silent auction, bringing together the community to remember an important chapter in Michigan’s automotive and labor history.
Oakland County Pioneer & Historical Society, also known as the Oakland History Center — $1,500: The grant will support a new wayside exhibit in Pontiac, “The Great Migration: Pontiac’s Black Churches, Buildings, Congregations, Pastors,” exploring the history of Black churches and congregations formed as Southern Black migrants came to Pontiac during the Great Migration. The exhibit will examine how these institutions developed from early gatherings in basements into established congregations and highlight their connections to Pontiac’s automotive, labor and community history.
The Mini-Grant Program is part of MotorCities National Heritage Area’s broader grant program, which supports projects that advance the preservation, interpretation, education and heritage tourism of Michigan’s automotive and labor heritage. Projects funded through the program must be largely automobile and/or labor heritage-related and address preservation, interpretation, education or heritage tourism.
To learn more about the grant program, visit www.motorcities.org/grants. For any questions, contact Brian Yopp at 313.259.3425 x307 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
About MotorCities NHA:
Established in 1998 and headquartered in Detroit, the MotorCities National Heritage Area Partnership is a nonprofit corporation affiliated with the National Park Service that serves 16 counties representing a population of over 6.5 million. Its mission is to preserve, interpret and promote the region’s rich automotive and labor heritage. Regional programs inspire residents and visitors with an appreciation for how the automobile changed Michigan, the nation, and the world. To learn more about the organization, visit www.motorcities.org or follow their Facebook and LinkedIn pages at www.facebook.com/motorcities and www.linkedin.com/company/motorcities-national-heritage-area
MEDIA CONTACT:
LaTrisha Jackson
MotorCities National Heritage Area
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.