Detroit’s young artists are preparing for a night that places their talent, training and creative voice on one of the city’s most historic stages.
Detroit Public Schools Community District will present its 57th annual An Evening of Fine Arts on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at the Fox Theatre, bringing together some of the District’s most talented student performers and visual artists for a free showcase that continues a long-standing DPSCD tradition. Doors open at 5 p.m., with a preshow performance leading into the main program at 6 p.m.
This year’s showcase will feature 27 performances and 26 student visual works of art, offering families, educators, community members and arts supporters a full look at the creative strength being cultivated across the District. The evening will include student artwork, a jazz trio, choir performances and a preview from the musical Once on This Island.
For Andrew McGuire, deputy executive director of Fine and Performing Arts for Detroit Public Schools Community District, the showcase represents far more than one night of performance. It reflects a Districtwide commitment to ensuring students have access to the arts and the space to develop their craft.
“We are here to show off and showcase and show out all of the student voices that’s being raised in that performance,” he said. “The excitement is really, really loud. It’s really, really big. The students have been preparing for months and months and months for this day that’s coming up.”
DPSCD’s annual arts showcase is supported through partnerships with Comerica Bank, 313 Presents, Olympia Development, Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, and the City Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship. Those partnerships help elevate a student-centered program that places young Detroit artists before a broader community audience.
McGuire also credited the District’s leadership for maintaining fine and performing arts as a priority across DPSCD schools.
“I’m so happy, so grateful for our board and superintendent for instilling and ensuring that we maintain the fine and performing arts in all Detroit Public Schools Community District schools,” McGuire said. “That makes this possible, and it carries on. It anchors our legacy and ensures that we carry it on beyond us.”
For students, the Fox Theatre stage offers a professional experience that can shift how they see themselves and their futures. McGuire said the event gives students room to explore their voice, develop confidence and understand their place within Detroit’s broader creative legacy.
“The Evening of Fine Arts offers our students the opportunity to be on a stage in the larger sense of the community, in our Detroit community,” he said. “This gives them a launching board into whatever they choose to do next, and it gives them the presence and the space to explore their voice, to really be out into their craft, in our community, in our city.”
That legacy can be seen across Detroit and beyond. McGuire pointed to the many DPSCD alumni who have gone on to perform on major stages, join touring productions, play in jazz clubs, contribute to musical theater and display work in gallery spaces.
“You’d be hard pressed to find a stage without a Detroiter on it from Detroit Public Schools Community District,” McGuire said. “This event is that space that gives the students the opportunity to be on a larger stage in preparation for what happens later.”
At Detroit School of Arts (DSA), students preparing selections from Once on This Island are learning what it means to bring discipline, collaboration and courage into performance. Jen Leha, a theater instructor at DSA, said the opportunity to perform at the Fox Theatre gives students an important step beyond the school stage.
“I’m really thrilled to have our kids performing on the Fox Theatre stage again,” Leha said. “It’s a wonderful step up from our stage to a huge professional stage, and they are ready for it.”
Leha said DSA has seen students move from school productions to the Evening of Fine Arts and then into conservatories, college programs and professional creative spaces. She named former students now training and performing beyond Detroit, including Mark Bonnie, a Sutton Foster Award winner, and Jemiah, a student studying vocal performance.
“That’s just a few of our students who are out doing great things in the performance world, who started here on the DSA stage and went on to EFA and then to even bigger and better things,” Leha said.
The work behind the performance is demanding. Students preparing for musical theater must learn how to sing, dance and act at the same time while carrying the emotional weight of a story. Leha said that level of preparation teaches students what it means to commit to the rehearsal process and the discipline of performance.
“Preparation is actually the hardest part,” Leha said. “As my assistant director and choreographer, Nadia, says, ‘If you don’t love the rehearsal process, you don’t love theater.’”
Students rehearse 10 hours each week, building the endurance and skill needed for a professional-level performance. Leha described the production team as a “varsity team” because of the range of talent required.
“They have to work so hard,” Leha said. “They don’t just master vocal performance. They don’t just master dance performance. They don’t just master theater performance. They have to do all of those things together.”
For Leha, one of the most meaningful outcomes is watching students grow in confidence through the process.
“The preparation is very intensive, but by the end, they’ve built a level of confidence in their performance skills that is quite beautiful to see,” she said. “Actually, incredibly inspirational.”
For freshman student Katani, being part of the ensemble in Once on This Island means helping tell the story from the inside. Katani said the ensemble serves as storytellers who help guide the audience through each scene and carry the emotion of the production.
“The storyteller’s job, you’re telling, ‘This is what happened, and this is how everybody reacted to it,’” Katani said. “You’re giving the emotion, and then the rest of the cast, that’s what they decide how they’re going to pick up off of what you’re saying.”
Katani said attending Detroit School of Arts has helped open doors to performance opportunities, including the chance to be part of An Evening of Fine Arts at the Fox Theatre.
“Being at DSA, it helps to transform my life from places like the Evening of Fine Arts at the Fox, and it really gives a lot of opportunities,” Katani said. “Being at DSA really helps with that a lot.”
Asked where they see themselves in the future, Katani said she hopes to continue growing as an artist, whether on stage, behind the camera or in front of one.
“I hope to be on a bigger stage,” Katani said. “Maybe behind the camera or in front of a camera, somewhere on stage where I’m showing my talents.”
For student performer Amyre McCoy, theater has become a place of purpose and joy. McCoy said they did not always see themselves as a theater performer, but that changed after their first musical.
“When I was younger, I did not like theater for a very long time,” McCoy said. “But the first musical I did, it just filled me up with love.”
McCoy, who performs in Once on This Island, described the production as one of the best musical experiences she has had.
“This is one of the best musicals I’ve ever done, personally,” McCoy said.
In the production, McCoy plays the goddess of love, a role they said reflects the kind of person they hope to become.
“To me, she’s like a representation of what I want to be,” McCoy said. “Spreading love, helping others, giving the example of how people should treat others. No matter if it’s evil, no matter if it’s bad, or if you’re just feeling down, there’s always love there. There’s always good in the bad.”
When asked where she hopes to be in five to ten years, McCoy answered with the confidence of a student who has already begun to see the stage as home.
“Probably on Broadway,” McCoy said. “Probably performing, or just following my dreams.”
McCoy also offered a message to younger students who may be interested in the arts but unsure whether they should take the leap.
“Do not hold back,” McCoy said. “There’s going to be so many people that’s going to tell you you can’t do this. There’s going to be so many haters that tell you you don’t deserve this. Do not listen. You are beautiful. You are perfect, you are just the way you are.”
That message captures the spirit of An Evening of Fine Arts. The annual showcase gives students a platform, while also reminding Detroit what can happen when young people are given access, training, encouragement and a stage worthy of their talent.
DPSCD’s An Evening of Fine Arts will take place Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at the Fox Theatre. The event is free, and tickets are available now.
