One of my favorite questions to ask is, “What are your resolutions for the year?”
It takes a lot of vulnerability to say how you want to be better, what vices you’re trying to shake, your expectations of change over the next 12 months. So it doesn’t surprise me when people get a little shy about sharing (or just tell me straight up that they hate resolutions).
That hasn’t stopped me from asking — and hoping that all the resolutions come true.
I’ll go first. I want to travel more. (Who doesn’t?) I want to take things less personally. (That’s like a superpower, isn’t it?) I want to make all my deadlines. (That’s for my editor reading this).
I’m also considering getting absolutely jacked in the gym for my health and posting it online for my vanity, but I’ll wait until the gyms clear out at the end of the month. (“Stop procrastinating” was last year’s resolution.)
What about you? Personally, I’d love to see you at more shows, supporting more local music, local theater, and really anything artistic coming out of our region. Let’s give all the money we can afford to local artists!
Because, truly, it’s more critical than ever.
Last year, we saw grants and federal funding for arts organizations take a major hit, being reduced dramatically or disappearing from budgets completely. That includes the wiping out of $3 million from the National Endowment for the Arts that was earmarked for Michigan arts organizations, which left a lot of them scrambling to figure out what’s next.
So get that ticket today for a local arts organization’s show later this year and get something in return for your investment in what they do. In uncertain times, it’s truly the arts that help us make sense of the world changing around us.
And what about a fair resolution to ask of the city of Detroit for 2026?
Last January, I advocated for the city to adopt a new nickname — one city under a groove — and lamented city hall’s lack of investment in selling the city to the rest of the world, imagining a city budget that considered the value of cultural tourism more seriously.
It’s not just a cute idea or a poster campaign. There’s very real money and economic impact there. Back in 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis valued the arts and cultural production at over $15 billion for the state’s economy, plus nearly 110,000 jobs.
It’s a fresh start for everybody, so hopefully Detroit’s new mayor, Mary Sheffield, is thinking about cultural tourism as an anchor for the city’s bottom line.
And hopefully you’re thinking about going to that concert, seeing that show, or spending some cash on a local artist’s work. And hopefully I’ll be waiting just a few more weeks to get back in the gym.
Ryan Patrick Hooper is the host of In the Groove on 101.9 WDET, Detroit’s NPR station (weekdays from noon to 3 p.m.).
This story originally appeared in the January 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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