Awards & Recognitions

  • Michelle was one of the inaugural recipients of the Arc Fund Award. This award recognizes culture workers who dedicate significant resources toward creative and cultural expression for an audience, with aspirations to have it be their primary source of income or profession. The Arc Fund aims to spur growth in the careers of culture workers who have experienced historical trends of disadvantage, underrepresentation, and oppression due to their race.

    The initiative offers funding (an unrestricted cash award of $15,000), professional development, and social networking opportunities to culture workers of color and help culture workers of color advance their careers.

    The Arc Fund was launched in collaboration with CultureSource, Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.

  • Michelle is awarded a prestigious 2018 Kresge Artist Fellowship. Kresge Artist Fellowships recognize artists who have:

    • A demonstrated track record of artistic achievement and high quality work (this is the main determinant in the selection of a fellow), and

    • The potential to grow and advance in their artistic career, and

    • The potential to reflect, enhance, or impact communities within metropolitan Detroit.

    The award included an unrestricted cash award of $25,000, professional development opportunities, and a film produced about Michelle’s work in the arts.

  • Outstanding Group and Album nominations from in 2009, 2010, 2018, and 2023 for work with Musique Noire.

    2012 - Outstanding Classical Musician nomination.

  • Michelle received a State of Michigan recognition from former State Representatives "Isaac Robinson and Aaron Miller on November 10, 2019 which stated:

    LET IT BE KNOWN, we join with the Michigan Mental Health Counseling Association and the Michigan Counseling Association to recognize Michelle May for her outstanding contributions to the mental health counseling profession and for the historic role she played in the passage of House Bill 4325.

    Today, with the support and appreciation of clients and communities across Michigan, we celebrate and thank Michelle May and over 10,000 Licensed Professional Counselors who serve as front-line mental health clinicians in the trenches.

    We were blessed with the opportunity to witness and stand in unity with LPCs and their allies in one of the largest and most successful grassroots advocacy efforts in the history of Michigan. Michelle May’s leadership in this fight helped defend and protect the rights of LPCs to continue to provide desperately needed professional mental health services to their clients.

    THEREFORE, THIS DOCUMENT IS SIGNED in appreciateion of Michelle May, an amazing and exceptional Counselor, who is dedicated to her clients, the mental health counseling profession, and the safety & welfare of the residents of the great State of Michigan.

  • 2012 - Award of Service and Recognition from the Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity for 20 years of service as the Chair of Rotating Grants and Summer Scholarships