Michelle Perron, who spent three decades building arts institutions across metro Detroit, has launched a Birmingham-based advisory firm called Perron Projects.

The practice helps leaders in philanthropy, business and culture use arts and creativity to tackle organizational and civic challenges, according to Crain's Detroit Business. Services span placemaking, public art strategy, cultural investment, institution-building and organizational transitions.

"After three decades in Detroit's cultural world … I'm launching my own practice," Perron wrote on LinkedIn announcing the firm. "Perron Projects helps forward-thinking companies, foundations, and civic and cultural institutions use arts and culture as strategy, not decoration."

Before launching the firm, Perron founded and led the exhibitions and public programs division at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. She grew it from a single gallery into a multi-venue operation with five exhibition spaces and three lecture series. The division produced more than 200 exhibitions and 200 public programs and raised over $16 million, according to the Perron Projects website.

She also founded Kresge Arts in Detroit, a fellowship program that has distributed more than $10 million to more than 500 Detroit-area artists. The program is now studied by peer institutions across the country as a model for equitable arts investment, the firm's website states.

At the Kresge Foundation, Perron served as director of the executive office and staff liaison to the board of trustees, working alongside President and CEO Rip Rapson on strategic initiatives. She also conceived and led the foundation's centennial celebration at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which featured President Barack Obama in a fireside chat before more than 600 guests. The event was later broadcast nationally as a PBS special.

The new firm's website lists four service areas: cultural strategy, programs and partnerships, art and space integration, and strategic advisory. Perron has described the practice's core idea as treating culture not as an amenity but as a tool for how organizations are understood and experienced.

Perron Projects operates from Birmingham. Details on services are available at perronprojects.com.