meet our instructors
"The Teaching Artist is an educator who integrates the creative process into the classroom and the community." – The Association of Teaching Artists
Catherine Adamkiewicz
Catherine Adamkiewicz (AKA Siena Becket) is a self-taught Metro Detroit artist who creates colorful abstract art inspired by her love of nature and her desire to encourage and uplift others. A writer, published author, nature photography enthusiast and life-long creative, she began painting in 2020 and credits the gift of “The Great Pause” as a catalyst in her decision to create full-time.
Catherine uses acrylic paint, inks, pastels and other media, along with collage elements like sheet music and poetry, to create works that explore a wide range of emotions, most especially joy, hope, and transformation.
A self-described “intuitive artist,” she begins her creations with an inkling of intention and allows curiosity, compassion, and, most of all, courage to inform her creative decisions. Self-exploration and a desire to grow in authenticity inspire her to explore a variety of mediums and modes of expression.
Exhibitions and awards
Corewell Hospital Arts for the Spirit Program; ongoing installation of 20+ paintings
Dorothy W. Sorensen Painting Award 2023; Up North Arts, Cadillac, MI
Northville, Mi Art in the Sun; Second Place 2023
Erin Davis
Erin Davis is a metro Detroit based illustrator, designer, and lettering artist. The two major ideas that Erin believes in is family and the need to keep creativity in the world. Best represented with her series, Rock your Roots, she firmly believes that families are unique and the most honest representation of the universal state of love that we have to offer. Erin is also an activist in emphasizing the importance of creative programs and solutions in our society. She understands and feels an obligation to inform people of this necessity, while using her work and ways of thinking as a way to help others. After working an internship for the Downriver Council for the Arts one summer while in college, Erin has also explored and fallen in love with how this can apply to the nonprofit sector.
Everyone is creative, it is just a matter of exercising it. To see more of what Erin does, visit her website: www.artfullyerin.com
Darryl Froehlich
Darryl Froehlich is primarily a self-taught artist whose work has been influenced by workshops with such mentors as artist/sculptor Heiner Hertling and the late Harrison Collier. Froehlich has also studied the palette of the late American Impressionist painter Frank Vincent DuMond, under the direction of noted Indianapolis fine artist Douglas David.
Froehlich’s artistic philosophy is to concentrate on overall design, thus leaving something to the imagination and forcing viewers to interpret details, making them participants in the painting and enhancing their enjoyment of the finished work. His primary medium is oil and he enjoys both plein air and studio painting.
Froehlich, a Grosse Ile resident for more than 27 years, is a member of the Downriver Council for the Arts, Art Ambiance, Michigan Plein Air Painters, the Glen Arbor (Michigan) Art Association and the Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts in Frankfort, Michigan.
Nicole Gillies of Roving Eye Textiles
Nicole Gillies was born and raised in Trenton, Michigan where she developed a curiosity for art of all genres. She attended Henry Ford Community College and earned an Associate’s Degree in Art, focusing mainly on pottery and photography. When she was accepted into the College for Creative Studies in Detroit everything changed. Her focus swiftly moved to Fiber Art, learning fashion design, weaving, felting, dying and much more. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art with a major in Crafts/Fiber Art. She now has a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science and works as a Children’s Librarian, sharing her love of art with her children and the young people of her community. In her spare time she is a ravenous felter and owner of Roving Eye Textiles, making beautiful flowers, vessels and nuno scarves for galleries and art festivals in the Detroit area. She is most proud of a felted vessel that she made while attending a workshop at the Michigan Fiber Festival.
Donna Gonzalez
Donna is from Metro-Detroit, who has loved drawing and coloring since childhood. After receiving an MFA in Media Design and an Art History degree from college she went on to teach graphic design and traditional visual art classes to students since 2012.
As a multidisciplinary artist Donna uses acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, pencil, paper and mosaics. She designs fabric prints selling them on accessories and home décor items.
The Community House in Birmingham exhibited her works in 2022 as well as The Padzieski Art Gallery, The Rotunda Gallery in Dearborn and at the Northville Art House and in small local boutiques. In 2018 her paper cut artworks made it in the top 30 of the Michigan Great Artists Contest.
Donna incorporates the beauty she sees in nature into her works. Her favorite genres are Byzantium and art nouveau, and her favorite subjects she enjoys painting are animals, birds, landscapes, and people portraits.
As an instructor, Donna’s goal in teaching is to motivate students to expand and experiment with their creativity, to encouraging them to view their artwork as an expression of themselves.
Elroy Grandy
Elroy Grandy is a multi media artist whose extreme passion is sculpting in clay. In 1974 he discovered working with clay to be very fulfilling, peaceful, almost a place of rest for him, and enjoys sharing the fun experience with interest students. Children learn to make decorative tiles, trivets, animals, spoon rests, clock faces, and other creations in his class. He and his wife Kathy have raised six children in Wyandotte and now are enjoying retirement and their eight grandchildren.
Born in Dearborn, MI, his education came locally from Dearborn High School art classes and Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. He is the owner of Grandy Graphics and is currently operating his ceramics manufacturing facility in Wyandotte, MI. where he has resided for the past 32 years.
Donna Boisseau Hinson
Donna teaches classes through the DCA for children and adults, including the DCA’s Youth Art classes and the DCA’s Youth Summer Art Camps. Previously Donna was the owner/operator of a gallery and studio on Grosse Ile, and now focuses her paintings on relationships between people, self and the larger society. She is interested in what makes us who we are and how we interact with one another, how the larger world influences us and how we influence the world. Many of her pieces rely on nuanced balance and simplicity, and can be described best as intimate looks at ideas and feelings. View her art here.
Casey Irvine
Casey Irvine is a passionate and enthusiastic Art Educator with 15+ years of teaching in the Downriver community. Originally grew up southwest MI, she watched her mother live an art teacher’s life. She would sit next to her mom and be in awe of the students' work and share her opinions on grading. By high school Casey had flooded her schedule with art classes and knew she would also live a life in art education. Casey earned an Art Education Bachelor's Degree at Western Michigan University and accepted a career opportunity, making her home Downriver. Casey creates a variety of artwork for her personal growth although her passion is always finding new and exciting ways to build rapport with her students and provide an independent art experience.
Casey is interested in building confidence and a love for art in the youth that they can carry on and utilize in their future. Art is a tool that “has no wrong answer,” and can express emotions or simply provide a therapeutic experience. Trying something new or building on skills is always fun and creates challenges to overcome while directly supporting mental health.
Casey teaches classes through the DCA for children and adults, including the DCA’s Youth Art Classes and the DCA’s Youth Summer Art Camps. She is also interested in starting up some professional developments for local art teachers to create a comfortable learning environment and enjoy sharing one another's experiences.
Henry "Hank" Jacobs
Henry "Hank" Jacobs is a collagist living in Metro Detroit.
Hank works slowly in what has typically been a spontaneous medium. Understanding collage as occupying a liminal space between painting and sculpture, he carefully selects scrap from a large collection of material and constructs two-dimensional monoliths with obscure origins in cosmicism, abjection, and thing theory.
Hank's art has been displayed at the Downriver Council for the Arts Gallery, as well as the Harrowing Hall dark art exhibit, “an immersive and haunting art experience". His work has been featured in collage magazine Photosynthesis. He also designed the poster for the documentary Tangent Realms: The Worlds of C.M. Köseman. When he's not collaging, Hank can be found reading, watching bad horror movies with his wife, or making art with his kids.
Mark Kalis
Born in Wyandotte and a Roosevelt High School graduate, Mark went on to the U.S. Marine Corp and earned a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. His art discipline covers a wide range of styles and mediums and he enjoys painting, sculpting, drawing, writing and illustrating books, teaching and he’s even a professional chef.
Self labeled a colorist, Mark is an artist who reacts strongly to color. Even though he likes the nuance and subtlety in black and white, nothing beats the use of color and it's what drives him in a lot of his art.
Mark enjoys involving the community in art projects. He created a thirteen foot giraffe sculpture located in the Ecorse Public Library. The endeavor created a visual vignette of community that embraces and emphasizes the intrinsic values of art, education, literacy, diversity, peace and positivity.
Currently he is illustrating and authoring a children’s book about diversity taught through the main characters of cats.
Martha Laviolette
Martha looks forward to teaching you the Art of Knitting. She is a former teacher and avid fiber artist who is a life-long Downriver resident. Martha has won several awards for her knitting and is always exploring new techniques.
“ Let’s leave our daily frustrations behind, relax and CREATE.” -ML
MacKenzie McMahan
MacKenzie has been involved with the DCA since exhibiting in her first high school art show and served on the DCA Youth Arts Council where she played a part in organizing a teen open mic night and art exhibit. She is a first year social studies teacher who enjoys teaching, learning, and art! In her free time she uses her creativity to remodel her home paint, photograph, and craft. Though she teaches big kids during the day, she's super excited to watch the littles be creative and see art through their eyes.
Katie Russell
Katie is an Alumna of the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (2003). She is a figurative sculptor and painter, working mainly in clay and oil paint. Her art focuses on relationships and unspoken exchanges ranging from the intimacy between loved ones to the anonymity between strangers. When she isn’t teaching art or making art, she enjoys reading, cooking, gardening and being outdoors. Katie lives with her husband and five children in Allen Park, Michigan. To view some of Katie’s work, please visit katierussell.weebly.com
Trisha Schultz
Trisha is a Downriver resident, mom, and artist. She holds a Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts from Eastern Michigan University, certified to teach K-12 visual arts education. Trisha has 5 years of art teaching experience and has taught at the DCA and a local craft store chain. She's Grumbacher certified in drawing, watercolor, and acrylic.
Trisha has a YouTube channel where she teaches art (Trisha Renee's Art Studio) and is currently writing a book, How to Draw Realistic Portraits in Colored Pencil.
Bruce Tims
Bruce was born and raised in Michigan. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Design from Western Michigan University. He continued his education at the renowned Center for Creative Studies, College of Arts & Design in Detroit. Bruce has exhibited in numerous juried art shows since 1975. Included in these are exhibits in Chicago, Birmingham, England and throughout Michigan, including the Wyandotte Art Fair. He has contributed to the Henry Ford Art for the Heart fundraiser for the past several years as well as donating to the Treasure Chest of Art fundraiser for AIDS awareness.
Bruce’s soft touch and blending, as well as his impeccable use of color, results in the creation of outstanding watercolors filled with a passion that art collectors can relate to. In contrast, his acrylics lend to the abstract showing a deeper use of color and harder brush stroke, that allows for inspiration unique to each viewer.
Bruce continues to work and reside in Michigan and enjoys teaching at the DCA.