Be a fan CONTACT:
150 East 8th St.
Holland, MI 49423
616.396.3278
Mark Amenta moved to Holland in 1996, continuing his freelance career in the areas of copywriting, theatre arts, and corporate training. Mark writes and directs children’s musicals for Face-to-Face Productions in Chicago; conducts workshops in acting, improvisation, creative dramatics, and writing for all ages; conducts corporate training in business writing and presentations; writes promotional and web copy for all types of organizations; and acts, directs, and writes plays for community theatre. In his spare time, he’s either walking his dog Reggie or filling in at the front desk of the Arts Council or the Visitors Bureau.
Jackie Bartley received her MFA in English from Western Michigan University where she was also employed in the English department. Presently she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Hope College.
Joan Bonnette lives and works in western Michigan, teaching watercolor to both adults and children. Joan has an MFA from Western Michigan University and currently is the president of the board of trustees for the South Haven Center for the Arts. Her work is represented by Uptown Gallery in Holland and Primary Colors in South Haven.
Gini Cooper has been beading for more years that she cares to divulge and making lampworked glass beads since 2000 when she won a scholarship to Oxbow School of Art. She now incorporates her own beads in jewelry, bookmarks, zipper pulls and whimsical wire sculptures. She recently started including Precious Metal Clay silver into to her jewelry and is eager to share the magic of PMC with others.
Erin Do has a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Hope College. She has been training, since age nine, in ballet and has a strong emphasis in modern dance as well. She choreographs, performs and creates pieces of work in the fine arts of drawing, dance, theater and music. She teaches creative dance, ballet and modern, ballroom and Pilates to all ages, as well as children's art classes. She has lived in Holland for five years.
Cheri Endean has always loved reading a good book. She received
her MFA in Creative Writing from Western Michigan University with a specialization
in fiction. Her love of reading inspires her teaching; she emphasizes reading
like a writer and writing like a reader. She also teaches at Kendall College
of Art and Design.
Cindy Fetter has been an Elementary Art teacher for 12 years with the St. Francis/Corpus Christi Catholic Schools. She studied with and assisted Ed Gray in his Miskwabik Studio since the early 90's. Cindy graduated from Central Michigan University in 1975 with a B.s. in Education and has taken 18 hours of Art Studio classes at G.V.S.U.
While living in the Copper Country (Michigan's Upper Peninsula), Carmen Hannah was an apprentice, digging river clay for Potter Vicki Shirley, from whom she learned a purist style of pottery. Carmen has an education degree from Western Michigan University and a Master of Arts degree in administration from University of Michigan. Recently certified as an Interior Alignment Feng Shui Practioner, she's practicing the art of de-cluttering. Living near Lake Michigan, she enjoys kayaking, boogie boarding and yoga.
Barry Jeter has been ‘creating environments’ for over 30 years. From weddings and large scale corporate events – to laying out your summer garden or designing your new living space – Barry’s artistry goes far beyond just ‘arranging.’ His work has been featured alongside the Monet Exhibit at the Art Institute in Chicago, Nordstrom’s, Meijer Garden; you’ll see it flipping through regional and national magazines. But when you’re in a one-on-one situation learning from Barry, you never seem to remember his many accolades, just the extraordinary way he creates beauty out of the common things in life we all share.
Derek Johnson earned his BFA in Art from Michigan State University and continues to learn and teach painting and drawing. He has led after school art programs in Grand Rapids public schools, develops and teaches art camps for children and teens. A lifelong resident of West Michigan and an award-winning painter, Derek enjoys collaborative painting with his friends and is inspired by dune ecology.
Kathy Kingsley earned her Bachelors of Science and Art Education Certification from Grand Valley State University. She has been teaching art in the surrounding public schools and communities for 20 years.
Ginjah Knuth began teaching yoga in 1974 and teaches today throughout Western Michigan and Chicago. Ginjah also has experience in Karate and studies yoga therapy.
Carol Kuiper, a certified K-12 art educator, has been doing art for fun and therapy since childhood. She has enjoyed teaching art classes for various schools including Byron Center Middle School, Bloomingdale High School, West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, as well as Gen-1 Arts Camp, Kandu, and Hope College's Upward Bound Program.
Andre Matthews has been teaching ballroom in the Grand Rapids and Holland area for over four years. Andre works full time for Herman Miller, Inc. and enjoys spending his free time sharing his passion for dance.
Susan A. Mulder has a BFA in Painting from Kendall college of art and design. Dealing mostly with abstraction, she works in both oils and encaustic when painting but handles more realistic subject matter when printmaking. Susan exhibits both regionally and nationally as well as teaching at both the Holland Area Arts Council and Kendall College's continuing education program.
Rachel Plaggemars graduated with a BA in dance performance and choreography from Hope College. As a student, she performed with Strike Time Dance Company, a touring company aimed at educating kindergarten through 6th grade students about the art of dance. Rachel has been teaching and choreographing in the West Michigan area for five years.
Thaisa Rantanen has been studying, performing and observing dance since she was five. Some instructors of note she has worked with are Leonid Lubarsky, Steven Wistrich, Jefferson Baum and Michael Miller. She holds a minor in dance from Western Michigan University where she was a member of the Department of Dance for two years. Thaisa currenty resides in Grand Rapids Michigan where she is working intently on her vocal career.
After realizing he could draw Spider-Man better than most of the kids in his first grade class, Jeff Raterink pursued a career in art. Jeff Attended Kendall College of Art and Design with a major in Visual Communications and a minor in photography. He has been photographing subjects such as Drive In Movie Theaters, Diners, old relics of the past and weather phenomenon since the early nineties. He is on the Advisory Board for the Visual Communications course at the Ottawa Area Intermediate Center. When not designing or taking pictures, Jeff likes to battle the forces of evil from his three bedroom ranch house in Holland.
Karin Ries studied Egyptian belly dance for six years and performed in "Ward El Sahara" dance company under Jasmin Jahal of Chicago. Karin has performed in festivals, cultural centers, and educational venues in Chicago and surrounding areas.
Maria Schaefer was raised in Bogota, Colombia and came to
Holland MI in 1992.
She works full time for Holland Hospital as a physical therapist. She's had
a passion for dancing since she was a child and has learned to dance by observing
her family and friends while living in Colombia. She was Zumba and is very
excited to share such a fun program with everyone.
Ralph Schroeder received his MFA from the University of Utah with an emphasis in printmaking, drawing, and photography. He has been teaching since 1975.
Andrew Snyder's paintings and ceramics can be found in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the country. He received his BFA in painting and ceramics from the Columbus College of Art and Design and an MFA in painting from Western Michigan University.Andrew is deeply committed to making learning accessible to students of all ages and skill levels.
Mary Sundstrom is a 13 year Grand Haven resident who grew up and studied art in Central Wisconsin and Madrid, Spain earning a BFA. She has been actively creating art all her life and teaching her passion to adults and children for a number of years. Mary specializes in expressive and loose techniques in watercolor and has developed a way to make the pigment on paper look like velvet. Mary has a studio in her 1954 Airstream Travel Trailer and can be seen camping and painting on the beaches of Western Michigan.
Shirley Swaney has been teaching fitness of mind and body for over 25 years. She is president and owner of Mind & Body, Inc., a company she founded in 1975. She has taught Tai Chi and Qi-Qong in Birmingham, Grand Rapids, and Holland. Shirley has a degree in Holistic Health Care from Western Michigan University.
Monica Van Allsburg received her Bachelor of Science in photography from Grand Valley State University. Her studies have taken her to Florida Atlantic University, Bob Jones University, and Penland School of Arts and Crafts. She has worked with the Arts Council since the summer of 1999, when she helped coordinate the Expanded Visions photography program for area youth.
Mae Van Ark attended Western Michigan University and Hope College, and is involved with the Art Institute of Chicago. Mae is a practicing artist whose work has been shown in several exhibitions and is represented by select galleries in western Michigan. Besides teaching her specialty watercolor, Mae also teaches adults with developmental disabilities as a part of the Holland Area Arts Council's Art For All class.
Colette Volkema DeNooyer has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the University of Michigan and taught elementary school for several years. An ordained minister she has written and published children's religious curriculum as well as delivering many a sermon. Four years ago she resigned from ministry to pursue her love of writing. She trained with Pat Schneider. author of Writing Alone and with Others, at the Amherst Artists and Writers Institute in Amherst Massachusetts and has since led AMA weekly writing groups and writing retreats. To sample her writing or for information about the AMA method, writing groups and retreats see her website: www.forwritersandreaders.com.
Pam Volkers is a certified group fitness instructor and has worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years. Pam is certified to teach Pilates and currently teaches aerobics, Pilates, and weight training in the Holland area. She recently trained with master Pilates guru Alycea Ungaro, owner of Tribeca Body Works in New York and has been certified in Reformer Training.
Beth Williams Eckert is a self taught mosaic artist who will mosaic anything that isn't moving. While she has worked in tile mosaics, most of her work has been with glass and found objects. Beth enjoys working with students of all ages, including the great artists in the Art for All program.