Meet Our New Artist Members!

In September the ACWL-Nuveen Gallery Committee put out a call for new Artist Members to sell their work in our retail gallery.  The committee wanted to bring in some fresh faces and broaden the scope of handcrafted treasures for the public to discover. Check out the brief bios of our new artists below and stop by the gallery to see their beautiful work in person along with the 35 other talented artists we represent. There are some great gifts for the holidays!  

Rachel Balkema

Rachel, a Whitehall native, was introduced to clay by her high school art teacher Mrs. Mallory and her instructor at Muskegon Community College, Chip Vander Wier. Her career path led her toward studying to be a physician’s assistant at Grand Valley, but clay was her passion. She got back into the clay studio as an independent study student in 2022 and she has not looked back. In 2024 Rachel quit her medical job to travel to Latvia to study with ceramic artist, Lima Grigone for a month. The trip was enlightening and strengthened her desire to spend more of her time focused on ceramics and teaching. Rachel has taught ceramics at the Newago County Council for the Arts and is currently working and teaching at Earthbound Ceramics studio in Grand Rapids. Rachel loves the clay community and has participated in group wood kiln firings at Mike Taylor’s West Michigan Clay studio in Hamilton, Michigan.

https://www.instagram.com/raba.co/

Lee Ann Frame

Accomplished printmaker Lee Ann Frame, a West Michigan native, takes her inspiration from new discoveries she finds in her exploration of nature and along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Her richly detailed and layered prints are included in collections across the country and internationally. Lee Ann is a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, California Society of Printmakers, Boston Printmakers, Southwest Michigan Printmakers and even sells her work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York!  We are also fortunate that Lee Ann consistently teaches printmaking classes at the ACWL-Nuveen. She has inspired numerous students who continue to learn and grow under her instruction. Check out her three-week White Line Woodcut class coming up in April. https://leeannframe.com/

Aryan Rennells

Artist Aryan Rennells, owner of Blue Lobster Studio, started her art career at Muskegon Community College where she took every possible studio art class and found herself bitten by the ceramic bug. She continued her studies at the Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Illustration. She returned to working in clay a few years ago and decided to merge her love of illustration with her pottery. Aryan embellishes her clay work with a drawing style that mixes realism and whimsy. Nature is a big inspiration for her artwork, whether it be drawing old skulls, dying flowers, or beautiful animals. Her distinctive illustrative style can be found on her one-of-a-kind mugs, bowls and tumblers. https://www.facebook.com/AryanEliz/

Melissa Van Eck

Textile artist Melissa Van Eck from Rockford, Michigan has found a unique way to combine her background in photography with dry felting. Melissa is an avid bicyclist, kayaker and hiker and loves to document her outdoor adventures. She discovered a new creative adventure when she purchased a felting kit at the Allegan Fiber Festival four years ago and decided to illustrate her photographs in the soft fibrous material. For Melissa nature is inspiration. All of nature’s subtle colors, textures and intensity of light inform her framed felted landscapes and sculptural trees and ornaments. Recently retired after 36 years of employment at Meijer, Melissa has turned her work ethic toward creating unique artwork. She shows her work at the Flat River Gallery in Lowell, Ruth Conklin’s Gallery in Glen Arbor and is a member of the Rogue River Artists Association in Rockford.

https://www.facebook.com/SideTrackedMomentsPhotography/