Arte Preescolar y Familiar
En este programa, invitamos a niños de 3 a 6 años a hacer arte. En esta clase de arte continua basada en el juego, nos enfocamos en la socialización, la conexión, el aprendizaje sensorial y el fomento de la imaginación.
Cultivate Core Team
Mallory Shotwell
Founder and Director
Mallory Shotwell (she/her) is the Founder and Director of Cultivate, a role she has passionately embraced to merge the realms of contemporary art and community engagement. Her commitment to this mission is rooted in over 20 years of experience as an educator and a decade each as an interdisciplinary artist and curator. Mallory's journey in the arts and education has been significantly shaped by her time in Madison, WI, where she collaborated with local, county, and state arts councils for 8 years, deepening her commitment to arts and artist advocacy and support.
​
Before launching Cultivate, Mallory dedicated herself to education as a Montessori teacher, fostering creativity and independence among her students. Her curatorial practice includes working with organizations like Arts and Literature Laboratory, Lansing Art Gallery, the Bubbler, and most recently the Arts Council of White Lake. As an interdisciplinary artist, her work is rooted in sensorial engagement and storytelling, working with organizations like Pod Save America and the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and has exhibited at the Indiana Green Invitational and the Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art, underscore her influence in contemporary art.
​
Beyond her professional life, Mallory is a mother to a 15-year-old son, an artist himself, and she enjoys spending her time as an avid reader and dual-state Master Gardener, illustrating her belief in the nurturing power of art, education, and community.
Brian Criner
Director of Operations
Brian Criner (he/him) is a video producer who has worked in the OTT broadcast sector in various large metro markets for over 15 years. He has collaborated with a plethora of organizations, corporations, governments, dignitaries, and celebrities, such as NPR, EPA, Stanford University, and Google.
Brian is also a musician and visual artist, working with video, pencil, and digital manipulation. He has released three singles under his moniker b.Lamrouex and is currently on creative sabbatical, working on new songs and a found footage edit titled “Do You Copy?”.
Hannah Stevenson
Education Programs Coordinator
Hannah Stevenson is a recent BFA graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design and an emerging multidisciplinary artist whose material usage specializes in painting and fibers. Her achievements include earning her place on the university president’s list from the years of 2019-2023 and being named the 2023 fine arts excellence award winner.
​
She participated in the Michigan Arts in the Legislature Program, a juried exhibition where her work was displayed in the Michigan Legislature Building for a full year and is a current participant in the Bridgework mentorship program.
Stevenson takes a conceptual yet explorative approach when creating her artwork, stitching together juxtaposing elements that contribute to an ongoing conversation about womanhood, female sexuality, and objectification. With a strong emphasis on traditional women’s craft, Stevenson strives to be taken seriously in the contemporary art world (and as a self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady”), despite her humorous handling of serious topics.
Cultivate Teaching Faculty
Casey Bemis
Casey Bemis studied painting and sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with high honors in 1999. She continued her education with graduate studies in Interior Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000, and later pursued an MFA in Metal Arts and Sculpture in California, completing her degree in 2005.
​
Originally from Massachusetts, Casey spent much of her formative years in Western New Jersey, immersed in art, piano, and competitive stadium jumping. She currently resides in West Michigan, where she runs an eclectic studio focused on painting, sculpture, and quilting. In addition to her studio practice, she teaches art classes at Artsplace in Fremont and Nuveen Center in Whitehall.
​
When not creating art, Casey enjoys taking long walks with her cat, Max, through her orchard, observing the natural world around her. Her work is inspired by nature, science, geometry, and her love of color, texture, and patterns.​
​
Casey leads many elementary courses, and many adult courses.
Teagan Chatterly
Teagan Chatterley is an artist and designer. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Michigan State University and a Master of Design in Designed Objects degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Combining her knowledge of sculpture and designed objects, Chatterley has been investigating the division and overlap of form, function, materiality, and meaning between these two fields. Inspired by quirky objects, social interactions, culture, and the natural world, Chatterley seeks to continually expand her comfort zones through an exploratory lens.
​
See and support Teagan's art practice here.
​
Teagan leads our Teen Open Studio, leads many elementary courses, and many sculpture courses.
Natalie Lewandowski
Natalie Lewandoski (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist and art educator who works with paper collages, illustrations, and clay. She received a BFA with a concentration in ceramics, and an art education certification from Northern Michigan University.
Natalie believes art is an avenue into all subjects, and that art enriches our daily lives. She teaches art to add depth, find connections to the natural world, explore identity, and provide hands-on experiences. Natalie delights in providing resources to families outside the classroom or studio space by creating newsletters and social media posts containing resources and topics of discussion.
Natalie’s favorite part of teaching is being surprised by the intuitive aesthetic and design choices students make, especially by those who have yet to hone gathered skills. She enjoys encouraging students to follow their natural knowing and continue to listen to their own unique vision and understanding. Teaching students to be nimble in their creativity and problem solving is one of her greatest joys as an educator.
The themes found in her artwork are self-care and life experiences/memories of family and friends, nostalgia, simple joys, textures/patterns, and abstraction of organic shapes found in nature. Her work is extremely tactile and layered. She describes her work as, "unapologetically wholesome." She lives and works out of her home pottery studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband and two rowdy aussie dogs.
​
Natalie is our lead teacher at East Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation, and teaches the Young Artist series, the Elementary courses, and the Adult courses there.
​
Please visit and support Natalie's art practice at their website.
Maureen Garza
Maureen Garza (she/her) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from College for Creative Studies in Detroit. She later went on to earn a Masters in Teaching as well as Occupational Therapy. She has been working in various school settings since 2005 while using the visual arts as a means to connect to people in all walks of life.
​
Maureen has experience teaching an array of art techniques (e.g drawing, painting, sculpture, design) to students from elementary through adult including individuals with disabilities. Fostering an inclusive artistic community, where each individual has the tools to express themselves is something that she believes should be accessible to everyone. By reaching out to others to create a safe place for self-expression, she hopes to “plant the seeds” for artistic growth and inspiration to enrich the lives of others within our community.
​
In her free time, Maureen enjoys creating art projects with her three children as well as traveling and hiking with her family. 

​
Maureen teaches many teen and adult courses.
​
Andy Budnick
Based in Grand Rapids, Andy Budnick (he/him) is a skilled comic artist, illustrator, and painter. He earned his Associate's Degree in Fine Art from Grand Rapids Community College, followed by a Bachelor's Degree in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design. Throughout his academic career, he consistently made the President’s List and graduated with Academic Honors in 2009.
​
Andy's artistic range includes a variety of illustrations and fine art paintings, but his primary passion is traditional comic art illustration. As a quintessential 90’s kid, he was deeply influenced by the early 90’s comics boom, a pivotal era in the industry. He admires artists like Jim Lee and Andy Kubert, who took comic art in new and exciting directions, as well as those with a more traditional style, providing him with a blend of old and new school comic art influences.
​
Combining his love for Renaissance art and human figure studies with the diverse content and styles from this era, he aims to incorporate a contemporary aesthetic with traditional fine art and illustration techniques in his figures and backgrounds. He strives to create art that is both modern and reflective of classic comic art, appealing to a broad audience. He focuses on achieving proportionate and realistic appearances in his work, avoiding overly stylized looks.
​
Andy has achieved notable success, with his art being selected for review by Marvel Comics on multiple occasions and chosen for poster art at various comic conventions throughout the state. His contributions to comic books include interior art for "Big Jack" and cover art for "God Says Hi". Beyond comic art, Andy has also painted murals around Grand Rapids and created storyboards for films shot in the city. He is currently working on a three-issue supernatural/horror adventure comic, expected to be released in late 2024.
​
Andy teaches primarily drawing courses for our elementary, teen, and adult courses.
Caroline Bell
Caroline Bell (they/them) utilizes a plethora of platforms to promote growth as an artist, student, and, one day, an international art education teacher. They are attending Grand Valley State University, getting their Bachelor's in Art Education. In recent works, Bell has been creating visual art that depicts the power of how memory has shaped their identity. Bell has a unique skill set that allows them to work in various mediums, specializing in interdisciplinary multi-media installations.
Through their work, Bell passionately advocates for imperative issues to inspire empathy and positive change. As an active artist, Bell has exhibited works across Michigan, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and has art displayed internationally. Bell's passions lie in continuing to teach Visual Art, with an immense dedication to promoting and instilling a holistic experience for their students and throughout their own work.
​
Caroline teaches many elementary and adult courses.
​
Please see and support Caroline's art practice through their website.
Gail Long
Gail Long (she/her) is an artist whose current work explores the natural world through textiles. Gail received her BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and her MA from Grand Valley State University.
She has participated in both virtual and in-person exhibitions, and her work has been featured in multiple publications, including Create Magazine, The Huts Magazine, and Painting Our World.
​
Gail teaches our Homeschool Fiber Art Studio and our Adult Fiber Art Studio. She also frequently leads elementary and adult fiber and textiles-based courses.
​
Please visit and support Gail's art practice at her website.
Danielle Benson-Fennell
Danielle Benson-Fennell (she/her) is an art teacher/artist. She has been teaching at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon for 24 years.
She lives in Grand Rapids and has a studio in her home for metalsmithing. She and her husband have a small business for metalsmithing called "Grand Metal Designs". She took up this endeavor as a student back in 1990s at Western Michigan University and fell in love working with copper.
She is a haphazard gardener and enjoys the out-of-doors most of our 4 seasons. She loves cats and traveling and everything about the Michigan lakeshore!
​
Danielle teaches adult courses and leads many teen courses, including our upcoming AP Art Studio art program.
Aidan Donahue
Aidan Donahue (he/him) is an educator and artist who is passionate about growth through creative expression. Aidan has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California - Los Angelos in Sociology and Economics, and a Masters of Science and Education from John Hopkins University, and was also named the Secondary English Special Education Resident of the Year. Having taught multiple ages and subjects, he cultivates inclusive environments where artists of all backgrounds use their new skills to take risks.
An abstract artist and former educator, Aidan paints every day to nurture his wellbeing. His work is driven by his intuition, making it a highly sensory and tactile experience. This is reflected in his mixed media usage and bodily reference within portraits, figures, and anatomy studies. Above all though, his work centers on color as a means for understanding and imagining.
His expressive abstract style focuses on color, mark-making, words, and the human body; this work was exhibited at his shows "Contradictions" at the Aggregate 136 Gallery and "Abstract Fiction" at ArtPrize. When not painting or teaching, he enjoys reading, gardening, and good conversation.
​
Aidan teaches elementary courses.
​
Photo Coming Soon​
​
Blake Matthews
Blake Matthews (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist born in Jackson, Michigan, and is currently based in Grand Rapids. They received their BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Visual Studies from Grand Valley State University in 2022, and have been the recipient of the Leroy-Neiman Fellowship at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency, and the Windgate Fellowship from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Matthews creates work through, and at the combination of mediums such as collage, relief printing, fabric, screen printing, performance, photo, sound, video, and more. Matthews’ work addresses aspects of their ever-changing queer and trans identity as it relates to their small town, Midwest upbringing. By identifying a shared spirit of ingenuity, resilience, and respect for family, chosen or otherwise, Matthews’ emphasizes the overlap of queer and Midwest identities and traditions, rather than their differences. The idea of shared identities is supported by Matthews’ studio practice, where they combine seemingly unlike materials and subject matters to form new relationships and metaphors based on shared associations.
​
Blake leads the Generative Art Studio.​
​
Veronica Polniak
Collage Club Facilitator
Veronica Polniak (she/her) passionately believes that engaging in hands-on creation is a reliable path to a life brimming with wholehearted joy. As the visionary behind Little Art Park, a community playgroup born during the pandemic, she advocates for local families to embrace creativity, playfulness, and outdoor activities.
Drawing from her background in hospitality and culinary arts, Veronica has mastered the art of hosting, infusing gatherings with her contagious enthusiasm that leaves hearts fulfilled.
Veronica approaches art with a playful spirit, regularly changing materials and encouraging everyone to tap into their inner artist through interactive material play.
Beyond organizing events, Veronica dedicates her time to raising her daughter, supporting her husband in managing his businesses, and indulging in outdoor running and visiting local libraries, parks, and thrift shops.
For a glimpse into her joyful journey, you can follow Veronica on instagram at @littleartparkgr