ARTbreak: Kirk Newman Art School Residents

The Kirk Newman Art School Post-Baccalaureate Program is in its seventh year. The nine-month residency is designed for aspiring artists who want to grow and strengthen their art practice in a supportive community, with access to professional studio facilities and guidance. At each of these ARTbreaks, KIA guests will hear from the KNAS residents about their experiences and artistic pursuits. 

Kayley Kerastas is a digital and traditional artist whose work conveys themes of nature, texture, surrealism, and experience. Kayley earned her B.A. at Western Michigan University's Frostic School of Arts. Hank Mattson moved to Kalamazoo from Salt Lake City, Utah to explore the possibilities of intaglio printmaking. His current work uses the luxurious tonality of mezzotint and aquatint to create abstracted forms of the human figure. Painting resident Rozlin Opolka is a foundation art instructor at Western Michigan University. Rozlin's working concept for their residency is a body of watercolor portraits expressing a variety of interpersonal relationships.