Developing, fostering and promoting music and visual art in Chelsea, Michigan and the surrounding communities.

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CCA's Visual Art Instructors

Janet Alford

I have lived in Chelsea with my husband and two sons for the past 30 years, and now with our sons’ families. I was educated at the University of Georgia with a degree in Art Education and after moving to Michigan, earned a Masters in Art Education at Eastern Michigan University.  I have taught art for 26 years in the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan with the last 24 in the Chelsea School District.  In the early years of Chelsea Center for the Arts, I taught several of the children’s art classes.  For the past 10 years, I have supervised and taught the Artists Teaching Artists studio class where most of the participants paint in watercolor.  My favorite media to work in is watercolor and my work is exhibited in the area.

Throughout life, the arts remain critical to our balanced development as creative, problem-solving members of our communities. The satisfaction of teaching children and adults comes from watching the development they make as they learn new ways of interpreting how they see and experience the world around them.

Sarah Banas

Sarah Banas graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelors of Fine Arts plus a K-12 teacher certificate in April of 2011. She has been teaching at CCA since graduation, running several successful summer camps and also Art @ the Fountain during Chelsea's Sounds & Sights events.  Her particular interests lie in clay and in the field of art history. "I believe in Comprehensive Art Education, which puts equal emphasis on art history, art criticism, art production, aesthetics, visual culture, technology and self-expression. A full art curriculum in schools is a vital resource for students at all levels to develop their critical thinking and fine motor skills."

Cathy Barry

Cathy Barry received her BFA (Painting) from the University of Michigan and an MFA (Painting) from Eastern Michigan University. She currently teaches at Washtenaw Community College, Chelsea Center for the Arts and now at the Riverside Art Center. Cathy also maintains a studio and an active exhibiting schedule.
Read more about Cathy from AnnArbor.com

Sicily Amaris McRaven

Sicily Amaris McRaven received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Fibers, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education from Wayne State University.  She creates complex and beautiful artworks using a wide variety of materials and methods, including the traditional techniques of crocheting, knitting, and chain stitching.  Sicily has taught courses and led workshops in coil basketry, crochet, sewing (hand sewing, pattern drafting and altering), soft sculpture, and others related to fiber art. Sicily’s work has been included in a number of exhibitions in Southeast Michigan, and has won awards.