Ferris State alumni, faculty, and students recognized among leading regional artists in 2025 West Michigan Area Show

Ferris State University's Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) alumni, faculty, and students have been recognized in the 2025 West Michigan Area Show, a juried exhibition hosted by the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The 64th annual competition drew nearly 500 entries from 14 Michigan counties, with 64 selected for inclusion. Eleven pieces by artists with KCAD connections were featured, and three received distinguished awards from juror Hubert Massey, a Detroit-based artist and educator. Notable winners include Lee Ann Frame, who won the Ward H. and Cora E. Nay Director’s Purchase Prize and the Southwest Michigan Printmakers Excellence in Printmaking Award, and Tatsuki Hakoyama, who received The Martin Maddox Prize for Imaginative Realism. Other participants include professor emeritus Jay Constantine, alumni Beth Purdy and Jackson Wrede, and students Sydney Donath and Kaylee Dirkmaat.