A Whole Life of Art

Bier Art Gallery & Pottery Studio continues a 40-year tradition

By Ross Boissoneau | July 26, 2025

For more than 40 years, the red schoolhouse six miles south of Charlevoix has been a haven for those looking for pottery, paintings, jewelry, and more. It’s also a haven for artist owners Ray and Tami Bier.

“When I was 15, I was throwing pottery,” says Ray, who attended Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids. He admits he was a rather indifferent student, except for art. “I was not so good at school. My dad said, ‘What are you going to do when you grow up?’ I thought maybe I could do art.”

He was introduced to the area through longtime Charlevoix artists Norman and Judith Brumm. They in turn introduced him to other area artists and galleries, including those of Bonnie Staffel and Todd Warner. “Bonnie Staffel was making a living selling pots, something I knew how to do. The studio inspired me so much,” says Ray.

During the visit to Warner’s studio, Warner asked Ray if he could make some bells for him, proving that his art could earn money. More importantly, that was also where he met Tami. “She’s a terrific clay artist. Anything she makes is golden,” Ray says.

Schoolhouse Setting

In love with art and each other, the two eventually began making plans to open their own gallery and studio. The old Hilton School in Norwood just south of Charlevoix caught their eye. (Originally part of the Norwood school district, as the logging industry declined, so did the population of Norwood, and the district was annexed to Charlevoix.)

When the Biers began seeking space for themselves, they kept looking at the schoolhouse. “We thought the old schoolhouse would make a nice place,” Ray says. “We were young; we couldn’t afford to buy the building.”

But they couldn’t let go of the idea, and a local realtor eventually helped them work out a land contract. They bought the building in 1981 and opened it the next year as a partnership with fellow artist Steve Kostyshyn and his wife. Ray says the first few years were a struggle financially, and they continued to attend art fairs across the country to make ends meet and establish themselves in the wider art community. They would crisscross the country, from Miami to Ann Arbor to Iowa, familiarizing attendees with their work. “That formulated our future clientele,” Ray says.

The Biers eventually bought out their partners and added a studio. Today, the gallery is home to a huge variety of work. Bier says they represent around 100 artists, including their old partner Steve Kostyshyn and their family.

They both remain active as artists, and they’ve passed the love of art down to their family. Ray is quick to praise their work. “Our son and daughter-in-law are both very skilled. Tyler is a potter and Anna is a clay artist.”

That next generation of Biers owns and runs Bier’s Inwood Brewery, literally next door and up the hill from the gallery. Tyler is the brewer and Anna is in charge of the kitchen. Tyler’s brother, Ryan, a computer programmer by trade, is an investor in the brewery. He and his wife, Sarah, and their children also live nearby.

The setup is convenient for this artistic family. That’s evident in the fact that members of the Monk Club at the brewery (a mug club by another name) each receive personalized mugs featuring their own face, made at the Bier studio.

In the high season, the gallery is open daily and is staffed by Ray and Tami, along with two interns each summer, who also benefit from being able to work in the studio behind the gallery. “I’ve had a whole life of this,” says Ray. “It’s inspiring to me.”

Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” The Biers seem to have solved that problem.

Meet the Artists

As may be evident by now, the gallery doesn’t really specialize in any particular style, media or geographic location. Paintings mingle with jewelry, sculptures with mixed media. Dollmakers, jewelers, glass blowers, and more have their wares on display. Local artists, those from elsewhere in Michigan, and those from across the country are all part of the mix.

These are a few of the Biers' local favorites.

Marie Lamothe, Watercolors
Interlochen
Originally from rural Quebec, watercolor artist Marie Lamothe arrived in northern Michigan in the mid-90s, where she promptly fell in love with the woods and waters, birds and flowers of the area. She utilizes extensive on-site studies, sketches, and photographs as the foundation for the work she does in her studio. Her watercolors blend her realistic approach with a fascination with light and color. She says she sees her work as a means of providing serenity and a haven from the busyness and complexities of the everyday world. In the end, she says, it is all about joy.

Bill Allen, Metal Sculpture, Painting
Maple City
His father was an oral surgeon, his mother a university professor, and Bill Allen went to college to study medicine. In lieu of med school, he enrolled in a welding class to pursue the craft of ornamental metal work and blacksmithing. He soon began making small welded animal sculptures. He and his wife moved to New York City in 1996 for inspiration, before moving back home in 2000 when his mother became ill. After her death in 2001, he began a series of stark black and white paintings exploring that experience. His art gradually became more colorful, abstract, and energetic. His metal sculptures depict animals of all types, both the real and surreal.

Scott Nelles, Metal Sculpture
Elk Rapids
Planes, trains and automobiles? For sure, but don’t forget boats, toys, animals, candlesticks… you get the idea. Scott Nelles began working in foundries in Seattle in the mid-70s, starting with making belt buckles. He began to expand his artistic palette, and in 1978 opened his own foundry in his home state of Michigan. He derives inspiration from his childhood in Detroit, as evidenced by his automotive, ship, boat, and airplane sculptures. Today he designs and creates everything from decorative art to toys, infusing in them beauty, strength, and more than a little whimsy.

Meredith Krell, Lineoleum Printmaking
Charlevoix
Meredith Krell started her artist journey as a youngster and has explored a number of media over the years: drawings, watercolors, colored pencils, prints, linoleum blocks. For the lattermost, she carves an image into the linoleum (a combination of ground cork powder and linseed oil, with a burlap backing). Her subjects include a wide range of everyday images, like food, plants, and animals such as dogs, birds and horses (especially horses). She then adds watercolor to create depth.

Steven Toorman
East Jordan
From youthful studies in illustration and an early career in the advertising industry in graphic design, Toornman has branched out into other media, including printmaking and oil painting. He prefers the painting as the pieces are all one-of-a-kind. What kind? Mostly landscapes and figurines, including toys and toy soldiers. He spends time driving around the region, taking photos of various nature scenes or of the figurines that stoke his imagination. He then works in his studio from his photos, though he notes that the end result never looks exactly like the photos. After all, it’s art.