Walk in anytime to paint pottery, fuse glass & more!
Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
(406).862.5929
145 Central Avenue in downtown Whitefish, Montana
Meet The Team
Melanie Drown
Executive Director
Melanie Drown serves as our Executive Director. She studied at Montana State University, where she earned her degree in accounting. Melanie also nurtures her creative side through glass arts. She leads many glass fusing workshops and creates stunning pieces of her own.
Jessica Inez
Jessica Inez has been with Stumptown Art Studio since its beginning. She helped develop the ceramics and walk in art studio, making art available any time the studio is open. She also served on our board and volunteered for many years. Jessica is now at the Studio full time as our Studio Manager and Events Coordinator. You will catch Jessica planning magical events for the young and young at heart.
Charity Flowers
Education & Art Director
Charity Flowers has been with Stumptown Art Studio for the past 10 years. She has taught classes for all ages and abilities. She currently serves as our Education Director. Charity earned her MFA in 2015 from the Academy of Art University, San Fransisco, where she studied sculpture and figurative art. She shares her time between Stumptown Art Studio and Flathead Valley Community College, where she works as an adjunct professor in the Art Department. She is a lover of good friends, dogs and her family.
Studio Manager
& Events Coordinator
Jeanne Langan
Co-op Manager & Ceramics Instructor
Michelle Kropp
Ceramic Instructor
Jeanne has over ten years of pottery experience, directly working with clay as an intern in multiple community studios, as an apprentice in a production pottery, and now as the manager of our Clay Co-op and clay classes. Jeanne's goal in our studio is to bring clay to as many people as possible. She hosts a variety of classes at Stumptown, from beginner clay lessons and evenings to make festive projects, to multi-week courses focusing on a range of clay techniques, as well as private lessons. When she's not covered in clay, you can find her playing roller derby, with her doggo Wayne, or working on a handful of farms in Whitefish and Kalispell.
Brooklin Conklin
Certified STEAM Instructor
A Columbia Falls High graduate, Michelle studied at the University of Montana, and the University of Phoenix where she earned her degree in Computer Sciences. Michelle first learned how to create pottery while taking art courses at the University of Montana in 2013. After moving back home to the Flathead Valley, she became a Co-Op Member at Stumptown Art Studio, where she has been honing her craft and nurturing her love for all types of Pottery. Michelle teaches private lessons, singular clay classes, as well as extended courses. When Michelle is not in the studio, you can find her tending to her Chicken Business, playing video games with her husband Kevin, camping with her family, or playing with her daughter Evelyn.
Brooklin studied at the University of Montana, Missoula. She is a certified teacher and leads our STEAM preschool. Brooklin brings her creative energy to the classroom where she brings all disciplines together in a unique class environment. Brooklin loves spending time with her energetic boys and all things outdoors.
Katrina Ruggles
Susan Guthrie
Board Member
Painting Instructor & Studio Assistant
Katrina was born and raised in Montana and has lived in the Flathead Valley area for the last 16 years. She grew up loving to draw and paint and continued her education at FVCC for design. To Katrina, the Studio feels like home and her desire is to get everyone to love art as much as she does. Other hobbies include painting, art projects, hiking, camping and going fishing with her sweet little boy in her spare time.
Anne Couser
Board Member / Outreach Instructor
Anne Couser comes to us after a career teaching in Couer D'Alene. She holds a Masters in Education from California State University, Fullerton. Anne serves on our board and she runs our Art from the Heart program, assists with our outreach programs and helps with our STEAM pre-school class.
Susan Guthrie, a fourth generation Montanan, has lived in the Flathead Valley for 32 years. She is a seasoned Art Educator and currently a full-time professor at Flathead Valley Community College. She earned a Master’s in Studio with New York University with temporary residency in Venice, Italy and Berlin, Germany. She also studied for a Master’s of Art History from Studio Art College International, Florence, Italy/Bowling Green State University, Ohio and her Bachelor of Science in Art and Music Education, grades K-12, from University of Montana Western. Susan not only serves on the board, she also teaches workshops at Stumptown Art Studio. She is an outdoor enthusiast, a practicing musician, and a lover of dinner parties and dark chocolate.