About

Christi M. Dreese is a contemporary impressionist painter based in her hometown of Spring Lake, Michigan. Her vibrant, expressive landscapes are rooted in a lifetime spent along the lakeshore — capturing the shifting light, quiet stillness, and pure joy of water’s edge in a way that feels both deeply personal and universally familiar.

Christi holds a Bachelor of Arts from Aquinas College with a double major in Studio Art and Business Administration — a combination that has shaped both her artistic voice and her long-standing working relationships with galleries, art consultants, and interior designers. For more than a decade, she has worked as a full-time professional artist, running every aspect of her studio practice from painting to custom framing to gallery relationships.

Her distinctive process begins on a black canvas, sketched first in chalk, then built up in as many as five layers of oil paint with drying time between each — a method that gives her work its characteristic depth, texture, and luminous color. While the Great Lakes shoreline remains her primary muse, she also explores floral and abstract themes.

Christi’s paintings are held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, and in healing environments where art is chosen intentionally to bring calm and comfort — including Corewell Health, Health Pointe, and Holland Hospital, as well as a 30-painting exhibition at the University of Michigan Medical Facility in Ann Arbor. She has also completed public mural commissions for the Village of Spring Lake, Grand Haven Public Schools, and the Grand Haven Community Foundation.

Christi works directly with gallery owners, art consultants, and interior designers to select, customize, or commission paintings suited to a specific space — matching scale, palette, and mood to the project at hand.


Christi Dreese painting at Peghead Gallery, Grand Haven, Michigan.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, 1993–1997  —  Aquinas College — Dual Major, Art & Business

Skills

  • Oil Painter
  • Muralist
  • Custom Picture Framer
  • Art & Framing Installation

Selected Exhibitions & Awards

2025  —  University of Michigan – Michigan Medicine, Solo Exhibit

2023  —  Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts Regional Show, O’Rourke Family Award

2021  —  ArtPrize, DeVos Center

2019  —  Bonobo Winery, Solo Exhibition

2019  —  Betty Clark-Cannon Gallery, Frauenthal Center, Solo Exhibition

2019  —  Terryberry Gallery, St. Cecilia’s Music Society, Solo Exhibition

2018  —  Betty Clark-Cannon Gallery, Frauenthal Center, Solo Exhibition

2016  —  UICA, Regional Festival of the Arts, Juried Exhibition — Purchase Award, La Vie de la Rose Flower Excellence Award, & 2nd Generation Award

2015  —  Grand Rapids Art Museum, Regional Festival of the Arts, Juried Exhibition — Purchase Award

2014  —  Gallery Uptown, Winterfest Juried Exhibition — 1st Place Award

2011  —  Bette Clark-Cannon Gallery, Frauenthal Center, Two Person Exhibition

2009  —  Bette Clark-Cannon Gallery, Frauenthal Center, Three Person Exhibition

2008  —  White River Gallery, Seasons Change Juried Exhibition & Solo Exhibition

2005, 2006, 2009, 2017, 2018  —  Gallery Uptown, Winterfest Juried Exhibition

2005  —  Grand Rapids Art Museum, Regional Festival of the Arts, Juried Exhibition

2003  —  Terryberry Gallery, St. Cecilia’s Music Society, Solo Exhibition

2001  —  The Depot, Muskegon Fine Art Society, Juried Exhibit — 1st Place Award, Honorable Mention Award

2001  —  Bette Clark-Cannon Gallery, Frauenthal Center, Juried Exhibition — 1st Place Award

Gallery Affiliations

  • Peghead Gallery, Grand Haven, Michigan
  • Art Cats Gallery, Muskegon, Michigan
  • Ox-Bow Gallery & Gift Shop, Saugatuck, Michigan
  • True Blue Gallery, Alden, Michigan

Art Consultant / Interior Design Affiliates

  • Mindi Freng Designs, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2010–Present)
  • River City Art Solutions, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2017–Present)

Selected Corporate Collections

  • Health Pointe Medical Facility, Spectrum Health, Grand Haven, Michigan
  • Corewell Health Medical Centers
  • Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Holland Hospital, Holland, Michigan
  • West Michigan Cancer Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan
  • Grand Haven Area Community Foundation
  • Christian Haven Home, Grand Haven, Michigan

Selected Private Collections

  • Mr. Brann, California
  • Mr. & Mrs. Albright, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Fortuna, Michigan
  • Mr. Pranger, Michigan
  • Mrs. Bridges, Michigan
  • Mr. Nauta & Mrs. Esh, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Keutgen, Michigan
  • Dr. Riopelle, Michigan
  • Mrs. Kremer, Michigan
  • Mr. Post & Mr. Hill, Michigan
  • Ms. Noren, Michigan
  • Mrs. Akselberg, Michigan
  • Mr. Mackenzie, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Dawson, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Brom, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Creason, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Mountford, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Thompson, Florida
  • Mr. & Mrs. Riopelle, Michigan
  • Mr. & Mrs. Rhoem, Michigan

Public Art

  • “Grandmother’s Garden” Mural — Plantenga’s Cleaners, Village of Spring Lake Art in the Park, 217 W. Savidge St., Spring Lake, Michigan, 2019
  • “Superheroes” Mural — Mary A. White Elementary, 1400 Wisconsin St., Grand Haven, Michigan, 2019
  • Grand Haven Earth Day Committee, Public Art Project, 2022–2023
  • Mural, Winsor Place Building, Spring Lake, Michigan — Commissioned by Veneklasen Construction