Image caption: Michelle Funk, Anime, 2024, pen and watercolor on paper, 18 x 24 in

Participating Artists: Jirard Bond, Stanley Brown, Shawna Campbell, Dennis Cenzer, Derek Ellis, Michelle Funk, Beth Ketchum, Shannon Lovelace, Scott Maciejewski, Ryan McDonaugh, Ivory McKinley, Shilpi Prasad, Renee Rogan, Tessa Rosinski, James Tischler, Chris Wansac, Raymond Wells, Willie Whitehead, and Promise Vos. 

Curated by Kelly Bonifas and Emilee Bergum 

Exhibition Dates: April 24 - October 2, 2026 

Location: PASC Southgate Gallery, 13721 Eureka Road, Southgate, MI 48195 

PASC Southgate Gallery Hours: Friday, 9 - 3 pm, and by appointment   

Off The Wall is an exhibition at PASC Southgate Gallery that represents artists from all three PASC studios and highlights artworks from across the PASC community. Bright and colorful artworks are shown throughout the gallery and activate an immersive physical sensation as if the images are popping off the wall. In this exhibition, color and tone suggest a shift in the season, highlighting the return of colors and reemergence of animals. The exhibition is curated by Kelly Bonifas, Gallery Assistant at PASC Southgate Gallery, and Emilee Bergum, STEP Skills Trainer.  

Michelle Funk’s Anime features vivid colors and animal shapes that seem to move beyond the surface. Scott Maciejewski’s Toucan, set in the Amazonian rainforest, is filled with vibrant tones, while Stanley Brown’s Whales shimmers with its bright silver outlines. Beth Ketchum and Derek Ellis’s abstract artworks feature cool blue and pink tones reminiscent of sunrises and sunsets. The exhibition also features sculptures by Ryan McDonaugh and Tessa Rosinski. 

Kelly Bonifas has been the Gallery Assistant at PASC Southgate Gallery since 2022 and also works at the STEP Thrift Store in Southgate. She enjoys artworks that use both traditional and unconventional materials. In her spare time, Kelly creates pop culture inspired jewelry and watercolor paintings. She especially likes animal imagery and bright colors, which often represents the changing of seasons for her.  

Emilee Burgum has worked as a STEP Skills Trainer since 2018 and has been part of the PASC program since 2022. A self-taught artist since childhood, she has become an important part of the PASC Southgate studio program. In her role as a Skills Trainer, Emilee incorporates life skills into the artmaking process, supporting artists as they develop both creative practices and everyday independence. Artists in the studio program describe her as a friendly and kind person. 

Launched in 2021, PASC is the first progressive art and design studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance artistic practices and build individual careers in the art and design fields. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP), a non-profit service organization founded in 1972 that provides services and support for more than 1,400 individuals with disabilities and mental health differences across Southeastern Michigan.