The Hawk community center in Farmington Hills is showing off significantly more artwork than it displayed two years ago, with the city's new 2026-2027 HAWK Artist Guide featuring more than 80 local and regional artists whose pieces fill five zones of the 270,000-square-foot building at 29995 W. 12 Mile Road.
Works range from a $45 ceramic stoneware piece by Nora Mason to an $8,000 acrylic-on-canvas painting by Kenneth Claes titled "Our Favorite Maple Tree." In between, residents can find a watercolor-and-pen piece for $75, colored pencil drawings for $50 and a recycled-steel-and-ceramics sculpture by Kelly O'Neill priced at $500.
The exhibit spans oil on canvas, fused glass, batik fabric, photography, fiber art, dried botanicals, digital drawing, mixed media sculpture and 4-color woodcut, among other mediums.
Artists keep every dollar. The city takes no commission on sales.
The program launched at The Hawk in 2021 after the community center's renovation. The previous guide listed 47 artists. Rachel Timlin, cultural arts supervisor for the city's Special Services Department, said in a January 2026 press release announcing the City Hall art installation that the broader Public Art Program gives residents a way to connect with local creativity. "It's always exciting to see students in the City's visual arts classes, camps and workshops go on to have their pieces selected for display in the Public Art Program," Timlin said at the time.
Some of the current exhibit pieces were created in art classes offered in The Hawk's second-floor art studios.
Among the notable works: Robbie Best's "When The Elders Speak We Listen" (oil on canvas, $2,800), Joan Sterling's "Fall Comes To Farmington Hills" (acrylic, $250) and Kathleen Boettcher's "Heritage Park Nature Center" (pastel, $85). The guide's cover art was created by Samah Kthar, whose painting "The Reflective Process" hangs in Zone D.
The Hawk also holds long-term loans, including a glass hanging sculpture by April Wagner of Epiphany Glass and a ceramic platter by John Glick from the collection of the Historic Longacre House. The permanent collection features Sergio De Giusti's "Portrait of John Glick" and Kegham Tazian's "Untitled Sculpture," both gifts to the city.
Residents interested in purchasing artwork can call (248) 699-6709.
Upcoming community arts events:
- Thursday, Oct. 8 — Farmington Area Arts Commission meeting, 6:30 p.m., The Hawk, 29995 Twelve Mile Road. The commission, established in 1976, is marking its 50th anniversary year in 2026.
- Farmington Hills also displays 77 works from 66 artists at City Hall (31555 W. Eleven Mile Road) as part of the broader Public Art Program's eighth installment.
