As much as he loves making art with metal and wood, Alan Shelton loves helping other makers create even more. 

Shelton’s struggle to find the right space and tools to bring his own dreams to life resulted in the Mixxer Community Makerspace, which he founded in downtown Winston-Salem in 2018. It’s a hub where people can learn, create, and collaborate, take classes and workshops, and access a wide range of tools and technology in areas such as woodworking, metalworking, electronics, sewing, and more. 

“Some of the best times I’ve had were building things with friends – cars, bikes, odd contraptions,” he says. “One day it hit me: What if we built something together, as a community? That idea turned into Mixxer. Instead of everyone working alone with limited resources, we could pool tools, space, and knowledge.” 

The Mixxer’s most popular annual event, Arts on Fire, includes live demonstrations, hands-on making, and fiery fun. Participants pour a few tons of molten iron into molds made by artists and community members — including students from local colleges. 

“People love watching art come to life through fire, and the fire-breathing dragon is always a hit,” Shelton says. Members get full access to the facility, and non-members can sign up for individual workshops. Whether you want to try something new or bring a big idea to life, someone at the Mixxer can help. 

Arts on Fire is held every year in late summer/early fall at Winston-Salem Mixxer, Inc., 1375 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Winston-Salem. For information, call 336-265-7362, email [email protected], or visit wsmixxer.org.

Printmaker Mona Wu draws inspiration from the natural world — plants, trees, and leaves. Through her deep connection with nature, she seeks to evoke a sense of tranquility and beauty in her artistic interpretations. 

As a child, Wu liked to draw, and while living in Hong Kong, she studied Chinese painting and calligraphy. After moving to the U.S., she earned a degree in Art History from Salem College in Winston-Salem and took up printmaking. She was soon teaching printmaking at Sawtooth School for Visual Art and showing her work at Artworks Gallery, an artist co-operative in the Downtown Arts District. 

“It’s easy to get involved and meet other artists here through teaching and participating in art groups,” Wu says. “The arts community is vibrant and active, though marketing and selling work can still be challenging.” 

Wu has an at-home working studio where she creates woodcut and linocut plates. To make prints, she uses the press at the Sawtooth School. Her work is available in the Sawtooth gift shop, and she has some items for sale through their website www.sawtooth.org. You can also find her works at Artworks Gallery, 564 N. Trade Street in downtown.

The quintessential Winston-Salem artist Robyn Churn paints downtown scenes that draw reactions from residents like “My parents met right there,” or “That was my first job.” 

Using bright acrylic colors on canvas, she paints lots of other things, too, such as flowers and animals. Churn also experiments with mixed media, combining different approaches, techniques, and materials to create something fun and interesting. “I love the use of texture and bright color,” she says. “The brighter, the better!” 

A self-taught artist, Churn started painting in 2014. She finds it relaxing and works at it almost daily. Inspiration comes to her from everywhere — music, mood, architecture, other artists, current events. “Unless I’m working on a commission, I usually just paint what pops into my head,” Churn says. “I really enjoy the freedom to explore.” 

Churn considers every time she sells a painting to be a career highlight, but she’s especially proud of being the cover artist for the Winston-Salem Visitor Guide in 2020. She has the cover framed and hanging on a wall in her studio. 

“Winston-Salem has so many amazing artists and a strong community of support networks,” Churn says. “There are lots of shows and festivals focused on local art, which gives us multiple opportunities to be seen. It’s a welcoming, encouraging place to put yourself out there as an artist.” 

Churn’s work can be seen at Red Dog Gallery in the AFAS (Art for Arts Sake) Building in the Downtown Arts District, Artfolios’ online gallery - https://www.artfolios.shop/artists/robyn-churn - and in various local businesses and restaurants around the city.

A collage artist who uses discarded items in his work, Elliot Strunk makes art from things that often get thrown away once their original use is exhausted. 

Strunk cites as his influencers designers such as David Carson and Vaughan Oliver and such collage artists as Robert Motherwell and Mike McQuade. Most of his materials come from everyday life — cardboard from a case of cat food, trash found in a parking lot, even preselected colors from finished paint-by-number kits. There’s no master plan. What gets used is left to chance — things he receives in the mail, picks up while traveling, or just stumbles across. 

“Our lives are made of layers — interactions, conversations, constant demands on our attention and appetite,” Strunk says. “What we eat, what we buy, what we scroll past. I’m interested in the cast-offs of that consumption. Can something still have value after its intended use is over? Can it become something more when combined with the unexpected? I explore those creative collisions in my work.”

Strunk’s work is at Artfolios of Winston-Salem, an online fine art gallery with a physical presence at Stimmel, 601 N. Trade Street in downtown. He also shows his work during Art Crush, a block party held every third Friday in the Downtown Arts District, and on his website and social media channels. 

What’s unique about being an artist in Winston-Salem, Strunk says, is: “Definitely the community. It’s easy to connect with people here, and there’s a lot of pride of place —whether you’re from here or relocated, like me. The support for artists is real.”

Cheryl Ann Lipstreu, a visual artist who paints on canvas, mannequin figures, and even human beings, achieved renown when she appeared on the Game Show Network’s “Skin Wars Season 2” and “Skin Wars: Fresh Paint.” 

“Stepping onto a national television set and showcasing my bodypainting in front of the world was surreal,” Lipstreu says. “It was this huge affirmation from the universe that I was aligned with my purpose. That experience opened so many doors—and deepened my love for transformational art.” 

She was born on a horse farm near Winston-Salem into a creative family “with five wild brothers and a magical mama who was always painting, crafting, or sculpting something with love.” Lipstreu gets her inspiration from bringing people joy through her art. “There’s something magical about seeing someone’s face light up with a smile, or watching them stand in awe, completely captivated.” 

“I’ve always been connected to color, poetry, dance, music, and the expressive arts,” she continues. “Creating art has always been my True North.” 

Lipstreu paints in her living room-turned-art-studio. For sculpture and big metalwork, she uses Mixxer Community Makerspace. She dreams of a full studio-gallery space where she can create, teach, and welcome people into her world of art and light. 

Lipstreu’s work is on exhibit at ByGood Coffee and at various locations in the Downtown Arts District. She will have work in an exhibition at Salem College Sept. 3-28, 2025, and in the Winston-Salem Fashion Week Bodypainting exhibition, also in September.