A conversation during CCS Industry Days brought together two artists more than 20 years apart in their CCS journeys. What followed is a story about mentorship, creative community – and what can happen when one person sees possibility in another.
When Darcel Deneau, ’02 Fine Arts, first came to the College for Creative Studies, she couldn’t afford to stay.
Drawn by CCS’s reputation, she enrolled about a year after graduating from high school. But the cost of continuing was more than she or her family could manage, so she left school, married and started a family.
Then, in her 30s, she came back. A scholarship helped give her the opportunity to return to CCS and finish what she had started. That journey gave Darcel a perspective on opportunity that has stayed with her ever since.
“I know firsthand how much support can change someone’s path,” she said.
Returning to CCS opened the world Darcel had wanted to be part of years earlier. She developed her artistic voice, became part of Detroit’s creative community and discovered something else she still associates with CCS: people willing to help one another.
“People tend to be nurturing, compassionate, generous with their time and willing to help one another,” Darcel said.
More than 20 years after graduating, Darcel has remained connected to CCS through the Alumni Council, mentoring, volunteering and attending Industry Days. Hosted by the Office of Partnerships, Industry Day events bring alumni and creative professionals back to campus to review student work, share advice, and help emerging artists and designers prepare for careers in the creative industries – reflecting something that has long defined the CCS community: alumni returning to invest in the next generation.
It was during one of those visits that Darcel met graduating Senior Neo Hopkins, ’25 Studio Art & Craft.
One Conversation
Neo was approaching graduation when his paintings and collage work caught Darcel’s attention. She could envision his ideas translated into another medium: glass. So she extended an invitation.
“I was excited when Darcel invited me to her studio, but I was also nervous,” Neo remembered. “Sometimes people say, ‘Come by sometime,’ but you don’t always know if they really mean it.”
The timing made the invitation even more significant. Graduation was approaching, and Neo was trying to determine what would come next. He wanted mentorship and people he could turn to as he began navigating life as a working artist.
“From the very first day I visited her studio, everything felt easy,” Neo said. “She was incredibly welcoming and generous.”
That first visit led to another, and then another. A professional connection became a creative partnership and, ultimately, a friendship.
Seeing What’s Possible
During those early studio visits, Darcel introduced Neo to glass and taught him glass portraiture. As he explored the medium under her guidance, he began to see how it could complement his own artistic ideas.
“Darcel showed me possibilities in the medium that I hadn’t seen before,” Neo said.
What began as artistic instruction grew into an enduring mentorship. Darcel became someone Neo could call while navigating commissions or trying something new. When he needed his first studio space after graduation, she helped make that possible, too.
Today, the two artists work in the same building, exchanging ideas and continuing to learn from one another. Looking back, Neo can draw a remarkably straight line from that first invitation to where he is now.
“I probably wouldn’t have started working in glass without Darcel,” he said.
His career is growing in other ways, too. Neo works full time as a Brand Identity Coordinator for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation while continuing to develop his studio practice, take commissions and pursue new creative opportunities.
People often describe mentorship as a one-way relationship, but Darcel believes both people grow through the experience.
“Neo inspires me just as much as I hope I’ve encouraged him,” she said.
