08/25/2026
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Mark your calendars now and make plans to visit the Appalachian Spirit Gallery on Friday September 11, 2025 to see a very special art exhibit by Eric and Siera Wojciechowicz. The Gallery will open at 5:00 PM and a music concert by Albert Blackburn and Dave Vaught will begin at 6 PM. All Artwalk events are free and open to the public.
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Creating has been a vital part of Eric Wojciechowicz's life for as long as he can remember. Encouraged from a young age by family and friends to explore his imagination, Eric began by sketching cartoons and holiday characters. Soon, a deep fascination with lowrider cars and trucks took over. He and his friend Danny spent hours filling their bedroom walls with notebook-paper designs, covering every available space with their automotive visions.
As Eric grew older, his artistic horizons expanded. In middle school, a newfound passion for lettering and graffiti changed how he viewed design. Around this time, he began taking art classes with Ned Johnson, who exposed students to a rich variety of styles, techniques, and mediums.
"Mr. Johnson's classes encouraged me to experiment," Eric recalls. "They helped me realize that art could be much more than simply drawing what I saw. My ideas grew, and I became eager to try new approaches and explore different forms of creative expression."
In high school, Eric chose art as an elective every year under the guidance of Mrs. Hoots. During this period, he discovered a passion for portraiture, captivated by the challenge of capturing a person’s features, expressions, and inner personality. Portraits quickly became his signature style. They also became deeply personal gifts; birthdays and holidays meant creating custom portraits for loved ones, transforming his favorite pastime into a meaningful way to connect with others.
After entering the workforce, art temporarily took a backseat for several years. However, Eric found his way back to his passion when he met his wife, Sierra. Her own art studies at Emory & Henry College reignited his creative spark, and the couple began making art together. Today, that shared passion has grown into a family tradition.
"Our children have developed their own love for creating," Eric says. "They enjoy experimenting with different mediums and even participating in art shows alongside us. I am incredibly grateful for everyone who encouraged me as a child, the teachers who opened my eyes to new possibilities, and the family that inspires me daily. I hope we continue creating, exhibiting, and passing down this love of art for generations to come."
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Siera Wojciechowicz has also lived a life shaped by art for as long as she can remember. As a child, she constantly drew and painted, captivated by the ability to bring imagination into the physical world. This childhood curiosity matured during high school as she experimented with diverse mediums, transforming her hobby into a lifelong passion and a fundamental way of experiencing the world.
Siera advanced her studies at Emory & Henry College, focusing on Art Education to learn how art could be created, taught, and shared. While serving as a ceramics assistant to Val Lyle for two years, she developed a deep love for clay. This tactile, physical, and beautifully unpredictable medium became one of her primary artistic passions, alongside oil painting.
A transformative trip to Rome, Siena, Pompeii, and Florence further elevated her practice. Surrounded by centuries of Italian art and architecture, Siera found a renewed passion for oil painting. She returned home inspired to create a series of oil paintings based on the Old World artwork she photographed during her travels.
"The experience in Italy fundamentally changed the way I viewed oil painting," Siera notes. "Today, my work moves between representational painting, abstraction, ceramics, sculpture, illustration, and mixed media, reflecting the same curiosity that first drove me to experiment as a child."
Her creative journey is also deeply intertwined with her husband, Eric. The two have spent years creating together, sharing ideas, and supporting each other’s unique artistic voices. Now, as parents to three boys, creativity has become a family affair. While family demands sometimes take priority, watching their children discover the joy of creating has integrated art into their everyday household life.
Ultimately, Siera’s practice is driven by a refusal to be confined to a single medium, subject, or style. Whether working with oil paint, clay, or mixed media, she remains dedicated to the process of discovery. Her current portfolio reflects an evolving, lifelong relationship with creativity—one shaped by education, travel, mentorship, partnership, motherhood, and an enduring desire to create.
