We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candace Duggan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candace below.

Candace, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

Candace Duggan, Local Artist – Fenton, MI

As a mixed media artist, I have always believed that art holds the power to heal — not only the artist creating it, but the world receiving it. My creative journey has long been a form of self-expression, but it is also a quiet offering: a space where solace, restoration, and hope can take root.

My involvement with the Prism Project’s “Shine the Light” Gala became more than simply donating a painting. It became a calling.

“Bella Under the Willow,” was created as part of an exclusive series for the Gala. From the beginning, I knew this work needed to carry more than aesthetic beauty — it needed to carry prayer. Beneath the sheltering branches of the willow tree, I sought to cultivate an image of restored innocence and protection. The willow became a symbol of refuge — a sacred covering for children who have endured the unimaginable.

As I completed the painting, I intentionally wove the colors of the rainbow throughout the piece. Each hue was chosen for healing, restoration, and hope. A prism reflects the full spectrum of light into a rainbow, and in that same way, the rainbow within this artwork reflects the heart of the Prism Project — bringing light into darkness and beauty from brokenness. It is my attempt to express what words alone cannot capture: resilience, protection, and the light that still lives within every survivor.

This cause is deeply personal to me. I am passionate about advocating for the Prism Project Safe House Program and about increasing education and awareness around human trafficking — especially the heartbreaking reality that children are being forced into it. Education is prevention. Awareness is protection. And compassion must become action.

When a community comes together — artists, advocates, families, leaders — we create more than an event. We create a shield. We create possibility. We create light.

I invite others to stand with me in compassion and unity as we support the Safe House Program and help raise critical funds for child survivors.
To learn more or donate directly, please visit:
https://prismprojectmi.org

More than attending an evening event, this is about believing that every child deserves safety, freedom, and a chance to shine.

And if my art can help illuminate that truth — even in a small way — then I know I am creating exactly what I was meant to create.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Candace Duggan – Lead Massage Therapist & Mixed Media Artist | Grand Blanc & Fenton, Michigan

For those who may not know me yet, my life’s work centers around one word: healing.

I serve as the Lead Massage Therapist at Henry Ford Genesys Health Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan. In that role, I work with individuals from all walks of life — athletes, medical patients, fitness members, and those simply carrying the weight of everyday stress. Massage therapy, to me, is not just bodywork. It is restoration. It is listening through touch. It is helping people reconnect with their own strength, mobility, and resilience.

Alongside my therapeutic practice, I am known as Candace Duggan, Local Artist, based in Fenton, Michigan. I am also honored to serve as a Board Member of the Fenton Arts Council, where I advocate for accessible arts programming and community-centered creative initiatives.

My path into both massage therapy and mixed media art was organic — both disciplines emerged from a deep desire to understand the human experience and help people process it. Art became my visual language. Massage became my physical one.

As a mixed media artist, I believe wholeheartedly in the healing power of art — for both the creator and the viewer. My creative journey is a means of self-expression, but it is also an offering. Art can serve as a bridge between what we feel internally and what we struggle to articulate. It conveys emotion, memory, and hope in ways words often cannot. My work aims to provide solace, inspiration, and connection — a reminder that even in brokenness, there is beauty and light.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience, for me, has not been loud — it has been deeply personal.

One of the most defining chapters of my life was grieving the loss of our son, Benjamin. There are no words that fully capture that kind of heartbreak. It changes you. It reshapes how you see the world, how you hold people, how you create. In that grief, I had a choice — to close in or to keep moving forward with purpose.

I chose to keep showing up.

I poured my pain into both my massage therapy practice in my art, and raising my daughters. In the massage therapy room, I learned to hold space for others with a deeper compassion than I ever had before. In the art studio, I allowed my work to carry the emotions I couldn’t speak. Creating pieces like “Bella Under the Willow” became an act of healing — a way to transform sorrow into protection, light, and hope.

Resilience, I’ve learned, isn’t about being unbreakable. It’s about allowing yourself to be broken — and still choosing to create, to serve, and to love anyway.

That is the quiet strength that guides everything I do.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been relationships built on trust and consistency.

Whether in my role as Lead Massage Therapist or as a mixed media artist, I have found that word-of-mouth is more powerful than any advertisement. When clients feel genuinely cared for — when they feel heard, respected, and supported — they share that experience. That organic referral network has been the foundation of my growth.

I focus heavily on retention. In massage therapy, that means individualized treatment plans, clear communication, and education so clients understand their bodies and progress. In art, it means authenticity — creating work that resonates emotionally rather than chasing trends.

Community involvement has also played a major role. Serving on the Fenton Arts Council board, participating in local exhibitions, and supporting causes like the Prism Project have allowed people to see not just what I do, but who I am. People connect with purpose.

Consistency, professionalism, and heart — that combination has been my most effective strategy. When your work genuinely helps people, growth follows naturally.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @plutosdream34
• Facebook: Pluto’s Dream

Image Credits

📸 head shots by: Bobbie McAllister