Kooyman has been a full time studio artist since graduating with a MFA from Ohio State University in 1982. In 2013 he was nominated for a Joan Mitchel Foundation Grant, and was the recipient of a NEA Artist Grant, a Michigan Council for the Arts Grant, the Michigan Governors Award, and a fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center. He lives with the painter Melanie Parke in a 110 year store/barn complex that houses their studios as well as The Provincial Project Space.