St. Paul Art Crawl To Open Up Studios City-Wide

With an emphasis on opening up the entire city with its diverse and rich arts scene, the 2023 St. Paul Art Crawl starts on April 14. The St. Paul Art Collective will welcome thousands to check out the latest work by creators from many mediums.

How different is this year’s Art Crawl from previous years? According to Diane McNew, the President of the St. Paul Art Crawl, it comes down to a familiar phrase: “Getting to normal” That phrase is one “everyone looks to post pandemic with the hopeful outlook of establishing fresh directions and infusing our art communities with energetic momentum and new ideas,” McNew further explained. “SPAC is no exception.”

“We lost paid staff starting fall of 2019 which highly impacted fundraising,” said McNew, “membership, and sponsorship. Three art crawls were cancelled in 2020 and spring of 2021 and board membership dropped to four. Three board members devoted a total of 8000+ volunteer hours over two years along with other community volunteers to keep the 2021 and 2022 crawls alive.”

On the first weekend, the Art Crawl will open up with a series of exhibits at the F.O.K. Studios on Harriet Island, along with other studios in the Cathedral Hill, and Summit Grand neighborhoods on April 14-16. That will be followed by another round of exhibits in and around the West 7th Street area on April 21-23. These will be followed up with more localized events in Historic Lowertown (April 28-30), including Union Depot, then in the Merriam Park, Payne Phalen, and South Como neighborhoods in May 5-7.

In addition to the arts exhibits across St. Paul, SPAC will also host a dance performance by Kala Vandanam on Saturday April 22nd at Raymond Station. This is followed by a music event with the Indie-Rock band The Tender Years at the Lost Fox on April 29th starting at 9:00 PM.

In all, SPAC hosts two art crawls a year – including this one. According to McNew, they have “expanded more broadly into other art districts, and strive to become more representative of St. Paul’s rich and diverse neighborhoods. Realizing these are milestone years, we recognize the need and are working to create a narrative and story that brings St. Paul’s arts districts to the forefront and how this benefits business, economic development, and St. Paul’s wards and communities.”

The St. Paul Art Collective’s Board is, as McNew explained, “focusing on revitalizing membership and sponsorship, connecting more visibly with the city’s richly diverse cultural heritage, and emphasizing a practice of equity and inclusion.” In particular, according to McNew: “We want to mindful of representing all communities (including LGBTQ) and will be seeking resources to help fund our effort.”

Beyond this year’s Art Crawl, McNew stated that in the long term SPAC is looking towards “becoming more representative of the following statement ‘diverse public access to arts and artists.’ Bringing St. Paul’s neighborhoods together, creating connections through a variety of arts that expand everyone’s horizons, and informing the public about ethnicities whose cultural richness needs to become known.”

Join in this year’s St. Paul Art Crawl an celebrate – and patronize – the arts and its rich and diverse culture city-wise!

Schedule of St. Paul Art Crawl Events and Locations

April 14-16
F.O.K Studios – Harriet Island
House of heART2 Gallery, Grand Hand Gallery – Summit
The Milligan Studio, Virginia Street Church – Cathedral Hill

April 21-23
Friedli Gallery – West 7th
Schmidt Artist Lofts – West 7th
Dow Art Gallery, E & L Bindery, Kala Vandanam, Paul Gaston Pottery – Raymond Station

April 28-30
Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative
Union Depot
Calendula Gallery, Art of Counseling, and Mary’s Pence – Northwestern Building
Lowertown Underground Artists (LUA) – Northern Warehouse
Creators Space
Master Framers – 262 Building
The Rossmor Building – Northern Belle Tattoo
The Lost Fox

May 5-7
Spatial Effects – Merriam Park
Art @ 967 – Payne Phalen
Front Ave Pottery – South Como Park

For more information log on to: https://stpaulartcollective.org/art-crawl-events/