Saint Paul Art Crawl: Art as a Rite of Spring

This weekend, visit the Saint Paul Art Crawl for sculpture, paintings, furniture, and more
Oil and acrylic painting by Marla Gamble

It’s an annual rite of spring: the St. Paul Art Collective and Lowertown Arts District’s spring Saint Paul Art Crawl. In particular, the Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative—with multiple floors of artists’ studios open and ready for business, along with music and dance performances in the third-floor atrium—is a great place to start.

The building, located at 225 E. Kellogg Blvd., is open Friday, May 13, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, May 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Artists participating will display various works in sculpture, painting, book arts, and even furniture. Here are three studios not to be missed:

Heidi Wagner, Wood Arts

In addition to abstract sculptures created with wood, Wagner designs and builds gorgeous furniture (she has a bachelor’s degree in visual art, a master’s in construction management, and a Ph.D. in design). Her wall art is compelling, while her chests of drawers, dining tables, and chairs combine smooth wood pieces with curved detailing.

Marla Gamble, Jewelry and Painting

Gamble designs and creates stunning, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces in gold and gemstones. She also paints vibrant scenes, in watercolor and oil, of cityscapes, rural places, and the natural world. Atmospheric and representational, her work conjures up a sense of place with delicacy.

Serena Mira Asta, Painting

Colorful, abstract, and expressionistic, Asta’s paintings allow the viewer to project themselves into a place of amorphous possibility. “When I embrace my own messy chaos, it transforms into something extraordinary, unexpected, and alive,” she says. “Water, pigment, paper, fabric, shape, line, and language become an elegant, sensuous, whimsical expression of life’s mystery.”

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