Saint Paul Art Collective looks to the future ahead of Spring Art Crawl

Published April 12th, 2023 by Bridget Kranz

This year’s crawl, starting April 14, features venues and artists across the city, as one of the nation’s oldest art collectives seeks to become a household name in Saint Paul

Three years ago, the Saint Paul Art Collective cancelled its Spring Art Crawl and began what would become a year-and-a-half-long pandemic hiatus from in-person events. Coupled with a perfect storm of organizational turnover, SPAC was left with a small group of volunteers trying to steer through a tumultuous time in the collective’s history.

It wasn’t the first downturn. Like many creative organizations, SPAC has had its ups and downs since its founding in the late 1970s.

“It’s really a story of survival. We’re one of the oldest active art collectives in the country,” said Caleb VanDeman, who joined the SPAC board last summer. “Some years, we’ve been really well funded and supported, some years we’ve survived just through the dedication of a few people.”

Member Heather Friedli is hopeful for the future, saying the last three years – while they’ve been challenging – were also a time for reflection.

“We weren’t doing events, and everyone got to sit down and think, ‘What do we want out of this?’” said Friedli. “I feel that SPAC is coming back better than ever.”

Looking forward, VanDeman and the board are focused on evening out those ups and downs – how can SPAC continue to be a resource for generations to come? How can an arts organization find stability entrenched in the broader community of Saint Paul?

One of the ways to start is by getting Saint Paulites familiar with and invested in the collective. Longtime attendees and newbies alike will have a chance to do just that at the four-weekend Spring Art Crawl, hosted by SPAC across the city in April and May.

Photo courtesy of Saint Paul Art Collective.

Crawl local art, on view across Saint Paul

The Saint Paul Art Crawl has been happening since 1991, to encourage artists to make new work through providing visibility, and to get the public involved and invested in the city’s artistic community. After the pandemic hiatus, SPAC began hosting the crawl again with a fall event in 2021.

The crawl layout has varied over the years, said VanDeman. Some years it has spread out across different dates and venues. Other years, it’s been more tightly compacted. This year, SPAC has planned the Spring Art Crawl across four weekends and four different geographic areas in Saint Paul. Being based in the smaller Twin City presents some unique challenges (and opportunities) for SPAC when it comes to artistic programming, and VanDeman hopes that increasing visibility in creative areas across the city will boost public engagement.

“It’s more accessible in a lot of ways,” said VanDeman. “We’re integrating more venues across Saint Paul and collaborating with local businesses to make it an event where people can spend a whole day in these areas supporting local artists, shops, and restaurants.”

Artist and gallery owner Heather Friedli will participate in the second weekend of the crawl, along with the Schmidt Brewery Artist Lofts located across the street from Friedli Gallery and Studio. Friedli has been an individual member of the collective for over five years and joined as a gallery member after opening her own gallery during the pandemic.

Friedli Gallery will host five guest artists for the crawl: Rayshele Kamke, Simone Rendon, Merle Pines, Susan Johnson, and Rachel Cain. These artists and Friedli connected through SPAC, and each artist will have a booth alongside the gallery’s second annual Book Arts Show.

The past three years were a time of reflection and reevaluation for Friedli, and for SPAC.

“Many people realized at the same time the importance of community and community-building,” said Friedli. “That was part of what drove me to open my gallery; our mission is to provide an inclusive community space.”

Work in the upcoming Book Arts Show, curated by Erin Maurelli, at Friedli Gallery and Studio throughout the Art Crawl.

Coming together, looking ahead

Many people are also eager to return to in-person events that they’ve missed over the past three years. One of the benefits that SPAC brings to the community, said VanDeman, is the opportunity to bring together Saint Paulites from all walks of life for programming that supports the city’s cultural gems.

“It’s an occasion to involve a wide range of people in the community and highlight a diverse range of artists in an accessible way,” said VanDeman.

With their eyes on the future, SPAC is embarking on a strategic planning process through the City of Saint Paul’s Cultural STAR grant in an attempt to mitigate some of the ups and downs the future will surely hold.

“We’ll be interviewing community leaders with a broad range of experiences,” said VanDeman. “Our goal is to create a strategic plan that helps us cement both robust funding channels and programming to create a stronger core, provide more value to artists, and make a bigger impact with the way we can connect artists to the community.” ◼︎

Poster design by Dio Cramer.

The Spring St. Paul Art Crawl will run four consecutive weekends, from April 14 through May 7. General hours are Friday 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. However, each venue sets their own hours, so be sure to double check each location’s hours.

Dates and venues for the Spring St. Paul Art Crawl