As the (hopefully) final bits of snow melt, the St. Paul Art Collective is ready to usher in warmer weather with their annual Spring St. Paul Art Crawl. Taking place during the last three weekends in April, the crawl will feature over 350 artists of all different mediums and styles across 40 galleries and artists’ spaces in Saint Paul. In addition to the hundreds of local artists sharing their work, the art crawl will feature live music, dance performances and plenty of local food vendors and artistic workshops for all ages.
The event dates back to 1977, when the collective was formed, but in 1991, it became the weekends-long multi-location crawl it is now. The original five buildings that hosted the first crawl were the Jax, 262 Studios, Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative, Tilsner Artists Cooperative and the Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative, many of which still house artist studios and the crawl. The event happens annually, occasionally taking place in both the spring and fall.
On the weekend of the 12th, artists will be setting up shop close to Macalester, spanning the Summit-Grand, West Side and Merriam Park areas, as well as the Little Mekong Cultural District. The artists will be featured across eight locations throughout the weekend, including Wet Paint Artist’s Materials and Framing, the art supply store just a block away from Mac down Grand Ave. Additionally, (Neo)Muralismos de México will be hosting family-friendly art activities on Apr. 13 and 14 from noon to sunset in Harriet Island Regional Park.
The following weekend, that of the 19th, artists will be around West 7th and Cathedral Hill, notably in the impressive and historic Schmidt Artist Lofts. There, Mariusz Kujawski, a double Icelandic Champion in Latin American Ballroom and resident of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative, will be hosting a cha-cha dance class on Apr. 20 from 1 p.m.–3 p.m.
Last but not least, the events of the weekend of Apr. 26 will take place across the greatest number of locations, including the Downtown Saint Paul, Lowertown, South Como and Payne-Phalen areas as well as at Raymond Station. On Apr. 27th, two dance classes will be held, one targeted towards youth by the Kala Vandanam Bharatanatyam Dance School and the other for all ages by Noelle Awadallah from Body Watani. The youth dance class will take place at the school at 1:15 p.m. and will feature a short performance, while the all ages community class will occur at the Como Streetcar Station at 4:00 p.m. The final day of the art crawl, the 28th, will feature the Kalpulli Huitzillin de MN, a Twin Cities-based group committed to preserving the Indigenous Mexica culture through Mexica (Aztec) dance. They will both host a dance workshop and perform in Rice Park at 1:15 p.m. Finally, Front Avenue Pottery invites families to participate in a number of free clay workshops on the 27th from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 28th from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The workshops include learning to use a potter’s wheel, handbuilding your own microgreens planter and crafting a clay fish dish inspired by the fishes of Minnesota.
With three weekends and 40 different locations to visit, the art crawl is an exciting and accessible opportunity to explore the diverse array of local artists and art districts in Saint Paul. For an interactive map and more information on participating venues, visit the Saint Paul Art Collective’s website: https:// stpaulartcollective.org/spring 2024-art-crawl/ .
