A piece by Kristi Abbott.

If you’re connected in any way to the various arts communities in St. Paul, you’ve probably at least heard of the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Every spring and fall, numerous buildings, neighborhoods and organizations open themselves up for weekends full of art sharing, art selling and art making. But for the rest of the year, the artists and organizations involved continue to make-work and build community. That energy and connection-building is where Lowertown First Fridays came from.

Caroline Mecklin’s studio in JAX.

Started in 2011, Lowertown First Fridays (LFF) is a collection of artists who open their studios for the evening on the first Friday of each month. Each month, artists in St. Paul’s Lowertown are invited to open their doors between 6 and 9 p.m. and let audiences and potential audiences into their spaces to connect with the people creating the work. Lowertown First Fridays were initiated by visual artist Barbara Evan as a way to bridge the gap between the crawls, and it was based on things being done in other culturally rich cities. It is an ongoing monthly event organized and kept alive completely by artists who volunteer their time and energy. Flamenco dancer Tara Weatherly, one of the core volunteers responsible for making LFF happen every month, said, “Even if you’re not selling pieces, you’re creating relationships with people who are interested in art, interested in buying art, and who are interested in talking about art.”

“Red wing black bird” by Greta Sandquist.

For the artists who keep LFF going each month, the motivations are both about being of service to their community and about creating a vibrant community of arts and art-supporters to ensure there’s a market for their work. LFF volunteer and mixed-media artist Stephen Workman describes his motivations by saying, “If we don’t have a vibrant arts community, then I don’t do well, so it helps me to help the community. I like being around other people, and I like working with other people, and I like helping organize things. I like what happens when a bunch of people work together and put themselves out of the frame.”

Kamala Chaand Dance Company.

Beyond creating more opportunities for the artists in Lowertown to sell their work, Lowertown First Fridays supports and is supported by local businesses. According to Stephen Workman, “Places like the Black Dog, Goldens, and Lowertown Wine and Spirits and other restaurants in the area are all behind First Fridays 100 percent. They see that it’s broadened their base, and we see them as giving people more options when they come down for First Friday. It’s a symbiotic relationship.” And perhaps of equal importance, Workman says there’s a professional development piece at play each month: “One of the things we work towards the most is making the artists in Lowertown realize that they’re business people as well as artists. I know we don’t like to think of that, but we all want to sell our art, we all want to make a living, we all want to be self-supporting.”

“MESOHIPPUS MIRABILIS” by Michael Bahl.

The next Lowertown First Friday is on February 6th and will feature a great many artists, including Greta Sandquist, Kristi Abbott and Caroline Mecklin. I’d like to also single out and recommend that folks check out the work of Michael Bahl. He describes himself as a “Paleo-ostelogical interpreter” and makes work combining science and mythology to create fictional skeletons and artifacts using actual mammal bones. You can visit his studio or check our his most recent piece, “A Dream of the Great Northern Railway,” that has been permanently installed in St. Paul’s Union Depot.

For more information about this and future Lowertown First Fridays, visit lowertownfirstfridays.org.