Upcoming Events

Saint Paul After Dark: A Night Photography Exhibit by Jared Arvin

On view: April 25 – May 25, 2025, Weekends 10AM – 4PM ; During St. Paul Spring Art Craw, Friday April 25,  5PM – 9PM, Saturday April 26, 10AM – 8PM & Sunday April 27, 10AM – 5PM; and Lowertown First Fridays May 2, 6PM – 9PM

Opening Reception:  Friday April 25th, 5PM – 8PM

Over the course of a year, across hundreds of miles and countless late nights, photographer Jared Arvin has explored Saint Paul after dark—capturing its streets, buildings, and landscapes in the quiet glow of night. His latest exhibition, Saint Paul After Dark, debuts this April at Calendula Gallery, offering a cinematic glimpse into the city’s transformation after sundown.

With an average of 30 miles a week on foot, Arvin has immersed himself in Saint Paul’s nocturnal landscape—traversing the East Side, West 7th, the West Side, Downtown, and Lowertown through every season and condition. His lens captures not just places, but the way they change after dark. A familiar street, empty and humming under flickering streetlights. A historic building, its past whispering through neon reflections. A late-night bus, moving through the last stretches of a city that never truly sleeps.

The exhibition features a striking blend of color and black & white photography, all taken after dark. Whether rendered in vivid neon hues or stark monochrome contrasts, each image tells a unique story—highlighting the mood, texture, and character of the city when the lights take over and the streets quiet down.

“In daylight, we take the city for granted. At night, it reveals something deeper—a history, a presence, a different kind of beauty,” says Arvin. “The same streets we rush through during the day become stories waiting to be told when the lights come on and the crowds disappear.”

A co-owner of Calendula Gallery and a monthly contributor to The Downtown Saint Paul Voice, Arvin is known for his atmospheric, noir-inspired photography that blends realism with a sense of mystery and depth. His work has been featured in public and private collections, with installations in local businesses and galleries throughout Saint Paul.

The exhibition is free and open to the public, with select works available for purchase.

Lowertown First Fridays are BACK in 2025. Join all the galleries and studios of historic Lowertown to explore, experience and expand your views. Calendula Gallery, AZ Gallery and the Lowertown Underground Artists are open, as well as local restaurants and bakeries. Calendula has pop up artists and new events each month, so join is for the fun and entertainment.

Through The Mirror, Through The Mind

Opening reception scheduled for Friday June 6th 2025, 6 - 8 PM.

Artist Statement: 

Jessalyn Finch merges large-scale drawing and interactive sculpture to explore the complexities of self-perception and identity. Influenced by the intersection of creativity and mindfulness, her work invites reflection on what it means to inhabit a body—particularly one that is constantly shifting, aging, and often felt as unfamiliar or fragmented. Drawing from personal experiences with body dysmorphia, and chronic pain, Finch examines the tension between the body as a vessel of creation and as an unchosen, distorted structure shaped by internal and external scrutiny.

Her current work delves deeper into the concept ofbody memory—the often unreliable archive of physical experiences and self-image that lingers in our muscles, posture, and emotional responses. Through charcoal drawings that blend anatomical realism with surreal distortion, and interactive cardboard sculptures that extend bodily forms into shared space, Finch gives shape to these hazy, inherited perceptions. In doing so, she asks viewers to consider how past experiences, trauma, and shifting self-awareness influence not only how we see ourselves, but how we move through the world.

Artist Bio: 

Jessalyn Finch is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the fluid relationship between self-perception and the human body. Originally trained in printmaking and drawing, she earned her B.S. in Fine Art from UW-La Crosse with studies in pre-med and Eastern philosophy, and an M.S. in Project Management. A near-death experience in 2017 propelled her to fully commit to professionally creating art, leading to her Emerging Artist Grant (2018) for Shadow Form: The Human Body’s Secret Life.

Her practice has since expanded into large-scale drawings and interactive sculpture, exploring  body dysmorphia, anatomy, and movement. As a Mayo Clinic Certified Yoga Instructor, she integrates mindfulness and embodiment into her work. In 2024, Finch completed an artist residency at NE Sculpture | Gallery Factory, and in January 2025, she debuted her work at Slip Gallery in Seattle, WA. She continues to explore self-image through solo exhibitions, interdisciplinary performances, and mental health–focused projects presented at venues such as NE Sculpture in Minneapolis, the Bloomington Center for the Arts, and Threshold Arts in Rochester, MN.

More Info coming soon

Opening reception scheduled for Friday August 1, 6 - 8 PM