Upcoming Events
Echoes: Finding Hope After Loss Through Memory and Nature's Renewal By Sarah Boyle Carmack
2026 Fall St. Paul Art Crawl Hours and Events
Friday, October 16 | 6:30 –8:30
Opening Reception and Artist Talk:
· Friday October 16 | 5 PM–8:30 PM
· Saturday, October 17 | 10 AM–8 PM
o Oboe and Ukulele performance by Sarah Boyle Carmack, | 2 PM – 4 PM
· Sunday, October 18 | 10 AM–5 PM
Regular Gallery/Exhibit Hours; Weekends, 9 AM–3 PM; October 3 - November 21, 2026
Sarah Boyle Carmack is a Twin Cities–based freelance oboist and multifaceted visual artist whose work is rooted in close attention to the natural world. Inspired by the sights and sounds encountered while hiking through regional woods and wandering urban streets, she captures the essence of Minnesota’s shifting seasons through vividly colored gouache paintings of landscapes, birds, insects, and flora. Metallic gold accents bring movement and iridescence to her compositions, reflecting the organic rhythms that guide her creative process.
What began as a personal outlet during the pandemic has grown into a richly developed practice, supported through her work with the OT Artists co‑op studio on Harriet Island. There, she hosts and attends Wednesday night figure drawing sessions within a vibrant community of fellow artists. Her recent explorations also include wood and linocut carvings, which will be presented as a limited edition of both framed works and numbered prints.
In this exhibition, Boyle expands her focus of nature to include portraits and self‑portraits shaped by profound personal loss. After serving as caregiver to her father during his illness and losing him to pancreatic cancer, her creative practice shifted—becoming a way to process grief, memory, and the emotional terrain of caregiving. Having lived for six years in Vadnais Heights, where Lake Vadnais became a wellspring of inspiration, this exhibit reflects on the contrasts between wilderness and the urban plant‑and‑animal life of Saint Paul. Sarah Boyle Carmack’s body of work brings together landscapes, botanicals, carvings, and intimate figurative pieces, offering viewers a quiet, resonant space to consider how beauty, sorrow, and renewal coexist in the natural world and within us.
As a special treat, On Saturday October 17th 2-4pm you are invited to hear Sarah Boyle Carmack perform oboe and ukulele, joined by her sons and friends. This will be a casual concert that includes classical, folk, and pop music. It can be a time to intentionally listen to art in motion while viewing and contemplating the visual art on display. All are welcome.
Vestiges By Nina Martine Robinson
Opening Reception: Friday, December 4 | 6:00 –8:00 PM
Lowertown First Fridays: Friday, December 4 | 6:00 –9:00 PM and January 1, 2027
Regular Gallery/Exhibit Hours; Weekends, 9 AM–3 PM; Dec 4, 2026 – Jan 23, 2027
For most people on the autism spectrum, the subtlety of nuance is a struggle. They connect with straightforward concepts, concrete ideas and have a depth that is often overlooked. For others, they are so empathetic they cannot block out the subtle under-currents in a room and become overwhelmed. I began exploring late-diagnosed neurodiversity in women when it became clear that I was part of that demographic. I discovered that one learned coping skill that is consistent among women on the spectrum is our ability to mask our autistic traits to appear more “normal.”
This series of “mask” sculptures is a response to the process of examining my own journey to unmask. I have been discovering who the individual is inside of myself and in the process, learning to be vulnerable and uncomfortable while striving to embrace of my unique perspective on life.
I consider myself a visual artist that works primarily with textiles, mainly repurposed clothing and reclaimed fabric. Avant-garde Japanese clothing designers have long been a source of inspiration for me. Rei Kawakubo and Issey Myaki’s use of deconstructed and stylized shapes and anti-fashion rhetoric resonates with me. Clothing has always been my favorite form of self-expression. It has made me confident, brought me comfort and afforded me camouflage. Part of my unmasking journey has included returning to past inspiration and utilizing it in my sculpture work.
Sustainability and zero waste in my studio practice has become increasingly more important as the rate of textile waste skyrockets around the world. It is very satisfying to use repurposed garments and deadstock fabric to build my sculptures, both as a consumer and an artist. My sculptures evolve very slowly. I begin by choosing a color/texture palette from my stash, deconstruct the garments and stitch the fabric together to form large flat panels. These panels are then manipulated to create 3- dimensional textile sculptures. This technique becomes quite meditative and serves a two-fold purpose; it keeps me grounded and centered while allowing me to work very intuitively with the shapes that develop. Each piece, while developed using the same process of steps is unique and can be viewed in a myriad of ways. The installations are always presented in a new way and are meant to be experienced from any perspective.