Kehayr Brown-Ransaw is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and curator based in Bde Óta Othúŋwe/Mnísot(Minneapolis/Minnesota). Brown-Ransaw’s practice engages in conversations of individualism v. collectivism, familial histories, concepts of gendered work, tradition, and Blackness/Black identity through quilting, weaving and printmaking.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Sophia Heymans
Sophia Heymans was born in Minneapolis on the last day of the ’80s. She grew up on a family farm in Central Minnesota with her parents, sister, uncles, aunts and cousins. She attempts to paint landscapes from a non-dominant perspective and confront the weighted history of American Landscape painting.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Tiffany Lange
Tiffany Lange’s work explores the overstimulation and anxiousness of our relationships with technology over the past two years of isolation. This past September, Lange exhibited her first solo show, “HYPERCONNECTION” at Michigan Tech University.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Rachel Breen
Rachel Breen is interested in the sewing machine as a deeply symbolic and also (im)practical object. She uses the revolving needle of her sewing machine to both draw and reimagine connections between people. Breen calls attention to the stitch as a symbol of interdependence, using it to express belief in the possibility of social change and repair.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Lindsay Rhyner
Lindsay Rhyner is a Textile Artist living and working in Minneapolis Minnesota. Through travel and exploring different mediums, Lindsay discovered an interest in manipulating and collaging textiles, combining skills such as sewing, beading, collage and painting. Lindsay Rhyner is self taught in the Textile Arts and has been working in fiber for most of her career.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Tara Costello
Tara lives and work in Minneapolis, MN. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at galleries including The Burren College of Art in Ireland, The National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, Soo Local, Minnesota, Circa Gallery, MN, Artistry, MN, Sears Peyton Gallery, NY, Rosalux Gallery, MN. Tara has had numerous commisions , commercial and residential.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Eleanor McGough
Eleanor McGough, originally from the Pacific Northwest, maintains a studio in Northeast Minneapolis.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Andy DuCett
Andy DuCett is from Winona, MN and received his M.F.A. from the University of Illinois and his B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Stout.
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Gregory Rose
Gregory J. Rose Born in Easton, Pennsylvania- Gregory is an East Coast native transplanted in the Midwest. Formally educated at The Pennsylvania State University…
Read MoreFeatured Artist: Tamara Brantmeier
Tamara Brantmeier’s work seeks to unearth, through the act of paint, elements of identity, inner worlds, and seeing/invention.
Read MoreWelcome Soo Visual Arts Center!
The Phoenix has a new partner to exhibit artwork throughout the building. Please welcome Soo Visual Arts Center (SooVAC). Other blog posts describe their current exhibitions on display at their center in South Minneapolis. Visit their website for more information.
Read MoreGet Lucky 2021, The Stay at Home Edition
Event Starts: Saturday January 30th from 7pm - 8pm
You are invited to the premiere of Get Lucky 2021, The Stay at Home Edition, on Saturday January 30th from 7pm to 8pm. This will be the launch of our silent auction and a short film about SooVAC, bring popcorn plus adult beverages and cuddle up on the couch with us.
We’ll be posting updates and teasers here throughout January, and though Get Lucky will be free this year we welcome and deeply appreciate a donation of any amount.
Read MoreThe Shapes We Take by Rachel Breen
Exhibition Runs: January 16 - February 14th, 2021- SooVAC will be closed Jan. 30-31 for our annual fundraiser.
For the last seven years Rachel Breen’s work has examined the labor rights of garment workers, a nexus for many challenges of capitalism- globalization, climate crisis, racism, and labor abuse. The Shapes We Take is yet another chapter in Breen’s commitment to making visible, systems that are hard to comprehend and deeply entrenched. And this is a critical time to address the way multinational brands privilege profit over human rights and inform American consumers about our complicity in the way garment workers are treated.
Read MoreUff Da Gestalt by Nathanael Flink
Exhibition Runs: January 16 - February 14th, 2021- SooVAC will be closed Jan. 30-31 for our annual fundraiser.
Nathanael Flink is reckless, at least in process when creating his paintings and sculptures. His intent is to defy expectations, inviting the viewer to question the validity of the frame, both in its physical and metaphorical context. Uff Da Gestalt is all about the surfaces without carefully defined corners.
Read MoreI Love You 3000, A Farewell by Yijia Li
Exhibition Runs: January 16 - January 24, 2021
To tell stories that are both personal and universal is Yijia Li’s lifelong pursuit. Her marks on canvas become a document of lives lived.
I love you 3000 is a collection of moments. The materials and techniques utilized in each painting becomes a way to capture the emotional resonance of that experience, at times abstract and in others expressionistic realism. Much like how we remember, some fragments crystal clear and others hazy with feeling that render the story better told in brush strokes and color palettes.
Read MoreVirtual Connections: Together From a Distance by Everyone
Soo Visual Arts Center is now reopen to in person visits. However our online programming will continue...stay tune for dates and times in November, we are just getting started. For now visit the archives of all the previous Virtual Connections programming.
Starting again on November 14th, Saturday - Sunday 11am - 4pm, you can come into the gallery and see the work in person - a limit of 10 guests at a time and masks are required. For alternate days please contact Carolyn at to make an appointment.
Read MoreNov 15-17, 2018: 21st Annual MCAD Art Sale
Held every year the weekend before Thanksgiving, the MCAD Art Sale is your chance to buy one-of-a-kind art created by students and recent graduates at unbeatable prices.
The MCAD Art Sale has gained a tremendous reputation as the metro’s top destination for affordable, appreciable artwork by leading-edge artists who are creating not only what’s new, but what’s next.
Read MoreSave the Date: Friday, May 8, The Auction at MCAD
The Auction at MCAD is a unique art party for the creative community featuring exceptional quality artworks created by MCAD alumni, faculty, and staff sold via silent and live auction.
Learn more about the event and how to buy tickets.
Read MoreSpring 2018 Exhibit Installs on March 8th
Lots of exciting new art and artists will be on display in March including one piece you'll be sure to notice.
In addition to the new art, we are planning a smaller scale Art Crawl to coincide with our Third Friday gatherings. Join us in the River Room on March 16 at 6pm and meet MCAD artists and representatives to learn more about the Spring 2018 exhibit.
Read MoreScenes from the Art Crawl
Our first ever Art Crawl was wonderful on all counts - great turnout and an incredible team representing MCAD with presentations from MCAD Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement Cindy Theis, MCAD President Jay Coogan and artists Ed Charbonneau, Toni Dachis and Joel Terry.
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