When social worker Winna Bernard was touring art programs for a client about five years ago, she grew frustrated with what she saw. At one visit, an instructor brought out a beautiful blue bowl made by artist Connie Bassett, who lives with a physical disability, and glazed the piece using a brush attached to a headband on her head. After being rightfully shown off, the bowl was placed back into a closet, out of sight.
“That’s when I’m like, wait a minute, that bowl does not belong in a closet. That bowl belongs in a gallery,” Bernard says. “It was her bowl that kind of tipped me over the edge to do something.”
After continuing to see artwork that didn’t have a proper home, Bernard founded the Show Art Gallery, a Lowertown nonprofit that offers all artists the chance to show and sell their work. The gallery is run cooperatively with Minnesota Special Services and the Saint Paul Art Collective.
The 3,200-square-foot gallery includes a gift shop, space for art classes and the Lowertown Welcome Center, which helps connect artists with customers and the community. “We’re really trying to make this a place for people to come and hang out,” Bernard says. “We want it to be accessible and comfortable.”
Bassett, who has worked with the Show since its inception and is nonverbal, works primarily with pottery. She believes making art brings beauty and meaning to her life, and she’s honored to be a part of the Show. For Bassett, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing her pieces sell and knowing that [she] has made something that someone else loves.
The community response to the Show has been “magical,” Bernard says, and she’s still pinching herself. An avid St. Paul Saints fan, she’s excited to be in the same neighborhood as CHS Field and has drawn inspiration from their underdog spirit. Bernard finds the vibrant Lowertown neighborhood to be the perfect place for the Show to call home.
The Show Art Gallery
253 E. Fourth St.
651.419.8022
Monday–Tuesday: closed
Wednesday–Friday: open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday: open 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday: open 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
The first Friday of each month, the Show has extended hours from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. for Lowertown First Fridays. The gallery opens new shows on First Fridays, and this month, a winter theme will be featured.
