Lowertown St. Paul gallery spotlights Minnesota artists exploring gender and identity
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Lowertown remains the center of St. Paul’s art scene.
Once a warehouse district, it’s now lined with galleries that have turned old industrial buildings into creative spaces. On Fourth Street, Calendula Gallery has been part of that transformation for the past three years. During St. Paul’s 2025 Fall Art Crawl, the gallery showcased work by Minnesota artists exploring gender and identity.
The exhibit, which runs through mid-November, features 18 works in varied media and subjects. The artists — all based in Minnesota — offer perspectives on gender, sexuality and queerness, drawn from their experiences as trans and queer people or as caregivers within those communities.
In “Venus of Asbury,” Minneapolis artist CL Martin turns to history as a way to challenge traditional ideas of gender in art. Martin found inspiration in Weimar, Germany.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Weimar was both a place and a period known for establishing Germany’s first democratic government. What followed was a period rich in cultural diversity. This included a performance and art scene that challenged and subverted expectations, and a community known for its support of queer liberation and queer theory.
“I've always been interested in history, and especially World War II; it was quite a conflagration. But there are parallels between Weimar, Germany, and now,” she said. “Weimar, Germany, was also a time when, I'd say, in the modern times, it was the first time when trans people and queer people were recognized as actual citizens."
Martin’s piece depicts a person posing with a neutral look, but whose eyes are intense and locked straight out.
Martin says the figure was inspired by a mix of people and is a subverted version of Venus, the archetype of female beauty. She calls the piece a “modern twist through the lens of gender identity.”
“The wrapping on the figure’s chest that says, F— gender, is a particular reference to Weimar, Germany,” Martin said. “And performers that used to wear similar things in theater performances to subvert their gender.”
History helps Martin orient herself in the world.
"Touching on history through my art is just another way of kind of trying to understand," she said.
Exhibit turns creativity into concrete support
A portion of the proceeds from sales of these pieces goes towards Gender Justice, an advocacy and law organization founded in Minnesota.
Helene Woods is a co-owner of the gallery. She said this is an exhibit she’s long wanted to create, inspired by the organization’s defense of her son nearly a decade ago.
Woods says Gender Justice saved her son's life.“I know that sounds like hyperbole, but when that case was decided, he went from being depressed and suicidal all the time to ‘I'm going to live my life.’”
Woods and her daughter, Teagan, are co-owners of the gallery. They’re both based in Monticello, and since establishing Calendula, they have kept it a goal to connect artists from across the state.
The organization currently features about 30 artists — a mix from Lowertown, the Twin Cities metro and rural Minnesota.
"This just gives them — and me — an opportunity to have a consistent presence without having to drive in every single weekend," Woods said.
“Art for Gender Justice” is on display weekends through Nov. 16.
