St. Paul Art Collective

The St. Paul Art Collective is building for the future.

Established in 1977, the Saint Paul Art Collective empowers St. Paul artists through expanding connections and inspirational spaces in which artists can create and grow.

The Saint Paul Art Crawl, a primary program of The Saint Paul Art Collective, attracts thousands of visitors to view and purchase art, meet artists, and tour studio buildings.  Art patrons become a part of the cultural life of the city.  In Spring as well as Fall, St. Paul comes alive with art as each Art Crawl features hundreds of artists in multiple locations.  

2023 marked an era of rebuilding for the collective, which over the course of the pandemic experienced a reshuffling of leadership and membership at large. 

With our eyes on the future, The Saint Paul Art Collective spent much of 2023 on a strategic planning process through the City of Saint Paul’s Cultural STAR grant to seek input from a broad range of stakeholders.  Facilitators interviewed community leaders with a broad range of experiences.  The goal was to create a strategic plan that helps us cement both robust funding channels and programming to create a stronger core, provide more value to artists, and make a bigger impact with the way we can connect artists to the community.

The Strategic Plan calls out the following goals and associated strategies to be executed over the next three years:

Support Organizational Health

- Define Mission, Focus, and Value Proposition

- Build Organizational Infrastructure and Systems

- Create a Sustainable Financial Model

Enhance Community Engagement

- Optimize Communication Model

- Engage Community to Inform Programming

- Leverage Partnerships and Collaborations

- Leverage Technology Tools and Platforms

Raise Arts Awareness in the City

- Nurture Ambassadors for the Arts

- Help Public See the Value of Art

- Amplify Art’s Role in the Community

Reimagine Membership Model

- Research Existing Membership Models

- Transition to New Membership Model

Break Down Barriers

- Increase Artists Visibility in the Community

- Increase Community Participation at Art Events

Diversify

- Welcome All People

- Expand Art Genres

- Create a Citywide Integrated Arts Community

The Saint Paul Art Collective has depended heavily on volunteerism over the years. We appreciate that artists and St. Paul’s neighborhoods have been willing to generously invest their time. However, it is necessary to secure paid staff, such as an executive director and communications director.  The Saint Paul Art Collective will be focusing on securing resources from those interested in maintaining the vitality of the Collective including future St. Paul Art Crawls.

The Saint Paul Art Collective is a city gem and cornerstone of St. Paul arts and culture that has been important to the city’s public image, tourism, civic pride, and cultural exchanges.

The St. Paul Art Collective will use your generous donation to enhance our current programming and provide new opportunities for artists. 

We thank you for your support.