"collect our dream branches into a pile" | Interact Gallery
In collect our dream branches into a pile, Interact's seven visual arts studio staff curate thoughtful groupings of work by 76 Interact artists
To understand the unique relationship between studio staff and artists at Interact, it’s important to know that Interact is part of an international community of progressive art studios that support the professional advancement of artists with disabilities. In a recent panel discussion at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Matthew Higgs (Executive Director at White Columns Gallery in New York) described the relationship between artists and staff in these creative communities: “Being a facilitator is like becoming an expert on what an artist wants to do.”
Call them instructors, facilitators, studio assistants – at Interact, we call them advocates. Whatever the term, Joli Grostephan, Jeremy Jones, Presley Martin, Soph Munic, Melissa Nyberg, Jonas Specktor, and Rachel Quast have something essential in common with the artists they support: they are also artists themselves. Each brings a wealth of knowledge to the studio everyday, and they share it freely. They become attuned to the artists and their work.
If the relationship were one-sided, Interact wouldn’t be a progressive art studio. Pass through the visual arts studio on an average day, and you might find mask making demos, wet felting workshops, canvases being stretched. You might find critiques, art history lectures, watercolor demonstrations. Sometimes Interact staff take the lead, and sometimes the artists do: they are experts, too. Simply put, to pass through the studio is to find a community of artists working alongside one other.
This exhibition takes its name from the line of a poem that appears in a collaborative artist book by Interact artist Cyrus M. and advocate Jonas Specktor. In the book, authorship alternates between Cyrus and Jonas, their abstract paintings and lines of poetry bound together carefully with thread.
Reaching across disciplines (fibers, ceramics, painting, drawing, and sculpture) and featuring work by over 70 artists who practice at Interact each week, collect our dream branches into a pile finds that meeting ground. Like Interact’s studio, the show is an aspirational place, where there is the potential for connection, growth, and collective power.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
collect our dream branches into a pile
May 31 – July 24, 2025
Interact Gallery | 1902 Minnehaha Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55401
Please note that Interact Gallery has moved.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, May 31, 1 – 4 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
The reception for collect our dream branches into a pile is one of three exhibitions at Interact Gallery that coincides with Interact Renewed: A Grand Opening Celebration. Please join us for a day of festivities as we celebrate Andy's exhibition, the work of over 90 Interact artists and performers, and the grand reopening of our new art center and gallery.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Sofia Ali, Garrett Anderson, Sarah Armstrong, Joe Bittner, Anthony Bloodsaw, Katie Bretzman, Mary Burdick, Kaia Burg, Annemarie Burns, Linda Carlson, Olivia C., Carl Clark, Coorune, Bill Crane, D.D., Koko Dehn, Michael Engebretson, Janice Essick, Kate Gillespie, Aunsheya Givens, Devra Goldstein, Jesse Ferdinand, Jenna Fox, Sophie Funk, Jeffrey Haas, Krystal Halford, Ingrid Hansen, HarleyRay, Mike Harris Jr., Maria Kelleher, Kramer Hegenbarth, HML, Remus Huber, Oliver J., Sidney James, Wendy Johnson, Teazu Juah, Ashlea Karkula, Andie Kiley, Kimberly Lopez-Rodriguez, Cyrus M., Laurie M., Chris Mason, Juan Mendez, Daniel Metchnek, Nadja Mohn, Caleb Nesbitt, Evita Newman, Kandis O., Paul Kiro O'Connell, James Otis, Rosemary Perronteau, Lucy Picasso, Phillip Price, Christy R., Kimberly R., Rosalie Radford, Charlie Rea, Jill Reedy, John Riddle, Solana Rivera, Thomas Robinson, Gary Rorby, Nic Schmidt, The Sevennynine, Andy Seymour, Briana S. "A.," Eric Sherarts, Scott Sorensen, Maizy Smith, Steve T., Bonnie Thorne, Victor Van, Ang Weller, Devin Wildes, David Wright, and Matt Zimdars.
INTERACT ADVOCATES
Joli Grostephan, Jeremy Jones, Presley Martin, Soph Munic, Melissa Nyberg, Jonas Specktor, and Rachel Quast.
ACCESSIBILITY
Please visit this page for more comprehensive information. Interact strives to be a welcoming and accessible place for all visitors. If there is something we can do to make it easier to visit us, please contact us at gallery@interactcenter.com. We welcome all suggestions and requests.
Image description:
(Top of page) HML's Untitled mixed media sculpture hangs from a chain in a dark room. The sculpture is constructed from chicken wire, strips of fabric, found objects, and string lights. The piece glows from the inside.