Much has been made of the entertainment boom in St. Paul's Lowertown district over the past year, thanks to the success of bar/eateries Barrio and the Bulldog. Now, thanks to new First Fridays monthly open studio and gallery crawl, the Lowertown arts community comes front and center.

In fact, it's the arts scene that has long given downtown St. Paul's eastern end its distinct flavor. Lowertown has a long history of artist residencies dating back to the late 1970s when a group of artists formed the Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative. "I think it's one of the oldest artist communities in the United States where artists have been living continuously, because the artists actually live in the community," says Robyn Priestley, executive director of the St. Paul Artist Collective, which has been around for about as long, and has organized the biannual St. Paul Art Crawl for 15 years.

Another element that makes Lowertown unique is the high concentration of artists living and working within a four- to five-block radius. Priestley, an artist herself, estimates there are about 500 artists in the studios and co-ops of Lowertown. "I don't really know of any other community with that amount of artists in such a small area," Priestley says.

Despite the longevity and depth of the community, it took more than 30 years before it would institute a monthly studio crawl, a standby of any thriving arts community. But given the conceptual, right-brained nature of artists, it's not too surprising. It all started late last year when photographer Rhea Pappas joined forces with fellow Lowertown artists Barbara Evan, Tracy Olson and Ann Larson and began trekking to the area's various studios and galleries to propose the monthly crawl.

Pappas says it came out of the need to connect with the outside community and showcase its active artist environment. "The [St. Paul] Art Crawl is great, but it's literally only two weekends of the year," she says. "Then we shut down for the rest of the year." Besides, she says, "it's a good excuse to produce work and hang out with my friends."

Hooking up with neighboring galleries Black Dog Cafe and AZ Gallery was key, as the two have been serving as anchors at the Northern Warehouse for 12 years and have partnered on joint gallery openings for two years. Black Dog co-owner Sara Remke, chief curator of the cafe's art gallery, has the benefit of having seen the community develop over the years. "The Art Crawl has just expanded every year," she says. "Even though people come and go, there is a strong core of people who live here. It's just always been sort of hidden and off the grid."

But now with First Fridays, the Twin Cities' most obscure arts community is making its way to the surface. AZ Gallery member artist Cheryl LeClair-Sommer espouses its perks: "You get to snoop in people's houses, see their art and talk to them, and the buildings themselves are really historic." Besides, she says, "it's the cheapest date in town."

LOWERTOWN FIRST FRIDAYS

  • When: 6-9 p.m. Fri.
  • Where: Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative (255 E. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul), Northern Warehouse, Tilsner Artists Cooperative, Jax Building (253 E. 4th St.), Peach (Northwestern Building, 275 E. 4th St.), AZ Gallery, Black Dog Cafe. Food specials at neighborhood bars including Black Dog Cafe, Barrio and the Bulldog.
  • New work by DC Ice and Jordan Wirth-Davis: Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday 02/05, AZ Gallery.
  • "Phenomena Threefold": New work by Aaron Olson-Reiners, Rebecca A. Peters and Kyle E. Johanson. Opening reception 7-10:30 p.m. Friday 02/05, Black Dog Cafe.