History
WHERE WE STARTED
MSS began exploring the intersection of arts and disability in 1999 when we hired our first Art Facilitator. From ‘99 to 2009, Art Facilitators worked with individuals across the agency to explore a wide variety of mediums including ceramics, textiles, drawing, painting, printmaking, theater, fashion, and more. Artmaking at this time was considered an extension of our traditional day service programming.
From ‘09 to 2017 the seedlings of what would become Fresh Eye Arts began to grow. Artists in our program began showing and selling their work in the community more regularly. Artists engaged in a number of large scale, exciting projects like the “Multicultural Forum on Diversity in the Workplace” where we created 25+ life sized sculptures exemplifying diversity. We created a feature film called “Sleeping Between Worlds” that included seven shorts based on the theme of dreams, each with a unique storyline and charming, poetic vignettes between each short. Artists wrote, acted, animated, and created music for the film, which can be seen here. At this time we also worked with a number of sculptors and artists to create a sculpture garden at our flagship location on the east side of St. Paul.
STUDIO
In 2018, we created the first permanent studio space in Eagan. Artists began focusing on their art practice everyday. We started exploring new opportunities like commissions and illustration, and began regularly participating in art fairs around the Twin Cities metro. The Eagan studio developed for the next few years and after pausing in-person services briefly during the COVID-19 pandemic, we reopened and created our second studio in St. Paul in 2021 (as well as our new gallery space which you can read about below). Over time our Brooklyn Park studio has been developing and with an exciting expansion happening this year, we anticipate even more growth. We currently serve over 60 artists between our three studios and individual artists working in other MSS spaces.
GALLERY
In 2015 we opened our first gallery space in Lowertown St. Paul where we showcased artists with and without disabilities side by side. Our Art Supervisor at the time, Chloe Russell-Chang, also began the "Co Lab” project where artists were paired together to collaborate. We stayed in Lowertown until spring of 2020, when our first space had to close due to the pandemic. In the summer of 2021 we opened our current gallery space, Fresh Eye Gallery, in the Kingfield neighborhood of South Minneapolis. The “Co Lab” project has been rebranded as “Eye to Eye” and in 2025 we will present our 11th iteration of this project and exhibition.