The Spark Building, 2110-2114 Washington St. NE, across the street from Holland Arts East, now with a stable of year-round artists, is smaller than most of the multi-studio buildings NEMAA lists, but bigger than a stand-alone studio. The building’s name comes from the previous owner, the Spark Electrical Co. (Mark Peterson)
This year’s Art-A-Whirl® celebration includes a new spot for visitors, and its resident artists (artists who hold studio in the space) couldn’t be more pleased.
The Spark Building, at the intersection of Washington Street and 22nd Avenue NE, will host its first open house for the three-day event. This adds another destination to what has become, now in its 31st year, the largest open artist studio tour in the country, according to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association.
Three painters who occupied the building — part of what they call “Studio Z” — shared how they came to be in the space.
Brooke Bartholomew took art classes while pursuing a nursing degree, then got an MFA in 2023 from Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Her previous studio was at the nearby Holland Arts building, but along with her sister and other friends, she decided to share a common space in Spark to save some money.
She recently returned from an out-of-town exhibit and is finishing a portrait commission. She specializes in painting the nude figure and has a focus on eco-feminism, “So I paint a lot of women in my work.”
Bartholomew said she was strongly affected by Operation Metro Surge, and she took a while to return to her work, which included abstracted landscapes and still lifes. “It was a way to get color and expression out there after such a dark time,” she said.
Alyssa Wilson, Bartholomew’s sister and an artist at Spark since last September, said she and the other residents are still trying to figure out how to use the collective space.
Talking about a painting on her easel, Wilson said, “I’ll do a charcoal sketch of the subject and once I get the basic outline of what I want, I’ll sketch onto here and paint on here, like a practice run, and then I’ll put it on canvas.”
Wilson said she submitted work to a virtual exhibit but hasn’t heard back yet, adding, “I just feel like I don’t have enough paintings yet, but once I get this series done, then I definitely want to do an exhibit of them.” Wilson lives in Hopkins. When not painting, she works at Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio.
Kevin McClean was a political science major in college, and he met Bartholomew because they had studios a few blocks apart and both were doing “political” art. McClean said he had always been interested in art. He began living in Northeast, and working in art, about ten years ago. His spouse is a doctor, and he calls himself “a full-time dad.” He said he’s currently focusing two subjects: Abandoned buildings (he finds a lot of these in Northern Minnesota) and trees. Many of his paintings are monochrome, and he likes to work fast, saying spontaneity is a big part of his art.
“What I tell people is: I literally learned to read through Calvin and Hobbes, and there’s a lot of motion in there, so art that gives the feeling of motion is something I go for,” McClean said. He also works on more abstract pieces “where I’m just kind of having fun.”
The 19,000 square foot building dates back to 1925, and it currently includes a recording studio and a chai brewery, along with more than a dozen artists. Its name comes from Spark Electrical Co., a longtime building occupant. Besides Bartholomew, Wilson and McClean, Studio Z has two other painters: An illustrator and a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in painting and ceramics. There are at least five other artists and makers in the building besides those in Studio Z; their crafts range from painting to mixed media to soap-making and more.