Customer Spotlight: An Interview with Brittany Kieler Gallery Director of Interact Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota
Now in its 30th year, Interact Center for the Visual & Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit progressive visual arts studio and theater company based in Saint Paul. Since 1996, Interact has worked to advance the careers of professional artists and performers with disabilities. Artists represented by Interact Gallery have presented their work in exhibitions at museums, galleries, and institutions across the United States and beyond. In recent weeks, Victor Van became the first Interact artist to have work acquired by the Walker Art Center, just as the gallery prepared for its second year representing Interact artists at the Outsider Art Fair in New York.
Do you provide studio space for your artists?
Yes, as a progressive art studio, Interact offers studio space, archival quality art materials, storage, and other professional development opportunities to the artists who we represent. The studio, and the incredible sense of community that has been cultivated there in the last 30 years, is a really special place. Our visual arts staff are all artists themselves, and they support each Interact artist in charting their own path. On a typical day, you might find Briana S. 'A', an Interact artist, leading a group critique; our ceramics instructor, Jeremy Jones, demonstrating mask-building techniques; or a mix of artists and staff holding a skill-share in the fiber studio. A number of artists, like David Wright (whose solo show is currently on view at Interact Gallery), have practiced at Interact for over 20 years.
How did you learn about Metropolitan Picture Framing? When did you start using Metropolitan frames?
Our amazing former Gallery Director, Laura Wertheim Joseph, introduced Interact to Metroframe in 2018. As a nonprofit organization representing over 70 visual artists, it’s important for us to work with framers who have the highest quality and most cost-effective options. Because the artists we represent work across such a wide range of aesthetic styles, we tend to use minimalist black or white frames, allowing the work to come forward. The Nielsen metal frames have been great for that. If we’re able to spring for a wood frame, we do – for the Outsider Art Fair this year, we framed two of Michael Engebretson’s small works on paper in Metro’s maple gallery frames with a pickled white finish.
Do you order online or on the phone?
I typically order online, which has worked really well. I appreciate being able to get different options priced out before buying. Metro staff always follows up with an an order confirmation before they proceed, so it’s easy to double check measurements, etc.
Do you have a permanent framing staff? Have you found our framing advice section useful?
Our gallery team, which currently consists of our Archivist & Collections Manager (Colleen Harriss), and me, handles the framing most of the time. Sometimes our studio staff helps, too. I appreciate that your framing advice section has easy-to-follow videos, especially for hinging and mounting methods.
How have you set up your studio for framing? Any tips for other galleries and/or artists?
We have two large table cabinets on casters that have probably been with Interact for over 20 years. They’re constructed from MDF, and frames can be stored upright in the lower compartments. The work surface is at standing height for the staff who use them. I’m really grateful to the former staff who built them. Anytime you can have furniture on casters and built ergonomically, it helps a lot.
I know you participate in multiple art fairs. Can you describe the process for getting into and selling at art fairs?
Participating in the Outsider Art Fair in New York was a dream at Interact for over 20 years. It continues to be an important opportunity for self taught artists. It’s a competitive fair to get into, and we applied a couple of times before acceptance to the 2025 fair." It’s a competitive fair to get into, and we applied a couple of times before acceptance to the 2025 fair. For that application, we worked with an external artist, Lauren dela Roche, who guest curated our booth. Lauren has been a supporter and collector of Interact artists’ work for years, and she’d just had a phenomenal solo show at Eric Firestone Gallery in New York. She selected work by Carl Clark, Janice Essick, Lucy Picasso, Scott Sorensen, and Matt Zimdars –representing a collective 84 years of artistic practice at Interact.
We also recently participated in Open Invitational, a new contemporary art fair dedicated to showcasing the work of artists who practice at progressive art studios throughout the US and beyond. Open Invitational Miami coincided with Miami Art Week, and there was another iteration in San Francisco in January that was cohosted with Creativity Explored, a progressive art studio based in SF.
There are still barriers in the art world that leave a large population of artists out, and presenting Interact artists’ work at art fairs has been so important for connecting with curators, collectors, and like-minded people in the field.
What’s on at Interact Gallery right now?
This spring there are currently three exhibitions on view at Interact Gallery: a solo show of drawings by David Wright, who has practiced at Interact since 2002; Be In Sunlight, an exhibition that features 67 Interact artists; and Something There in the Woods, which was guest curated by Robert Cozzolino.
Interact Gallery is free and open to the public Tuesdays – Thursdays, from noon to 4 p.m. We also open the gallery by appointment on Thursday evenings.
Learn more about Interact Gallery’s current projects and exhibitions at: gallery.interactcenterarts.org.
"Something there in the woods", November 18, 2025 – May 15, 2026 curated by Robert Cozzolino. Artworks in this image are by Bill Crane, Carl Clark, Ingrid Hansen, Kramer Hegenbarth, Andie Kiley, and Jesse Ferdinand.