Marla lives and works in St. Paul's historic Lowertown, where she paints skies and landscapes, primarily using oils, watercolor, and pastels. Since the early 1980s, she has helped promote affordable housing, specifically by developing, and teaching in, cooperatives for artists. She has also worked for 26 years as a jewelry designer, mentor, and visual artist.

Artist's Statement In 1985, I joined several other artists working to create legal housing for artists and their families in a warehouse in historic but underdeveloped Lowertown. Attached to our property and nestled below street level was a parking lot, which we cultivated as a garden. Each summer, several homeless people would settle here, because the lot was tucked under the sidewalk and sheltered from the elements. One day, my neighbor drew a picture of the garden god to help us all-the gardeners and the homeless-feel safe. Our Garden's Architecture shows our garden, late in the season, with its structure exposed. The companion piece, Evening Under the Sidewalk, emphasizes the reason behind this exhibition.

Visual Art | Marla Gamble