Highlights from the Collected Gallery Staff Show

Banner Image: Collected Gallery store front, photo by Laura Laptsevitch.

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I’m a fan of houses being repurposed as art galleries, especially with so many historic buildings in Minneapolis. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, the Twin Cities creative hub behind the nationally recognized Art-A-Whirl, is home to dozens of galleries. Its newest gallery, Collected Gallery, is hosting a staff exhibition made up of MCAD alumni and students. Featuring work by Leah Kehr, Marissa Starr, Reghan Sage, and Maria Fernanda Sanchez Flores, the Collected Gallery Staff Show will remain on view through July 11.

LJ Bergren opened Collected Gallery last April in a house in Northeast Minneapolis to offer a gallery with quality art at a lower price. They carry a wide range of ceramic works, paintings, and prints. Collected Gallery sells handmade, small-batch, and skillfully crafted artist-made goods with 80% of their art and artisan goods and artists located in the Midwest.

I got a chance to visit the gallery in person and enjoy all the artisan crafts in the charming home gallery. The exhibition is installed at the front of the gallery, where a dedicated wall showcases work by the four staff members and artists.

Each staff member selected three works for display. Naturally, I have to share my favorite piece from each artist.

 

Skin Crawl, by Leah Kehr.

Skin Crawl by Leah Kehr stood out to me for its figures, composition, and restrained economy of design. It gives instant joy. And I get the same feeling from her tattoos. Leah is a Minneapolis-based tattoo artist working out of The Present Tattoo Parlour. She graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2024 with a BFA in illustration and minors in graphic design and art education.

It’s always fun to see how one’s work, prints or drawings translate as tattoos. Leah’s style is delicate, focused, and free-flowing with a Gen Z aesthetic. Very thin and steady line work with lots of illustrations to choose from.

To see more of Leah's work, check out her Instagram at @okey.dokey.pokes.

 

Along the Lake, by Marissa Starr.

Along the Lake, by Marissa Starr, feels particularly beautiful and almost certainly haunted. I’m so happy it was included. 

Marissa just completed her junior year at MCAD; she is a BFA student majoring in photography. She photographs landscapes, industrial spaces, sports, and more. But my favorite has to be the cyanotypes, a type of camera-less photography made by exposing UV-reactive chemicals to sunlight. Definitely check it out on her website. There’s something old-timey about the static, the color, and the indecipherable portions of the image. A beautiful addition to any wall in your home.

To see more of Marissa’s work, check out her website at mstarr.myportfolio.com or follow on Instagram @by.marissa.starr

 

Fence Study, by Reghan Sage.

My next pick, Fence Study, is by artist Reghan Sage. Reghan Sage graduated with a BFA in Print, Paper, and Book from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2025. Reghan is a papermaker, weaver, and printmaker based in the Twin Cities. Her work is centered around displacement, memory, belonging, and relationships to land and family.

I noticed the motif in her work right away—home, gates, and the white picket fence. The act of repeating, layering, and isolating the image makes me think about the very complicated relationship one has with home and family, on top of family structures, displacement, and American suburbia. If you are interested in seeing more of Reghan's work on fences, as I was, take a look at this dedicated page on her website.

To see more of Reghan’s work, check out her website reghansage.com and follow on Instagram @reghan.sage

 

Through the Mississippi River I, by Maria Fernanda Sanchez Flores.

This photo belongs to Maria Fernanda Sanchez Flores.

Maria Fernanda Sanchez Flores is a Mexican-American artist born and raised in Oregon, currently living in Minneapolis. She recently earned her BFA in media arts and photography at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with two minors in curatorial studies and art history. When looking at her work, I couldn’t get over the grace and softness that she managed to capture in an industrial landscape. The double exposure in the clouds makes the image feel like a sophisticated collage.

To see more of Maria's work, check out her website at mariafernandasanchezflores.com and follow on Instagram @behind.la.camera

What makes this exhibition especially rewarding is that it offers a glimpse of artists at the beginning of their careers, experimenting, refining their voices, and building creative lives in the Twin Cities. In an era when so much of our shopping happens online and through large retailers, galleries like Collected remind us that supporting local artists is an investment in the cultural life of our communities. Whether you're looking for an original artwork, a handmade gift, or simply an afternoon surrounded by creativity, Collected Gallery offers the opportunity to connect directly with the people making Minneapolis a more vibrant place. The Staff Show is a testament to the talent emerging from MCAD and a reminder that today's emerging artists are tomorrow's cultural leaders—if we choose to support them.

Check out Collected Gallery and shop local. If you’re looking to add something new to your life, consider visiting the Northeast Arts District and supporting soon-to-graduate artists.◼︎ 

While you are at it, check out our 2026 Summer Guide to support more local artists.

 

Collected Gallery, photo by Laura Laptsevitch.

Collected Gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays 12-8 pm and Sundays 12-4 pm. The Collected Gallery Staff Show is on view up through July 11th.

 

 

 

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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.