Arts | In new shared studio, opening soon in Marine on St. Croix, artists Emily Anderson and Katy Helen aim to connect with nature — and neighbors

Last winter, mosaic artist Katy Helen sent a serendipitous email.

She had moved her family to Marine on St. Croix over the summer, after nearly a decade and a half in California. For much of her time there, she’d created her intricately tiled surfboards in an independent studio, and now, back in her home state, she wanted a shared creative space.

She found a building that could house a studio — the old Marine Cafe space on Judd Street — but needed a partner.

As she asked around, one name kept popping up: the landscape painter Emily Anderson. They’d never met, but Helen invited her to coffee.

They hit it off immediately. Both artists’ work is deeply inspired by nature and particularly water; they’re both moms and both previously lived in California and both have similar business models and ideas of what makes for a positive work environment.

And both artists were feeling the isolation that comes from working alone in a studio and shipping finished work to customers they may only rarely, if ever, meet in person. Anderson, who used to run the HWY North Gift Shop & Gallery in town, particularly missed being able to invite community members into her creative space.

What if they built their own shared studio?

“We went from ‘Hi, nice to meet you’ to ‘Should we partner on this?’ by the end of coffee,” Helen said.

Marine Village Art Studios is set to open on June 1 and 2, during Art Opener, an open-studio event across the St. Croix Valley.

Following the studios’ grand opening, Helen and Anderson plan to have additional open studio days throughout the summer and fall, and you can stop in any time by making an appointment with either artist.

The building’s interior is unrecognizable from its former life as the Marine Cafe: It’s bright and airy; the bold red walls are gone, as are the wall shelves (and ceilings) full of antique trinkets and bike parts. The kitchen equipment was removed — except for a large sink, helpful for artists — and plenty of kitchen grease was scrubbed away.

“It’s just so good to have excitement and new energy, and it seemed like the perfect way to have a storefront that’s welcoming to the community, where we can have events and invite people to see what we’re doing,” Anderson said. “It seemed like everything was perfectly timed.”

As they get closer to settling into their new creative spaces, their art is evolving, too.

Anderson is experimenting with larger compositions, which she said “is exciting and also scary.”

As for Helen, one of the first major purchases she made when she moved back to Minnesota was a canoe, and she’s been paddling at William O’Brien State Park. In California, the mosaics she’d create on surfboards were rooted in the nearby Pacific coast, but here, inspiration comes from the river.

A work-in-progress: She commissioned a smaller handmade wooden canoe, which she split lengthwise — so each side can be mounted on a wall — and is tiling it.

“And I’ve recognized scenes from William O’Brien in Emily’s paintings,” Helen said. “That’s one of the first Minnesota-inspired directions I’ve taken here, is doing art on canoes. It’s fun to see, now, how…the art is connecting to the place.”

Marine Village Art Studios: 41 Judd St., Marine on St Croix; open periodically and via appointment; marinevillagestudios.com