Queericana (An Exhibition of Paintings by Kandace Creel-Falcón)

Overview

Opening Art Reception

Queericana

Acrylic Paintings by Kandace Creel-Falcón

On view: Saturdays & Sundays, 10AM–4PM

Dates: August 1 – September 21, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, August 1, 6–8:30PM

Location: Calendula Gallery, the Poppy Room

275 4th Street E, Suite 110, St. Paul, MN 55101

Queericana captures the curious beauty of rural Minnesota through small-scale acrylic, latex, and spray-painted works. Living with my wife, goats, and chickens on 20 acres in Otter Tail County, I spend hours driving to town, observing the creative, chaotic, and sometimes kitschy ways my neighbors shape the land.

These scenes may not be queer in the traditional sense, but they embody queerness through their non-normative expression—junk piles turned sculptures, forgotten objects repurposed with flair, and a freedom to let things age, rot, or shine.

As a queer person in a rural place, these paintings offer kinship and wonder. They’re not parody, but participation—my way of joining the offbeat spirit of countryside life. Inspired by Muñoz’s idea of queer utopia, Queericana invites viewers to see the strange and sacred coexist, where maybe there’s room for all of us in the Midwest.