Finding Your Happy Place

The idea for a vibrant space for showcasing creativity has always lived somewhere in local artist Mel Cotton’s mind as far back as she can remember. And the culmination of this long-held dream was realized in one of Sioux Falls’ newest exhibiting spaces, Rose & Eugene Presents.

Mel Cotton

“It kind of goes back a minute,” Cotton said of the art gallery and gift shop that opened in uptown Sioux Falls one year ago this month. “So I actually was thinking about Rose & Eugene way back when I was a freshman in high school. I had a sketch in my sketchbook. I drew it up with a friend. It's been a forever thing, but it's one of those things you imagine and you dream a little and then you forget about it. But I think it was always there in my subconscious.”

The space, located in the ground level of the Cascade Building on Phillips Avenue, is geared toward showcasing contemporary Midwest creativity through its gift shop, art supplies and fine arts exhibiting area.

“We curate work from all across the region,” Cotton said. “From the Rocky Mountains all the way to the edge of the Midwest. So a little bit of everything. It could be functional goods, working with exhibiting artists, production artists, all kinds of different folks. And I'd say the tie for all of these different things we're offering is that they're very graphic, very design-based, very vivid, very colorful. That's kind of our niche in the art world.

“Our goal is to really provide opportunities for artists and makers. I'm really here for creatives who've found their voice and they've refined their skills and they're ready to share their talent. And that can mean a lot of different things — being a full-time artist or dabbling in becoming a full-time artist.”

This list of offerings also includes a classroom and workshop space aimed at allowing artist partners to explore their skills and find their “professional happy place,” according to the founder and owner. These educational components of the operation really started in earnest at the beginning of 2024.

“All of our classes are filling up and it's really fun,” Cotton said. “If you exhibit with us or if you sell through us, you have the opportunity to use that space for teaching. So I teach printmaking in that space, and I have two classes a month generally. My husband is a graphic designer, so he teaches digital art classes. We recently had illustrator Mark Wagner teach a zine-making class to ages 12 and up, and it was so fun. Half of the artists were littles, and half of the artists were professional illustrators and graphic novelists. That conversation was amazing.”

Cotton’s own history included prepping her skills for this sort of endeavor in all of her previous experiences, dabbling in a bit of everything that has contributed to the Rose & Eugene project.

“I worked inventory at a manufacturing plant,” she said. “I did production assembly, line production at a factory plant. I studied fine art, I managed a retail shop. I managed marketing and purchasing for a retail shop. I've worked in high craft. And it's just a culmination of all of these things.

“Finally I was able to say, ‘Okay, I've got what I need. Let's go for it. Let's do it.’ I talked to my husband and we weighed the difference between purchasing a business and just starting from scratch. And we decided to just build it from the ground up, give it our own personality and make it what we want.”

This cross-section of art and commerce has proven a valuable opportunity for Cotton’s own growth as an artist and business-owner, but also adds some value for the artist partners who make use of the space.

“It’s about trying to find your fit,” she said. “In the professional art world, the value really is that you get to explore. Maybe you are painting and you want to sell some reproductions or you want to see your image on a tote bag. You can kind of test that all in this space — see if there's a market for it in our area, and then branch out from there.

“Maybe this is something that can be replicated and offered to a gallery somewhere else, or maybe you find out that production art isn't for you at all and you really just want to hit exhibiting harder. It's a way for them to find their happy place and also offer multiple streams of income within the creative realm.”

The first year of the gallery and shop’s existence has been a positive one for Cotton and team, with a warm reception from the artis community and the arts appreciator community, both established and appreciators-to-be.

“I really want Rose & Eugene to be approachable,” she said. “I want people who wouldn't normally purchase art to start purchasing art. I want to take out whatever barricade there is from purchasing art for most people — to take that out of the equation, and put it in a space that's very familiar, like a retail-looking space.

“I get folks on walks — it’s part of their weekly routine to be on this end of town because I'm right by Falls Park. And I had a couple come in, I'd say they're freshly retired, and this was not what they had expected. When they first came to me, they had nothing on their walls and they lived in their apartment for 10 years. They just couldn't find the right thing. They purchased a piece and now they come back pretty regularly to keep filling their home with really beautiful work.”

Her attention to detail and the way she curates and displays the work in Rose & Eugene’s dedicated space is part of what Cotton thinks makes the gallery and shop so accessible and approachable to everyone in the community.

“I'm aiming for this balance between really bright and really neutral. I think that's a really good equation,” she said. “Some of the work that we show people might think is kind of edgy. And I think when you isolate it and you get it by itself versus seeing it in relationship to something that might be considered more highbrow, it gives it a different feel. Like it feels more approachable.

“And now that I'm in the workshop and class realm as well, I'm really understanding how much actual creation with your hands leads to appreciation. And so more of that is better. We just need more.”

See what’s in store at Rose & Eugene Presents by following their upcoming event schedule and current offerings in-store at RoseAndEugenePresents.com.