Atypically Ipso

A cake parade. An art vending machine. A showcase of vinyl record cover art. It’s perhaps unusual of a traditional art space. But then again, there’s nothing usual about Ipso Gallery.

Founded nearly 12 years ago, the space got its start in an atypical fashion—as a component of a local advertising agency headed up by Ted Heeren and Mike Hart. Ted’s wife Liz, an accomplished arts educator and artist in her own right, was there from the start, as the agency, Fresh Produce, grew from its Brandon, S.D., strip mall home to its current location in downtown Sioux Falls.

Liz Heeren

“During that period of time and transition, Ted and I got married, and he had to kind of adapt all my artistic dreams,” said Heeren, a lifelong artist and now gallery director. “It was a really great marriage because it wasn’t a hard sell for me to suggest to Mike and Ted, and for them to quickly be on board, that we have an art gallery in our space when they moved.”

And if the idea of two businesspeople investing in a gallery space amidst its office space sounds out of the ordinary, that’s because, well, it is.

“I think the thing they really need to be acknowledged for is taking a certain amount of square footage of their total rented space and designating it as a gallery, which means they’re paying for it every month in square footage,” Heeren said. “At the same time, the gallery is free to exist without the burden of retail sales. It’s something that really comes from the generosity of the business—they always budget for Ipso to exist. 

“I think that’s the tricky part for the existence of any gallery in this state—how are you going to sustain it? We have the benefit of not worrying about making it off of sales.”

Heeren herself grew up in a “household of artists.” She attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., with the intention of earning a degree in biology, but an art major quickly added itself to her educational goals. 

“That’s the inescapable truth about being raised by artists,” she said. “I kept my biology major and double-majored in art, and I felt really fulfilled having both of those things in my life. And I think the biology has really played a role in sort of informing my art.”

And after spending additional time learning in Tucson, Ariz., and New Zealand, Heeren made her way back to the area, first as a Master’s student at University of South Dakota, and now having spent 20 years as an adjunct professor through the University Center in Sioux Falls.

“As my educational career grew, so did my ideas and understanding of running the gallery, from my acquaintance with artists to my attempt with overlapping and connecting with artists,” she said. “The whole thing has been kind of an essential interconnectedness. Being the daughter of two artists and an educator, I’m able to really reach out, know and touch base with so many artists for our gallery space.”

And as that space has always been and continues to be shared with a team of advertisers, it presents a unique perspective for the gallery director.

“With movable walls and boundaries that don’t seem definitive, a lot of people upon first entering are enchanted but maybe also a little bit confused,” Heeren said. “They’ve walked into something that feels more like a gallery than an advertising agency. In some ways that’s kind of fun to trip up the average person’s experience of being in an advertising or gallery space. 

“We like the idea that the art kind of flows in and out between these movable walls. On the opposite sides of the gallery walls are all the pinnings and ideas of graphic designers—sketches and publications and really interesting creative projects—all work created by people at Fresh Produce. They’re representations of a parallel thought track—creativity that isn’t necessarily always going to be framed but is still always evolving, changing, shifting, meeting the creative needs of a client or a certain individual at the agency.”

Some of the boldest past shows included “Ka-Chunk,” one featuring art vending machines wherein attendees could purchase an original work for just $5, or “White Ribbon,” where Ipso team members collaborated on craft-show- and county-fair-inspired categories artists could use as parameters for their work. But what they all have in common is collaboration—an effort that makes use of individuals across the agency and gallery spaces coming together.

“We often think of the delight—a word that is particularly relevant to us—of walking into a space with new art at least five times a year,” Heeren said. “It confronts you with another person’s creative perspective as you’re going to your studio or desk to do a creative job throughout the day. It invigorates us and refreshes our creative energy.

“What’s great about that is how often you can find works that are seemingly dissimilar that share properties when you use a certain lens or topic or approach. That can be really enlightening about art. There’s plenty of art that have ‘formal beauty’ that’s really easy to appreciate, very immediate. I feel like what ends up being the most important aspect for us lies in the human connection, the story that connects to our lives and pushes us to view the world a little differently.”