Home Is Where the Art Is

THE BEAUXMAGE FINE ART gallery is an unassuming place on a busy street just south of downtown St. Paul. As I knock at its front door on a recent weekday evening, I'm greeted by the sound of barking and the scraping of canine toenails on a hardwood floor.

"I hope you like our doorbell system," says Paul Bollmeier, gallery founder and curator, pointing to his small sheltie and ushering me inside his gallery, which also happens to be his home. Two well-groomed cats watch me as I begin to survey the place. Track lighting casts a warm glow around the main gallery in the front area of the house, which is also the living room. Ten or 12 paintings and pastel drawings, their colors and shapes muted and soft, float in their frames on the walls, the work of Twin Cities artist Tim Laing.

"Can I get you a glass of wine?" asks Bollmeier.

Beauxmage Fine Art is a throwback to the 18th or 19th century--a vernissage, or salon, run by an enthusiast to show art in a home. "I wanted to have a venue for my aesthetic," says Bollmeier, who has shown many local artists such as Kenneth Wenzel and Andrea Woito, as well as a number of national artists. "It's kind of an ego thing, not a particularly noble calling...But I do meet the nicest people in this business. I wouldn't meet them if I didn't open up my house every week."

Bollmeier and his wife Jana Callaway (a co-owner of Beauxmage) are serious about the art they show. The pair, who are in their late 30s, work necessary day-jobs to keep the gallery afloat, Bollmeier in computer software and Callaway in education. And while they receive slides and solicitations from artists all over the country and work hard to advertise and promote the shows, they have not sold enough paintings to cover advertising costs during the nearly three years Beauxmage has been open.

"It's been a lot of hard work," says Paul. "It sort of limits your life to run a gallery, especially since we both work full time. And up until now, it's been rewarding only in ways other than financial. But it is rewarding to see people react to what I know is good art, and it's rewarding to see and appreciate the work of artists."

Paul takes me on a tour of his home. There is art in every room, vibrantly colored paintings and neatly detailed prints from past shows at the gallery. One room's walls are covered floor to ceiling with colorful, faux-naif paintings by Chicago artist John Knudsen intended for the next show. Another room holds paintings Bollmeier made when he was an art student at the University of Minnesota.

"I've learned a lot about art running a gallery," said Bollmeier. "It's a different angle you take about art when you're not wrapped up in making it. You learn from looking." (Michael Fallon) CP

The Beauxmage Fine Art gallery is open Thursday 6 p.m.-9 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., or by appointment at 684 S. Smith St. in St. Paul. For more information, call 221-9869 or visit the Beauxmage Web site at www.pconline.com/~beauxmag.