Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

The artists at Exposure’s open critique night seem to treat the activity in the same way the prayerful woman on the wall is appraising her Jell-O; both maintain similar levels of playfulness and devotion.

It is here that Exposure sits, nestled downtown on Sixth and Phillips in between a lot of things: school and full-time artistry, coffee shop and Pavilion atmospheres, and the art hubs of Omaha and Minneapolis. For founder and owner Zach DeBoer, this is all quite intentional.

The general idea is that in Sioux Falls… it’s hard for young, emerging artists to find a voice and a wall,” Zach said. “The idea was we would be a hub and a home and a place where artists could have a show and have a voice.”

Thus, the name Exposure, which is exactly what Zach aims to give Sioux Falls artists. According to him, people who come directly out of school make one of two choices: they stop making art, or they leave Sioux Falls for more opportunities. With Exposure, Zach is trying to eliminate the necessity of this decision. The art critiques that eventually blossomed into Exposure’s artists and clientele began as a part of Zach’s effort to keep himself from letting art escape from his own life.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

“When I graduated, I had two or three friends… and we decided to keep ourselves making art and to keep ourselves in check, we would start having crit,” Zach said. The accountability between friends, and eventually more and more artists, kept—and keeps—everyone actively creating. The space is used both as a gallery and a studio space for 11 artists, and on the average day Exposure visitors may be bale to browse both completed works and art in progress.

“It’s always kind of an active space, and now it’s getting more and more so,” Zach said.

Now along with the monthly critiques Exposure offers workshops, collaborations, demonstrations, Yoga on Thursday nights and a new show every month.

“It’s become this true grassroots—young people making things and building a community,” Zach said. The goal, then, is to take this energy that Exposure has generated in its year-long lifespan and to drive it forward, out into the community.

“You’ll start to see artists be more involved in the city and everything else,” Zach said. “We’ve found our young and emerging new artists. Now that we have that in a nice bundle, who can we find… to grow that community? We’re all on Team Art Sioux Falls, so let’s make sure we’re working together to help build that.”

Zach says he tries not to plan too far ahead of time in an effort to stay contemporary and responsive to the needs and desires of the community. Nevertheless, the plans for Exposure are big. The only challenge now?

“I try not to get too far ahead of myself,” Zach says.