The Dayton's Project: Embellished
Revolving Portals to Other Ways of Knowing
Welcome to The Dayton's Project Embellished: a collaborative installation.
Partnering with local artists, we have transformed these windows into portals—gateways into the artists’ creative worlds.
This exhibition brings together bold artistic voices, extending their visions beyond traditional walls and into a space where tenants, visitors, and the community can encounter art in a fresh, unforgettable way. These portals are more than decoration—they are cultural experiences, invitations to pause, reflect, and connect in the heart of the city.
Minnesota Art
All works of art are lovingly created in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Christy Dickinson
Christy Dickinson's abstract paintings are immersive studies in color, rhythm, and space. Through large-scale compositions and gestural brushwork, she creates visual tension between geometry and movement, inviting viewers into a psychological and architectural experience of color.
Inspired by time spent in Santa Fe, her Santa Fe Collection abstracts the silhouettes of Pueblo Revival architecture and the shifting hues of the high desert. In works like Adobe Nightfall and Desert Twilight, her brushstrokes become a record of movement-capturing both the energy of the landscape and the quiet intimacy of interior spaces.
About the Artist
Christy Dickinson is an abstract painter based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her work is deeply influenced by the architecture, land, and color of the American Southwest, shaped by a pivotal residency in Santa Fe in 2024.
She holds a Master in Liberal Studies from Hamline University and a BFA in Painting from the College of Visual Arts in Minnesota.
Dickinson's practice centers on intuition and movement, translating place and memory into dynamic, expressive compositions.
Asa "Ace" Rice
The horse in Ace Rice's work functions as more than an image—it's a symbol of movement, power, and survival. There's a sense that it's in motion or just passed through something. The composition feels raw and immediate, with nothing overworked. It carries a quiet tension-freedom on one side, pressure on the other.
About the Artist
Ace Rice is a painter rooted in narrative and instinct.
His work pulls from American folklore, history, and lived experience-often channeling archetypes that feel both familiar and charged. He paints with intention, keeping the work raw and direct, allowing each mark to carry weight without excess.
Yusuf Mirumbe
SHA-referencing Kenya's Social Health Authority-captures a quiet moment of waiting within a public system. Three seated figures, elongated and still, hold a sense of patience, tension, and dignity. The composition is simple, but the repetition of form and the textured surface carry the weight. It's not dramatic-it's real. A reflection of everyday life, where policy meets people.
About the Artist
Yusuf Mirumbe is a contemporary East African painter known for his signature elongated figures and heavily textured surfaces. Drawing from life in Nairobi, his work focuses on human presence-how people sit, wait, endure, and exist within shared spaces. His style is raw and intentional, using distortion and repetition to emphasize emotion over perfection.
Mike Welton
Mike Welton's work captures the built environment with striking precision. His cityscapes and architectural compositions feel almost photographic at first—but the longer you look, the more intentional they become. Light, reflection, and structure are carefully controlled, turning everyday urban scenes into something elevated and cinematic.
There's no chaos-just clarity, order, and quiet intensity.
About the Artist
Mike Welton is a contemporary painter known for his hyperrealistic architectural work. Focusing on urban environments, he isolates moments within the city and renders them with meticulous detail and control. His work bridges realism and design, appealing to both fine art collectors and those drawn to architecture and modern space.
John Gerber
Gerber's portraits are built through instinct-loose line work, soft color, and fractured forms that shift between structure and emotion. The figures aren't fixed; they move, split, and reassemble, capturing feeling more than likeness. There's a lightness to the work, but also a quiet tension underneath.
About the Artist
John Gerber is a University of Minnesota Duluth-trained painter known for his intuitive approach to portraiture. Influenced by Jamali, his work prioritizes movement, energy, and emotional presence over precision. Gerber paints with confidence-letting the hand lead and the image emerge naturally.
Masue Kamara
Masue Kamara's portraits hold presence. Each figure feels grounded, intentional, and quietly powerful.
The compositions are minimal, but the gaze carries everything-strength, identity, and self-possession.
In the central work, the halo-like form frames the subject with a sense of reverence, elevating the figure beyond portrait into icon.
The work doesn't ask for attention-it commands it.
About the Artist
Masue Kamara is a contemporary portrait painter whose work centers Black identity, beauty, and inner strength. Her approach is refined yet emotional, combining realism with subtle symbolic elements that elevate her subjects beyond likeness.
Through controlled technique and powerful composition, she creates figures that feel both personal and timeless.
