Carnelian Art Gallery aims to foster a vibrant local art scene

By Amie Hoag, Eastside News

There’s a new art gallery in downtown Madison, and its owner wants every person who visits it to feel welcome and invited in.

Evan Bradbury is the owner of Carnelian Art Gallery, 221 King St., and he knows all too well how intimidating galleries can be to the average person interested in art. A painter himself, he lived in New York City for years, and while there, visited as many galleries as he could.

“It was intimidating,” he said. “You walk in and you get clocked right away. If you’re not there to spend $20,000, they don’t want to see you.”

When he opened Carnelian Art Gallery in March 2024, he set out to ensure the vibe of his gallery was the opposite of that. Bradbury’s welcoming space has spent the last year shining a brighter light on the incredible art being produced by people in Madison and its surrounding area.

The 1,500-square-foot gallery opens a different curated group show every two months, as well as rents two studio spaces in the back. Bradbury hopes to rent a third space to local artists later this year. New for 2025, Carnelian has started hosting workshops, including Intro to Coffee Painting and Intro to Oil Painting, among others. They also started representing local artists, building up in-house inventory and helping to facilitate commissions. The first artist is James Widder, whose paintings are filled with vibrant color and dramatic texture.

Though Carnelian doesn’t plan to exclusively show art from artists in Madison, so far the makeup of its shows has been mostly local artists.

“Artists are just as good in this city as they are anywhere else that I’ve ever been,” Bradbury said. “And they need the support to continue to grow.”

Bradbury and Emilie Heidemann, Carnelian’s marketing director, shared that they have high hopes to play a role in that growth, as well as in the growth of the art scene in Madison.

“The hope is for Carnelian to be a seed in what will ultimately be a thriving art community (in Madison),” Bradbury said. “We want to see more galleries in town, even if we have nothing to do with them.”

Heidemann shared that the gallery hopes to court individuals looking to outfit their home with original art, as well as corporate clients.

“Say they’re putting up a new apartment building and they want to give it that local, eccentric flair. We want to help with that,” she said.

Carnelian Art Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, as well as by appointment.

For more information about events and workshops, as well as gallery hours, visit carnelianart.com.