Meet Megan St.Clair of Soft. Core. Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan St.Clair.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Megan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
“soft. core.” is a pop-up gallery concept that is aimed at throwing short-term art gallery openings for emerging artists and the communities of Los Angeles. The idea came to me after I graduated with my MFA from Claremont Graduate School and my community was no longer intact in the same way. I knew so many talented artists in Los Angeles and figured, what the heck if there aren’t enough opportunities for emerging artists I can just create one.

I rented out my first show space and made the “soft core” theme since it was cheapest to only rent the locations for 48 hours. This means to install, the opening reception and deinstall happen all in just 48 hours. This is still how the shows are done a year later. This crazy timeline allows a lot of artists to get together and lots of people to come to the opening night since that’s it — that one night is the only time the show is up.

We aim to provide a platform for artists to connect with other artists and exhibit their work in a fun and engaging way that gets people into action. I have added the incredibly talented Alexis Hyde on board as my co-curator to get another perspective with the curatorial vision of the shows. Together, we choose all the artists and the themes of each art show based on the location the show will be in. To keep our costs low we are always moving from location to location to throw openings. This keeps us excited and engaged with our surroundings as well as allows us to be relatively rent free — it’s a win-win!

It is really exciting to be working on shows #4 and #5 already and it is encouraging to see that there is a huge community of really talented people around Los Angeles. We hope that our small efforts can bring these people together so we can be a wider group of supported and allied artists and supporters of the arts.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Trying to work on this curatorial project alone became a little overwhelming. Realizing I needed another team member became clear as I was late to my own first opening with wet hair and my husband was printing gallery maps frantically as we are running out the door. It is nice to have another set of eyes on the creative vision, and someone that has your back.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about soft. core. los angeles – what should we know?
We are most proud of our ever-growing network of artists, and the platform we have to connect. Without platforms and organizations it is hard to be an isolated artist and feel supported. I hope that what we do can help other emerging artists feel “seen” and valued in such a competitive and creative city like Los Angeles.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My husband Jake deserves a huge amount of credit, he is my rock when things don’t go according to plan. Which is all the time. He helps me roll with the punches and deal with all the little mishaps along the way.

Alexis my co-curator has been a huge influence as well, she brings a unique vision to soft. core. That is well informed and grounded in the contemporary art world. We are truly lucky to have her brain aiding these puzzles of how to merge different artists work into different spaces all the time — since all of our elements are constantly changing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.softcorela.com
• Email: info@softcorela.com
• Instagram: @softcorela

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