From Markets to Main Street
Hey! I'm Alex.
After several years of working out of a home office and traveling to local art fairs, markets, and pop-up events to share and sell artwork, I was given the opportunity to open my own working studio and gallery.
Wild Eyed Beholder became a physical storefront in July 2025, and has grown into the most colorful "hidden gem" in Downtown Stevens Point, WI.
Since opening, Wild Eyed Beholder has hosted painting classes, art club events, demos, and occasional musical pop-ups during the summer months.
Why Open an Art Shop in the Current AI Bubble and Economic Climate?
Art is a life-changing and life-saving experience for me. It's how I operate: everything is art.
I live and breathe it, I think about it in every waking moment. I am driven by color, texture, shape, and the need to express myself through the act of creation. I am just a huge art nerd, and it has always been my calling to be an artist.
In all of its forms, art is human nature. It's play, it's expression, and it's connection. Throughout the ages, art has served as a way to document our time on this earth. It dates back to the days where our ancestors painted on cave walls and created folklore to teach each other about the world.
Art has existed through all of this time as a form of communication that strengthens communities and builds bonds. You might experience this now during a concert, or when you connect with a painting that resonates with some part of your experience in this world that you can't quite put into words.
In a time where we have become disconnected - whether it's from the lingering effects of forced isolation during the pandemic, the normalization of talking through a screen instead of face-to-face, or the rise of AI as a force asking us to disconnect from our own hands and minds...
Art has the ability to bring us back to our natural instinct for creation, communication, and connection.
Featured Piece: "In the Garden" by Alexandra Sosin
KEEPING IT LOCAL: Fringe Artists in an Art-Saturated Community
Of all 50 states, Wisconsin ranks near the bottom in the U.S. for state arts funding (48th-50th) while maintaining a mid-tier rank for artist vibrancy (24th).
One of the goals Wild Eyed Beholder aims to meet is offering a space for local fringe artists to share their work at low to no-cost.
Fringe artists are independent creators who produce original, experimental, or unconventional work outside of what is considered "acceptable" or "mainstream."
With a lack of state-supported funding for the arts, opportunities are less likely to present themselves for artists who don't fit the norm, don't have higher education, or who (let's face it) don't have the financial support to get their work shared with confidence.
While Wild Eyed Beholder will remain primarily as the studio and personal gallery for my artwork, I aim to:
- Share opportunity by offering collaborative art-club events where we work together to create community experiences,
- Create collaborative art and art-events with other artists and facilitating a "teamwork-makes-the-dream-work" mentality, allowing us to prop ourselves up through our own collective efforts,
- Share space! In 2026, I hope to share what space I can with local artists who create work that compliments mine and may not "fit in" in other local spaces.
Featured Piece: "Lovers" by Alexandra Sosin
Artist Values
Skill-Building and Continued Learning
I believe that art does not only provide joy, a pathway to emotional regulation, or entertainment - but also provides the ability to build real-life skills through low-risk experimentation and play.
The very act of creating something from a starting point of a blank canvas or loose odds-and-ends that would otherwise be considered "trash" allows for a continued exercise in problem-solving skills. It allows us the realization that we can actualize our vision for the future through even the smallest choices or steps forward.
Small Acts Toward Sustainability
As a lover of dirt, earth, and all of its creatures, I aim to cut down waste as much as I can through repurposing. Art as a tangible good presents an opportunity to either contribute to global waste, or be a part of the solution.
While some of what I offer is reproductions, I create original works using:
- pre-used paints and art supplies,
- thrifted toys, containers, and fake plants
- scrap fabric, old sheets, and old clothing
- fruit netting (you know, the plastic mesh bags that oranges come in)
- paper scraps, including wallpaper, old packaging, cardboard, etc.
- thrifted frames (sometimes transformed with a Dremel and paints)
- broken jewelry
- dried paint
- empty paint tubes and dried markers,
...and so much more.
Collaboration
Collaboration is a beautiful experience that presents itself in many forms. Making artwork together is a great way to not only make friendships, but it's educational. If art is a language, creating art together teaches us how to expand our knowledge just by doing.
In places where infrastructure is lacking to build a social and financial support network for artists, we can help fill the gaps through teamwork. How?
- Sharing resources: Sharing information, education or art-sharing opportunities, and connecting customers to artists who are already creating what they're looking for are just the basics.
- Skill-sharing and Teamwork: In many collaborative projects, there have been moments where I have a skill that someone else does not and vice-versa. Through working together, artists can bring projects to life that they only dreamed of or that would require skills outside of their expertise that take extra time to research, learn, and perfect. We can complete things faster, we can learn from one another, and we can share joy in the creative process. Flowstate Art Collective is my best example of this. While I do a lot of the networking, event planning, curating, and behind-the-scenes admin work, other artists are working along side me and each other to create a shared vision and bring our pop-up events to life.