Eden Climber
Eden Climber is a collaborative installation created by the artist Regan Golden and the writer Sarah Clark. The title of this piece, Eden Climber, is about aspiring to protect what is beautiful and seeking to transcend the everyday through plants.
“Eden Climber is actually the name of a robust and resilient hybrid rose species, but it is also a reference to Sarah Clark's poem "Eden Climbs," which was inspired by Golden's original collage. Clark's poem opens with the lines "It started with a rose - the center of broken things - Just one petal - bewitched - plucked from a pile of used ballots - x-ray films - cropped images transferred from books fired." Sarah Clark is a local writer and wrote this poem as a recent participant in a yearlong poetry apprenticeship with Heid Erdrich through the Loft Literary Center.
In installing this piece at the Outlook Gallery, we have digitally combined the text with Golden’s photographs of rose petals. The rose petals are printed on a translucent film so that one can see through the image in places, and the petals appear to float upwards behind the text. This piece is about rising up to protect whatever you cherish. A rose can be thought of as fragile, but in truth, it is incredibly strong, much like the human spirit.
There will also be simple bands of solid color, as well as the first words of the poem, printed on removable translucent window film that will be layered in front of the elongated rose print to create a sense of depth within the space. As daylight and the gallery light change, the colors printed on this translucent material will be cast onto the walls and onto the print hanging behind. The bold swatches of color on the window film will lead the eye of the viewer on the street upwards to the top of the poem printed on the rose imagery. The composition of the whole artwork explores time and sequence, as well as fragmentation and cohesion through the combination of photography, plants, words, and technology.”
- Regan Golden and Sarah Clark
Free and open to the public
WhereMCBA Outlook Gallery
WhenJanuary 19, 2026–March 9, 2026
Viewable from the street (and from inside the shop during open hours)
Regan Golden’s collages and drawings are inspired by the wild, overgrown urban prairies by her home in the Twin Cities. For two decades, Golden's artwork and writing have explored how relationships within nature are constructed and evolve over time.
Golden’s artwork has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally, including Gallery 44: Centre for Contemporary Photography in Toronto; Gallery 400 in Chicago; The Cue Foundation in New York City, and The Flaten Art Museum in Northfield, MN. Recent exhibitions include “Green Screen” at Viewpoint Gallery in Saint Paul (March 2025) and “Rose Reverie” at Kolman & Reeb Gallery in Minneapolis (July 2025).
Public artworks are on view at Dogwood Coffee Company - Northeast Minneapolis & Saint Paul, University of Minnesota–Center for Health Interprofessional Programs and University of Minnesota–College of Biological Sciences Conservatory. Golden’s artist books are in the collections of The Walker Art Center, Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota and the Rolvaag Library at St. Olaf College.
Regan Golden is an Associate Professor in Fine Arts at The Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD) and a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists.
Sarah CR Clark is a writer, musician, and was once a Lutheran pastor.
She is a winner of the St. Paul Sidewalk Poetry Contest, has published poetry in the St. Paul Almanac, award winning newspaper articles in the Park Bugle, and theological writings with Augsburg Fortress Press. She recently completed a 2024-2025 poetry apprenticeship with Heid Erdrich through the Loft Literary Center’s Year Long Writing Project. As a Master Naturalist, she is often adventuring near Lake Superior with her family.
Upcoming Exhibitions
