Minneapolis artist outsmarts her candy-snitching dogs to create sweet replica of the State Fair midway

For her recent "Midway at the State Fair Candy Art," Minneapolis artist Ashlea Karkula ditched her paintbrush for a hot glue gun and replaced her acrylics with candy.

Lots of candy.

To create her sucrose-saturated Midway, Karkula affixed 100 pounds of sweets to a 3- by 4-foot canvas, using peppermint sticks to form the Ferris wheel and black licorice ropes to secure candy thrill-seekers in their seats.

Her usual medium is acrylic paint, applied in thick layers to create whimsical, densely packed scenes of animals, foods and holiday symbols. Her online gallery describes recent works "Baby Hot Dogs for Sale" and "Santa and His Pterodactyls" as portraying "fantastical worlds whose subjects intermingle in a chaotic slurry of friends, villains, and humor."

But a visit to the Mall of America's 2019 CandyTopia exhibit, a pop-up display of candy-coated sculptures and collages — and its Prince portrait, especially — inspired Karkula to swap paint for sweets.

Designing with sugar created unexpected difficulties. She had to scour internet retailers to find unusual candies, including tiny candy unicorns, fried eggs and sets of teeth. And while working from home during the pandemic, Karkula struggled to keep her two dogs from eating her tasty materials.

"I'd hot glue it on, and then pretty soon I would turn my back and they would get the candy and run," she said.

But Karkula is familiar with overcoming challenges. Due to dystonia, a movement disorder, in her dominant right arm and hand, she learned to create her artwork left-handed. (In addition to being an artist, Karkula is a multi-sport Special Olympian who sits on the board of directors for one of the Minnesota chapter's fundraising events.)

True artists

Karkula, 36, has been a professional artist since 2014, spending four days a week in the studio at Interact Center for the Performing and Visual Arts in St. Paul, where more than 100 artists who have disabilities work alongside those who don't.

Karkula, who has developmental disabilities, lives with her aunt, Kathy Karkula, who said that Interact's program has cultivated her niece's boundless creativity and "quirky" style.

Ashlea found her previous job, making boxes (a gig typical of the menial, repetitive tasks people with disabilities often are steered toward), unchallenging, and relishes the freedom of her new role.

"Making art is very fun and people can't tell you what to do," she said.

Where most day programs for adults with disabilities view art as a recreational hobby, Interact has been treating it as a profession for more than 25 years.

The nonprofit is unique in the range of media it supports — theater, visual and literary arts — as well as its collaborative approach of having its staff of experienced artists without disabilities work with those who do. The approach has led Interact's actors to the Guthrie stage and visual artists, including Ashlea, to show their work at galleries, demonstrating that creative careers are a viable option for people with disabilities.

"These people are true artists," said Jeanne Calvit, Interact's founder and executive director. "They're not just people with disabilities who like to do art."

Ashlea's candy Midway, which recently sold for $950, will be donated to Children's Minnesota hospital in Minneapolis for staff, patients and visitors to enjoy.

"They'll have as much fun looking at it as she did putting it together," Kathy Karkula said. "I guarantee you're gonna smile when you look at her art."