Originally a Texan, De La Trigg , fresh out of college, took a job as a sex education teacher in Ohio in 2020. She’s a certified health instructor as well as a certified yogi. But when she couldn’t find a yoga studio to commit to, she decided to own one instead.
The idea for MarYSoul stemmed from a donation-based yoga studio, promoting community rather than excluding the folks who couldn’t afford $20 for an hour of guided practice. As the white-washed walls and worn hardwood floors hosted yoga alongside eclectic events, De La Trigg realized she had the keys to more than just a traditional studio; she had 1,000 square feet of possibilities.
The MarYSoul name comes from a merger of De La Trigg’s Afro-Latina cultures: “Mar” in Spanish is “ocean,” doubling as the first syllable of Marcela; and “sol” is “sun,” though the homophone “soul” is a stand-in for her African roots. Considering this creative language, MarYSoul is the ocean, the sun and the space in between. Its open mindedness and dismissal of strict demarcations is a bit of everything and whatever it wants to be.
Credit: MARCELA DE LA TRIGG
Credit: MARCELA DE LA TRIGG
MarYSoul structurally appears to be a long hallway, giving the illusion of a never-ending room. By that same token, that interminable feeling is similar to the studio practices De La Trigg chooses to employ.
Since its yogic beginnings just shy of a year ago, MarYSoul organically began to identify as an expression studio — no doubt a catch-all phrase but freeing nonetheless. But what does that label mean?
“(An expression studio) is a place where I come and help people to realize that art is everything,” said Marcela. “We are all art, art is everywhere, everyone is art, everyone’s an artist.”
Its broad, semi-subversive, no-holds-barred, anything-and-everything attitude makes MarYSoul a hidden gem in the Gem City, a truly blank canvas.
On the gallery walls — or any of MarYSoul’s walls for that matter — there are acrylics, pencil and ballpoint pen works, watercolors, prints, stretch canvases and possibly even an installation or two (depending on the current working definition of installations). While there is a vetting process for getting artwork displayed — pending approval by art coordinator Miya Browning — the MarYSoul walls prove there are endless ways to express oneself within that room.
“Some artists were getting intimidated by being a ‘featured artist’ for their own show,” De La Trigg said. “So by community-submission artwork, we’re able to build the gallery wall full of different mediums and different artist techniques.”
Credit: MARCELA DE LA TRIGG
Credit: MARCELA DE LA TRIGG
This curation method simultaneously allows artists of any level to show without the pressures of standard exhibitions. And because everyone is purported to be an artist at MarYSoul, rejecting superiority — which separates the “good” art from the “bad” art — can unify us.
The studio might be a model community in that regard, breeding acceptance rather than gatekeeping otherwise subjective mediums. At this studio, expression is success anyway — not how it appears critically.
“MarYSoul offers adults a place to create again, a place to possibly get lost for a few moments,” De La Trigg said. She consciously decided not to hang clocks in the studio for that very reason. By removing that element, guests can just be present and revert to a time when playing was the only thing on the schedule.
While the studio hosts a multitude of in-house events — like yoga, listening rooms and open mics — it also hosts collaborations with outside groups, including Sorry Not Sorry Experiences’ upcoming Pleasure & Paint event on April 20.
In true MarYSoul fashion, this event will allow total artistic expression for couples and solo attendees alike, where body-safe paint will be transferred to canvas via painted hands, feet and other body parts. If it sounds messy, it probably is. And if it’s not already clear, Pleasure & Paint is an adults-only event — though nudity isn’t allowed. Tickets to the event are $40, which includes a canvas for two people.
The ambiance of MarYSoul is difficult to explain because there is nary a comparable space, though its versatility is certainly charming. Escaping the stereotypical studio structure empowers guests and collaborators to choose their own experiences.
But choices can be uncomfortable, especially if they’re endless, which is why MarYSoul isn’t for everyone — even though De La Trigg wants it to be.
MarYSoul Expression Studio & Gallery is at 1001 E. Second St., Building 100 Unit 2075, Dayton. The gallery is open to the public on First Fridays, Third Sundays and on an event-by-event, class-by-class basis.
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