Boring House: The Minnesota Print and Mural Studio Built on a Marriage

Emma Gottschalk and Josh Eller, the married couple behind the Minnesota printmaking and mural studio Boring House, married in 2022 and now run their business from a rented studio in Northeast Minneapolis's California Building. Their story began in a drawing class at Bethel University, where Eller had moved from Spain — his Midwest-raised mother's alma mater — and Gottschalk, originally from Chaska, admits the newcomers frightened her.

"From my perspective, they were the really talented brothers in my drawing class," Gottschalk said. "They intimidated me."

Eller remembers the moment differently. "My first semester, I took a drawing class with my brother, and there was Emma," he said. "We knew each other from day one."

The two double-majored in graphic design and fine art, moved from friendship to romance — a first kiss on a New Year's Eve — and married in 2022. Alongside the personal partnership, they built Boring House.

What does the name mean?

Fairgoers ask constantly. "People come to our booths at art fairs and are always like, 'Boring House, what does that mean?'" Gottschalk said. "Well, we were the boring house. We moved into a one-bedroom apartment when we started; all our walls were blank, even though we had all these artist friends. Then it came to life with their work."

The idea, she explained, is simple: "Maybe you don't have to be the boring house, once you have cool art on your walls."

How did the studio start?

Boring House began as a mural business while both were still students. Eller had painted murals in Spain; Gottschalk loved the scale and meaning of large public work. Early commissions included a handful of electrical boxes and a larger Colorado piece that felt like a breakthrough. Since then the pair have painted murals at Iowa State University and the Como Zoo, and in Eden Prairie, Stillwater, Minneapolis, North St. Paul, Texas and Indiana.

Murals alone proved unreliable as income. After graduation the couple turned to block-printing. "We thought, well, that's something we can run from our one-bedroom apartment," Gottschalk said. "Most of the art we own is prints, and we want to create art that's accessible to people. That's why I love public art and murals — it's for everybody."

The operation has since outgrown the apartment. At the California Building, the two now make screen prints and risograph pieces alongside block prints, selling prints, cards, bandanas, T-shirts and other work featuring stark, sharp-lined animals, plants, florals and seasonal motifs online, in-studio and at Twin Cities art fairs. Eller holds a day job at a Minneapolis publisher; Gottschalk works as a freelance designer. Both want Boring House full time.

"In an ideal world, we're doing both murals and art fairs," Eller said. "We love getting to see people face to face, and we recently started teaching classes and workshops in our studio, which we love."

The pair also keep experimenting — they took a stained-glass class together despite no plans to sell stained glass. "Even if experiments don't show up directly in our work, it's still impacting what we're making," Gottschalk said. "We know that if we enjoy making something, people will be able to tell. That's how we find our audience."

Where to see the work

Boring House appears at the California Dreaming open studios event at the California Building on November 13–15, Merry Market at the State Fairgrounds on the first three weekends of December, and the Tonkadale Holiday Maker's Market on December 12. The studio sells online at boring.house, with event updates at @boringhouse.goods on Instagram. Teaching workshops and doubling down on fairs suggest the couple's next step toward full-time artistry is already underway.