Saint Paul Cultural District Downtown Mural Project
We’re collaborating with City of Saint Paul Mayor’s Office, the Department of Planning and Economic Development (PED), and the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance on seven mural commissions. A free workshop for muralists was held in summer 2023.
As part of the Cultural Destination Area work of the PED and Mayor Carter, Forecast facilitated a thoughtful and equitable selection process for seven new permanent murals in the downtown Cultural District, completed from fall 2023 through 2025. The Downtown Saint Paul Alliance identified and secured walls for the murals. These completed murals enliven downtown with the aim of bringing greater appreciation and awareness to the diversity of Saint Paul neighborhoods.
The represented Saint Paul cultural destination areas are: Little Mekong, Little Africa, Rondo, Shepard Davern, District del Sol, Near East Side, and North End.
Mural Commissions
Project Overview
In Fall 2023, the City commissioned seven murals to be installed in downtown Saint Paul, celebrating the seven Saint Paul Cultural Destination Areas (Little Mekong, Little Africa, Rondo, Shepard Davern, District del Sol, Near East Side, and North End) to enliven downtown with greater appreciation and awareness to culture and diversity.
Visit the Saint Paul Insider’s Guide for a feature on this project with insights from four of the selected artists: Briauna Williams, Cadex Herrera, Kao Lee Thao, and Milkessa.
Selected Artists
Briauna Williams
Read Briauna’s bio
Briauna Williams
Minneapolis Native.
A graphic design graduate who has been drawing since the age of five. Always having the dream of wanting to change the world with her work. Briauna, colloquially called Brii Noir, is an all around creative; most of her work, she’s wearing the hats of an acrylic artist, muralist, henna artist, teaching artist and community engagement artist. She draws inspiration from her family, social Justice, and nature. Using paint to tell stories—Ones of empowerment, and resilience. Briauna began painting as an outlet in 2017. She found it very therapeutic and it soon began to open many doors for her and her work, soon blossoming into a platform to share her tools of healing with community through her many self-curated events. Briauna is now hosting events and painting murals throughout the Dfw area as well as Minnesota.
Cadex Herrera
Read Cadex’s bio
Cadex Herrera has 16 years of experience as a teaching artist, and two decades of experience as a multi-disciplinary artist. He creates mixed media art objects that focus on issues of racial justice, Latino history and leaders, and mental health. He works in painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, illustration, animation, and sculpture.
Cadex grew up in Belize, where he taught himself to draw and paint while looking at books in his town’s library. In 1994, Cadex immigrated to Minnesota and enrolled in an art school and received a Bachelor’s degree in photography and an emphasis in communication design. He remained in Minnesota and alongside his wife, is raising his family in the St. Paul/Minneapolis metropolitan area. In his day job he is an arts teacher with St. Paul Public Schools. He uses art to connect with his students who are experiencing behavioral issues and/or trauma. He brings the same care for mental health, overcoming historic traumas, and social justice to his art practice.
Through his Instagram account (@cadexherrera), Cadex shares his art series on a variety of issues he cares about: diversity, mental health, children in cages at the border, essential workers during COVID, freedom fighters from Belize and from Latin America, and the contributions of immigrants.
His aspirations as an artist is that through his art he can bring awareness and dialogue to a small fraction of the many social injustices in our communities. He believes social consciousness and art can be tools to exact positive change, as well as inspire to create and make a difference in our local as well as our global community.
Jordan Hamilton
Read Jordan’s bio
Jordan is a multi-disciplinary artist based in the Twin Cities. Bridging spirit aspirations & connections to earthly transformations & expressions – Jordan’s work reflects realities & explores cosmic & elemental energies through abstract & surrealist painting, murals, iconography, sculpture, collage, textile, mixed media & sonic art. Jordan is a community/teaching artist, a founding member of the Power of Vison mural project & Creatives After Curfew mural collective, as well as a member of the Million Artist Movement & Voice of Culture. He is also the creator of Ancestral Aspects Adornment.
Bayou Bay
Read Bayou’s bio
Bayou Bay (fka Donald Thomas) (he/they/stardust pronouns) is a Twin Cities based installation artist and designer born in St. Paul on the occupied lands of the Dakota & Anishinaabe peoples. Bayou creates mixed-media art called Affirmation Mirrors composed mostly of fabric wrapped wood, yarn, mirrors, and beads. He also creates murals, art installations, digital illustrations, digital and print materials for artists and organizations, woodwork, and works as a teaching artist.
Bayou’s art and design embody themes of nature from the micro to the cosmic, black and collective liberation, healing trauma, time, portals, geometry, setting intentions for affirmations, asking questions, symbols, and identity exploration. Water is an especially strong theme in the work as HaHa Wakpa (the Mississippi River) has been a major influence in many levels of Bayou’s life.
Bayou is 1/3rd of the Studio Thalo artist collective, a member of the Million Artist Movement artist cooperative, and a collaborating muralist with the Creatives After Curfew mural collective.
Kao Lee Thao
Read Kao Lee’s bio
Kao Lee Thao is the visual artist and 3D animator behind Inner Swirl, where she taps into the subconscious and releases hidden inner swirls in paintings. All of her inspirations come from her dreams and personal experiences. With every stroke she leaves behind a window into her soul, hoping to spark inspiration in others to transport viewers to a world of fantasy, reminding us not to forget what imagination can accomplish in life.
Milkessa
Read Milkessa’s bio
Milkessa Gaga is an Oromo artist based in Blaine, Minnesota. Inspired by Japanese manga and anime and informed through his experiences as a Black person, his work primarily focuses on depicting Black characters. Through this celebration of Black people, he hopes to contribute to the creation of an exciting future for other Black fans of the manga/comic genre.
Thomasina TopBear
Read Thomasina’s bio
Thomasina TopBear is a self-taught artist, muralist, published illustrator and organizer from the Oglala Lakota & Santee Dakota Nations. She is a board member of the international all female paint crew Few & Far Women and co-founder of City Mischief Murals, an all BIPOC artist collective, centered on healing through art. Specializing in large-scale murals her work can be seen on the sides of buildings throughout the country. Thomasina has organized a number of events focusing on empowering and creating safe spaces for youth and fellow artists to practice their crafts. She draws influences from her Oceti Sakowin culture while using art to express thoughts on community, social justice, spirituality and togetherness.
Thomasina has worked with numerous institutes and organizations including, Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hennepin Theatre Trust, Minneapolis College of Arts and Design, University of MN and Saint Paul College. She is a grant recipient of Forecast Public Art, Knight Foundation, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Wes Winship
Read Wes’s bio
Wes Winship is an Asian American muralist, fine artist, and printmaker with roots in the Twin Cities graffiti and street art scene. Winship co-founded the award-winning graphic arts + screen printing studio Burlesque of North America, Chroma Zone Mural & Arts Festival, and an influential graffiti magazine, LSD, in the late 1990s. As an entrepreneur, he’s built a creative legacy in the Twin Cities and beyond over the past 3 decades. His live painting has been featured at events such as Soundset, X-Games, and Eaux Claires Festival.
Call Details
- Call duration: June 16 – July 14, 2023
- Open to muralists based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
- Open to individual muralists / teams; 1 muralist / team per wall.
- Budget for each mural: $15,000.
- 3 semi-finalists were selected for each of the 7 walls
- Each semi-finalist received $1,000 to create a site-specific proposal.
- Selected artists announced in spring 2024
- Preference was given to artists who are connected to a Cultural Destination Area in Saint Paul.
- Muralists / teams with connections to a Cultural Destination Area were encouraged.
Selection Process
- Each mural/mural team was chosen through a selection process led by Forecast. A Cultural Destination Area Selection Committee was comprised of representatives from each of the seven areas that the city defined as a Cultural Destination Areas.
- Forecast worked with PED and the Downtown Alliance to identify and secure permissions for seven walls/locations in the downtown Cultural District.
- Artist/artist teams selected by the Cultural Destination Area Selection Committee were matched with a downtown wall based on content, skill, size, and other context determined for each site.
- All completed murals will enliven downtown with the aim of bringing greater appreciation and awareness to the diversity of Saint Paul neighborhoods.
Muralist Workshop
Project Overview
On Saturday, July 8, 2023, we offered a FREE workshop for muralists based in Saint Paul. Muralists at all career stages and experience levels were invited to learn practical and tactical subject matter. Content included: Defining Public Art, Public Art Identity, Community Engagement, Local Mural Guest Panelists, Budget, and Contracts.
Workshop Details
Forecast Consultant Candida Gonzalez (@candida612) facilitated the workshop at the George Latimer Central Library in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Local Guest Panelists:
Connor Rice (CRICE)
Read CRICE’s bio
Connor Rice (CRICE) is a Minneapolis College of Art and Design alumni from Southside Minneapolis. He gains his inspiration from Hip-Hop as well as history and uses art to document the issues and motifs of pan-Africanist realities. His work seeks to comment on the exploitation of the Black identity and to reflect on personal experiences within a euro-centric society. One of his main goals within art is to bridge the gap between the more established art scene and under represented communities of color.
Thomasina TopBear
Read Thomasina’s bio
Thomasina TopBear is a self taught artist, muralist, published illustrator and organizer from the Oglala Lakota & Santee Dakota Nations. She is a board member of the international all female paint crew Few & Far Women and co-founder of City Mischief Murals, an all BIPOC artist collective centered on healing through art. Specializing in large-scale murals her work can be seen on the sides of buildings throughout the country. Thomasina has organized a number of events focusing on empowering and creating safe spaces for youth and fellow artists to practice their crafts. She draws influences from her Oceti Sakowin culture while using art to express thoughts on community, social justice, spirituality and togetherness.
Katrina Knutson
Read Katrina’s bio
Katrina Knutson was born in South Minneapolis and raised on working class ethics, progressive politics, street art and hip-hop. She has a deep love of studying and learning through experiences. She has traveled, worked and painted everywhere from Mexico City to Toronto, looking for inspiration under bridges, on the streets, and in galleries across North America, and up and down Lake Street, and Franklin Ave the main arteries that connect South Minneapolis and St Paul. Katrina works as a teaching artist, illustrator and community muralist. Art is a tool that can amplify resistance and help us create a more just world.
Questions?
contact Jen Krava
jenk@forecastpublicart.org
About Forecast Public Art
A nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul and working nationally, Forecast partners with artists and communities throughout Minnesota and the country to activate, inspire, and advocate for public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity. Forecast’s team partners with decision-makers and stakeholders on arts and cultural planning efforts, and supports public artists with funding, training, and opportunities to create partnerships and advance their public art careers. They also help others find, select, curate, fund, and commission public artists. Forecast emphasizes access for artists of color, Indigenous and/or Native artists, and groups that are traditionally excluded.
(651) 641-1128
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