Finding Art in the Minneapolis Cultural Districts

Author: Ali Elabbady

Art on the wall can lay so much of a narrative for a city. Within the Minneapolis Cultural Districts the art that is present among the walls can share stories of the people, serve as tribute or remembrance to those who paved the way, and lay groundwork for the many people that have revolutionized the arts and culture around them simply by way of Minneapolis. Within the Cultural Districts, one can not only find places to stare or take a photo with friends, but they’ll also find the stories of Minneapolis and the cultures housed within the Cultural Districts that one may not be used to hearing. Here are some spots where you can find those stories within the murals, memorials, and sculptures present in the Cultural Districts of Minneapolis.

George Floyd Square

(38th Street)

38th and Chicago is widely known as the place where George Floyd took his last breath and started a galvanized movement against unjust brutality at the hands of police. George Floyd Square is filled with murals, such as George’s face painted in black and white that hangs next to Unity Foods by Peyton Scott Russell, and Jordan Powell-Karis’s fist sculpture standing in the center of the square.

West Wall Cedar Cultural Center — Coyle Community Center

(Cedar Ave S)

A companion piece to the many voices that lent stories to the Tableau Congeries, this mural contains all the flags that house the multiple cultures that reside or have resided within the Cedar Riverside parameters. The mural also features the Cedar Riverside Apartments, and displays its wider known alternate moniker for the University of Minnesota students as “the West Bank.”

PILLLAR Forum Mural at the Southside of 2300 Central: Biafra & Wundr

(Central Ave)

Known for its reputation for being the first climate positive skateboarding companies, PILLAR’s Forum is a cafe operation that helps contribute to the ongoing wave of food offered along the Central Avenue corridor, and the people that reside within its confines. To showcase its contributions, Biafra & Wundr created a mural that is in dedication to the foods that can be found along the Central Avenue cultural district. While its mystifying 3D-esque rendering may look like it was shredded by some massive claws, the intention and homage is very omnipresent.

Emiliano Zapata Statue: Germán Michel Leal

(East Lake Street)

Provided as a gift to the city of Minneapolis for its collaborative efforts as being sister cities with Cuernavaca, the capital city of Morelos, Mexico since 2008. It is also the birthplace of Emiliano Zapata Salazar, a hero who is celebrated for fighting for the rights of Indigenous people, and poor people. The governor of Morelos provided this statue of Zapata, and was unveiled on East Lake Street during open streets to celebrate the Mexican owned and operated businesses that line East Lake Street, and is the central focal point of Plaza Centenario at 12th and East Lake Street.

Water of the Dodem Spirits Sculpture: Peter Morales

(Franklin Ave)

Erected in 2009, this fountain made of granite by artist Peter Morales is inspired by the story of Turtle Island. Turtle Island is the name for Earth, or North America, and is based on the Native American and Mesoamerican story of creation by the Lenape and Haudenosaunee People. Both tribes, along with several others, believed that land emerged out of the waters, supported upon the back of a turtle. In Morales’ statue, the stylized fish represents the waters, a turtle spouting water represents Turtle Island, and a crow who gazes upon the drinker represents the sky.

Turning Leaves at North Regional Library Minneapolis on Lowry Ave N: Marjorie Pitz

(Lowry Ave)

Made up of three different sculptures and different kinds of wood used for each sculpture, Marjorie Pitz created these sculptures that sit inside the North Regional Library to be interacted with. “My hope is that visitors to the library will feel closer to nature through their reflection on the leaves, as well as the trees from which they were made and the transformations that are part of life,” Marjorie mentioned in her artist statement.

Juxtaposition/​City of Skate Skateable Art Plaza Mural: TATS CRU

(West Broadway)

While the TATS CRU has been known for their awesome mural work, especially those that were created for and that pay tribute to artists in the world of Hip-Hop, they were commissioned by Juxtaposition Arts and City of Skate with helping bring together this awesome plaza and skate park at the corner of Emerson and Broadway, and if one looks hard enough, you might see a nod to the Purple one in the mural, too. Learn more about the Minneapolis Cultural Districts by visiting minneapolis.org/cultural-districts