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Guardians of the Flame
This piece depicts three main figures. The composition of the mural is as follows: to the left, there is a phoenix. Behind it is a dragon that winds to the right and wraps around a woman. The form and placement of the dragon around the woman create a sense of protection. The contrast of the colors, the cool-toned blues and greens against the warm-toned reds, oranges, and yellows, creates a dynamic effect. The starkness of the yellow against everything else makes the eye immediately draw to the woman, making her seem the “center” or the most significant part of the piece. The lines at the bottom, curvy and cloud-like, create a sense of movement in the piece. The lines on the bird (the details of the feathers) and the scales on the dragon also echo this sense of movement, making the creatures seem more alive and dynamic. The use of pictorial space creates a slight illusion of 3-dimensional form, as the bird seems to be placed closer (in front of) the dragon, with the woman farther back. This placement of the characters places the phoenix and the dragon the closest to the front, again almost acting as protection, as they put their bodies first and shield the woman more behind them. The scale of the painting is quite large, taking up a whole side of a building. This large scale creates quite a daunting and breathtaking effect. As the viewer looks at it from below, it's like the figures are towering over them, emitting a sense of power and presence. -
Mimosa Pudica
This mural features predominately curved, unbroken lines, creating the shapes of the raindrops, the human figure and the plant. Additionally, the work primarily has inorganic shapes, again creating the inorganic shapes of the raindrops, the subject, and the plant. There are circles used for the sunglasses and the figure’s body creates a sort of triangular shape within the space. The figure is composed nearly in the center of the mural. Further, the piece in its entirety is given an unusual shape; an oval being the base shape with the figure extending beyond its borders. The piece is fairly symmetrical with some extra weight given to the right side through the subject’s pose. The focal point of the piece is the subject’s face, framed by the pink gloves they wear. A muted, navy background contrasts the bright neon greens and pinks of the rest of the piece. The brightness of the neon creates an intensity that the mural as a whole emulates, while the color palette creates a sense of harmony throughout the piece. The repetition of the raindrops on either side of the figure also creates a sense of unity in the mural. The texture of the building is somewhat apparent in the mural, while the highlights and shadows on the subject’s skin and gloves creates a sense of smoothness and shininess. There is not much white space in this work, the background filled in with the plant and pattern of raindrops. The proportion of the figure is a bit distorted, the right leg and foot larger in comparison with the rest of the figure. Additionally, the size of the umbrella, being only a drink umbrella, is extremely disproportionate to the figure. The mural itself is larger than life, extending the height of a two-story wall. -
United Tribes
The United Tribes Mural features bold, graffiti-style typography that stretches across a long brick wall under an overpass in the Little Earth community. The words “United Tribes” dominate the composition, painted in large block letters outlined in deep navy and filled with gradient hues of tan, orange, and blue. The color transition give the look of a sunset across an open landscape, grounding the piece in the natural imagery of the plains and sky. Within the letters, subtle silhouettes of tipis and tree lines appear, linking the graffiti aesthetic with traditional Indigenous symbols of the local community. The layering of modern street art techniques and Native iconography visually represents a dialogue between generations a meeting of urban and ancestral identity. The mural’s placement under the bridge adds to its visual impact; it acts almost like a threshold between two worlds the built environment of the city below and the rooted Indigenous presence above where you can see a mural across the whole street. The clean, confident lines and harmonious color palette lend a sense of calm strength and unity. Despite being a simple text-based mural, it conveys a deep sense of belonging and pride. The formal balance between bold lettering and the soft colors gives the artwork both structure and emotional warmth, symbolizing stability and connection within the community it represents. -
Mural Welcomes Families to East Lake Street
This mural was made initially for the sole purpose of a new building that City Mischief has on Lake Street. The mural was a way to create a welcoming presence of the agency. The agency says “The mural brightens the space and reflects the diversity and strengths of all the diverse cultures of the neighborhood. “The images are especially powerful for children to identify with, including those attending The Family Partnership’s Four” Directions Family Center.” (city mischief). Every single person and symbol on the mural had meaning behind it. First thing was they put some symbols and people to symbolize the first nations of people on the land we are on today. The symbols include a jingle dress dancer which symbolizes and honors Ojibwe medicine and space and even there being the Lakota star which represents their connection to the spirit world, wisdom, and the cycle of life. To honor Latino culture, it highlighted a women wearing a Latin skirt which had the colors of the Mexican flag on it followed by orange and yellow marigold flowers which in Latino culture represent a powerful symbol for Dia de los Muertos. Additionally, because the huge population of east Africans in Minneapolis they also implemented quite a lot of symbols including a butterfly the color of the Somali flag, an east African mother reading to her child, and some pink flowers called the king protea which is the national flower in Somalia. Because of the death of Geroge Floyd which elevated the Black Lives Matter movement, they added the Black Lives Matter fist to memorialize him, and the many other lives lost in not only Minneapolis but everywhere else as well. This whole mural had intent and was incredibly detailed, everything on there is not only for looks but is a representation of lake street Minneapolis. -
Together
Raúl Villanueva’s Together mural stretches across the exterior wall of the East Lake Street Target, presenting a symmetrical composition filled with color, rhythm, and balance. The mural features groups of people of color kneeling or standing on either side of a central image of six interconnected hands reaching toward a yellow butterfly. Each figure holds their hands open, as if giving or receiving, surrounding blossoms that appear to grow through and connect them. The entire composition flows horizontally, framed by a soft blue background that brightens the figures and reinforces the mural’s message of openness and unity.
Color is central to the design: rich yellows, pinks, reds, and greens contrast with the cool blue background, symbolizing warmth, life, and renewal. The repeated pattern of three butterflies in each section unites the mural, creating a rhythm that mirrors the theme of connection. The flowers’ stems intertwine through the hands and figures, visually representing growth as a shared process—each person contributing to something larger than themselves.
Villanueva’s use of symmetry and repetition brings a sense of balance and calm to the work, while subtle variations in gesture and tone prevent it from feeling static. The smooth shapes, rounded forms, and harmonious colors echo the community’s desire for healing after hardship. Viewed as a whole, the mural creates a gentle but powerful visual reminder of togetherness, compassion, and continuity. -
Crown Our Prince
Hiero Veiga's portrait captures three different “looks” of Prince. He uses vibrant colors, natural forms of floral patterns, and intricate details to emphasize the uniqueness of the artist’s identity and persona. Scale immediately impacts where viewers choose to stand as they view this piece; because of its size, we will take a step back, in hopes to “take in” all the mural’s qualities. All three of the depictions of Prince are far larger than life size, with the image of Prince standing with a guitar taking up more than half of the entire piece. The image of Prince that appears closet to the viewers because it is brought to the foreground of the mural (also known as overlapping), gives a sense of personal connection to the musician, and allows us to make eye contact and absorb every detail of his purple top, jewelry, strands of hair, etc. Veiga is once again paying attention to form in the context of detailing, as the ends of each strand of hair and the feathers of his pink scarf are very delicate. Veiga also chose to make the image of Prince that is most iconic or identifiable as the primary subject, so cars driving from multiple blocks away, or those walking on high floors of a building, are still able to easily understand who the mural is dedicated to—those that are standing below it, of course, get the full experience. Veiga also made the stylistic choice of having the largest depiction of Prince looking straight on to the audience with a fierce gaze, amplifying the emotional power; however, the smaller Prince images have their heads slightly turned sideways or showing his side profile, which creates a more sensitive or realistic version of his day to day persona. Though he is posing in the far-right image, we can see his facial hair is fuller, and his hair is styled more freely, which exudes a feeling of rawness or humanization to the mural. -
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Kobra has kept his signature kaleidoscopic effect for this mural as he does for all his murals. The triptych composition creates a visual timeline to depict Bob Dylan in the three stages of his career over the five story 150 feet long piece. The size of it transforms Bob Dylan from a private figure to a public icon for anyone that passes by downtown Minneapolis. It’s meant to ensure everyone can see this piece. The kaleidoscope effect uses bold geometric patterns like the lines and diamonds we see on this piece. These intersecting lines from the background look like patchwork. Additionally, Kobra used bright and vibrant colors to contrast monochrome portraits to emphasize the tension between individuality and cultural diversity. The guitar being in the middle is to display the transition in Bob Dylan's Career, however Kobra thoughtfully adds a monotone line through the middle of it. He does this to display the guitar as a part of Bob Dylan for his entire career, not just part of it. -
Sometimes Water Keeps Us Grounded
Sydney James’ “Sometimes Water Keeps Us Grounded” mural was painted as a part of the Chroma Zone art festival in the Creative Enterprise Zone district of Saint Paul, MN. Painted on a plain white wall, the mural depicts a detailed portrait of a young Dakota girl wearing a red shirt decorated with cartoon-like characters. She is only seen from mid-torso and up, showing mostly her head, neck, and shoulders. The characters on her shirt are a teal color and have a pinkish-coral hair color. The character on the left appears to be a woman holding and looking at a baby, presumably her own child. The other character on the girl’s shirt is a woman wearing purple robes; her hair is a lighter shade of pink than the woman on the left. She has horns on her head, as well as a halo hovering behind her head and wings on her back. The horns, halo, and wings are all painted in yellow, complementing other features of the t-shirt design. The angel is holding out her hand to show a small boy holding a star. Beneath the angel’s hand, “Hey Momma” is painted in white with a heart as well as a dedication, “Sydney’s Homage to Birdcap XOXO.” Birdcap is another street artist whom James wanted to honor in her mural. Behind the girl is her shadow painted in various colors. The horizontal lines of colors include shades of purple, blue, pink, green, magenta, and red. The girl’s shadow is given texture through dots of different colors and shades, as well as lines that give the appearance of stacked squares. -
Chimborazo Is Here
In Pablo Kalaka’s "Chimborazo is Here," Kalaka’s vibrant style is evident with his use of bright and highly contrasting colors. The wall itself that the mural was painted on has differing depths, with the front wall of Aspro Auto Sales protruding out from the larger wall of Amaana Adult Daycare Center. As an observer taking in the large mural as a whole, the eye first travels to the piece of “canvas” closest to the observer, which is the awning protruding out from the auto sales office, which Kalaka painted a shingle-like effect with various pinks and reds of various sizes and depths. Below the awning, on the wall of the auto sales office, Kalaka uses the natural set up of the business to set his scene. He paints vibrant green and blue shutters around the existing windows, and paints his own window scene, where he paints a man and a woman appearing inside the building, accommodating the request of a young patron on the outside of the window. On the left side of the mural, Kalaka creates depth with his placement of Mount Chimborazo in the background and an Andean Condor in the foreground. Preceding the mountain, Kalaka lays several wavy, horizontal lines. These lines are filled in with light blue in the foreground and fade into a darker blue close to the mountain, giving the visual of moving waters. Billowing clouds rise up around the snowcapped mountain. The bird and the surrounding vegetation flow into the upper portion of the wall and a continuation of the foreground. The lush vegetation and wildlife settles in behind the illusion of a local business with a beautiful Chimborazo view. Kalaka gives the illusion of the lush vegetation from overlapping and stacked leaves and flowers. Colors pop in this section with bright and contrasting greens and blues of leaves versus oranges and reds of flowers and a cardinal. Kalaka places two other people on the mural as well. On the far right side of the mural, he painted a woman cloaked in magenta, wearing a hijab with detailed natural creases and shadows. Around her, the illusion of wind is given by Kalaka, with garments and fabrics given a billowing effect, as they appear to be blowing in the wind while being hung out to dry. On the side wall of the protruding auto sales business, not visible when viewing the mural from “head on”, Kalaka paints a man walking next to the blue trimmed front door of the business. Like the woman’s hijab on the opposite side, the man’s clothing is given impressive detail and depth with the use of wrinkles and shadows. The man appears old, with a visibly wrinkled face and cane in his right hand. -
The Horrors Persist But So Do I
The mural —painted on a sky-blue wall— depicts the artist’s interpretation of the Chinese wood dragon with a solar eclipse in totality. The dragon seems in motion snaking across the wall. The dragon is surrounded by stylized black, starry clouds as well as several colorful leafy and circular motifs. There are also depictions of butterflies and the wind on either side of the dragon. On the far left is the previously mentioned solar eclipse.
Composition: Very horizontal, designed to fit the long and low height of the “canvas”. Viewers’ eyes are immediately drawn to the dragon head, which is then led across the entire piece by the movement of the dragon. The composition is asymmetrically balanced. The detailed head of the dragon on the left is counterweighted by the length of its body and tail, which stretches across two-thirds of the mural. The solar eclipse acts as a visual anchor for the mural. Line: Bold contour lines are used to define the body of the dragon, as well as its horns, scales, and facial features. The flowing quality of the mural contrasts with the rigid and angular brick wall background.
Color: The palette is very vibrant and saturated. The dragon is drawn in cool shades of purples, greens, and teals. The black of the surrounding clouds is very important to the piece, as it functions as a negative space that helps “push” the colorful dragon forward, making it pop out even more.
Light: The mural does not use realistic lighting. Instead, it is graphically lit. The forms are flat, defined by color fills within the black outlines.
Depth: Depth is implied through overlapping. The dragon’s body weaves in front and behind the dark clouds. This simple layering is enough to separate the elements of the mural. Form: The forms are fundamentally two-dimensional and graphic.
Texture: The actual texture is that of the rough brick wall, which breaks up the illusion of the smoothness of the painted lines. The implied texture, however, is very soft, evident in the rendering of the dragon itself.