Crown Our Prince

Title

Crown Our Prince

Creator

Hiero Veiga

Date

Date of Creation: June 2022

Date of Documentation: November 9 2025

Description

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.

Subject

In the words of Hiero Veiga, this mural embodies Prince’s musical freedom, self-identity, and truth. When he thinks of the icon, he is reminded that Prince “was not about playing by the rules, but playing by his own,” and it was never about fitting within categories of rock, pop, or R&B, but blurring the lines between them (Robinson). The three “looks” of Prince take us through different eras of his life, starting with how he looked as a teenager who is new to the music scene, then his Purple Rain era, and ending with his appearance near his death (Ryan). It was only fitting that this mural was created in the city he was from and chose to stay near up until his passing. This mural was a plan of over 7 years in the making, and when the Joan Vorderbruggen and Sharon Smith-Akinsanya, some of the leaders of the project, were asked to comment, they shared to memorialize him through art, as he would have wanted (Stroozas). Veiga was selected because of his mastery of murals, and knowledge of Prince and his Minnesota roots. This mural works as an inspiration of those in all walks of life—the downtown area has a large population of individuals experiencing homelessness, trauma, etc. People of all races, ages, sexual orientations, etc., will be walking past this mural with the expectation to feel something, and be inspired to be anything they want to be. This mural aims to revitalize this area and encourage community engagement. According to MIX 108, the mural will be maintained by Downtown City Council of Minneapolis for the next 30 years.

Rights

Artist: Hiero Veiga

Researcher: Gianna Mitchell

Source

Robyne Robinson. “Behind Hiero Veiga’s New Minneapolis Prince Mural.” Artful Living Magazine, 31 May 2022, artfulliving.com/prince-mural-hiero-veiga-artist-interview/.

Ryan, Jeanne. “The Giant Mural of Prince Is Finally Finished and on Display in Downtown Minneapolis.” MIX 108, 2 June 2022, mix108.com/the-giant-mural-of-prince-is-finally-finished-and-on-display-in-downtown-minneapolis/.

Stroozas, Sam. “Prince Mural in Downtown Minneapolis Unveiled at Block Party.” MPR News, 2 June 2022, www.mprnews.org/story/2022/06/02/prince-mural-unveiled-in-minneapolis. Veiga, Hiero. “About.” Hiero Veiga, hieroveiga.com/about. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.