Cross the Mississippi River on Saint Paul's Marshall Avenue and it morphs into Minneapolis' Lake Street — a colorful kaleidoscope of cultures.
As Lake Street's collection of murals grows, so does its sense of safety, beauty and community — thanks to groups of artist-activists.
Chicano artist Jimmy Longoria and his organization, Mentoring Peace Through Art, is one such group. The team paints local businesses with murals, Jimmy says, "embracing huge spans of wall, every inch covered in a jungle of graffiti-deterring, ribbony paint."
MPTA's goal: to "foster youth leadership through art projects, forge strong communities and fulfill expectations that art works."
Allison Muotka is an intern at MPTA. She listens to The Current.
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