Mexico’s mural movement is pre-Colonial, with the Olmec tribal nation known for large-scale murals, a tradition that continued through colonization. Later, the more formal first wave of the Latinx muralist movement began in the 1920s, following the Mexican Revolution. The art was laden with political, social, historical, and cultural elements that enabled Mexican artists of the time to claim their own styles, distinct from those popular in Europe. Curious Americans explored and appreciated the style, which enabled Mexican artists to take their work across the border into the United States. Later, in the 1960s Chicano movement, which championed the cultural and social empowerment of American-born Latinx people in the face of adversity, a resurgence of Latinx-led murals in the Twin Cities followed.

Today, this tradition is still very much alive and well in Minneapolis. Cruise along East Lake Street to see vivid, grand-scale murals along the corridor. While Lake Street murals were present before the 2020 uprising in response to the murder of George Floyd, many got a refresh after civil unrest. Since then, the Lake Street Council has funded over 40 art projects, including murals, sculpture, and more. Several local Latinx artists and collectives participated, like Victor Yepez, Gustavo Lira, Tierra Diaz, Xilam Balam Ybarra, Melodee Strong, Pablo Kalaka, Copla Murals, Olivia Levins Holden, El Niño Perdido, Rodrigo Oñate Roco, and more.

The murals incorporate and celebrate elements of Latinx history and culture:

• A building-sized portrait of Frida Kahlo, her hair adorned in cempizutchil, marigolds, and holding a Xoloitzcuintle, the revered Mesoamerican hairless dog breed on the exterior of Ocampo Plaza. Hummingbirds wrap around the other side, significant to the precolonial Mexica people, believed to be the souls of fallen warriors.
• Outside of La Parcela Produce is a mural honoring food as medicine, with Mother Nature represented as an elder woman, hands holding multicolored maize, and mushrooms are featured.
• Both Mercado Morelia and Supermercado La Mexicana feature motifs that incorporate butterflies, symbolizing the returning of passed loved ones during Dia de los Muertos, the journey of migration, and are tied to Mexican Indigenous crafts and dances.
• For a stunning and immersive piece of art, stroll, roll, or bike below the Hiawatha Lake underpass. “Community Wellness Through the Medicine Wheel” is a stunning mixed media piece that artists conceptualized with hundreds of community members and students about what contributes to their ideas of wellness. It is a massive mosaic and mural piece that speaks to many facets of the diverse Minneapolis community, with bold representation from Latinxes. Immigrant community members of all backgrounds are represented, carrying their homes on their backs, monarch butterflies float throughout, hands on a loom weaving what is reminiscent of a serape, a Latin American blanket, representing the way many facets of our community are woven together.

While the murals I mentioned above are some of my favorites, they are just the tip of the artistic iceberg in this iconic Lake Street corridor; the only way to be sure to explore them all is with a mural tour, peppered with stops for tacos, pan dulce, and helados along the way, of course.

While Lake Street is a fantastic place to explore Latinx art and culture, experience the fruits of cooperative action by visiting Mercado Central. Brightly colored, with its own mural celebrating the contributions of Latinxes in Minneapolis and the places they come from, it is both a marketplace and a cultural hub. This cooperatively run market hosts 35 vendors offering food, services, and retail catering to and run by the local Latinx community. If you’re looking for a place to dine on pan dulce, fresh tortillas, freshly cut meat from the butcher, sweet and savory tamales, pupusas, Mexican candies, and more. Explore the craftsmanship and culture of Latin America at stalls filled with regional textiles, jewelry, religious art, gifts, herbal remedies, and apparel. Services offered are centered on the Spanish-speaking community and include real estate, psychotherapy, legal assistance, a salon, a service that helps Latinx contractors find work, and more.

While this may simply seem like a Latinx mall, it’s also a spot that hosts community fundraisers, events, cultural celebrations, and seasonal experiences. It’s my favorite place to get marigolds, copal incense, and tiny sculptures for my Dia de los Muertos altar, and I can buy supplies for cascarones, decorated and confetti-filled Easter eggs in the spring. While I do not consider myself religious, I am a spiritual person, and similarly, many members of the Latinx community have strong ties to faith, spirituality, and religion, without which Mercado Central may not even exist.

Since it opened its doors in 1997, Mercado Central has been dedicated to the economic empowerment of the local Latinx community and is rooted in faith-based collaboration. Founders Juan Linares, Ramon Leon, and Sal Miranda connected in 1992 with like-minded Latinxes at the local church Sagrado Corazón. With help from Interfaith Action, a social justice organization centering faith, an interfaith caucus was formed that facilitated Mercado Central’s opening.

Stories like this are not uncommon, as religious spaces and faith-based organizations in Minneapolis have long been hubs of belonging for many Latinxes who have landed in the city. In the early 1980s, few Twin Cities churches were leading Spanish masses. An influx of Spanish-speaking patrons seeking a place to worship and a sense of belonging led the Whittier neighborhood's St. Stephen’s to commit to weekly mass. These connections, over time, led to the establishment of more spaces for Latinx- and Spanish-centered celebrations of weddings, baptisms, quinciñeras, and more. Community centers and gathering spaces popped up in churches and church basements, and today, there are many options for those seeking to celebrate en la comunidád, like Iglesia Procesos En Cristo, La Luz Del Mundo, Iglesia Nuevo Pacto, and many more.

From humble beginnings as newcomers to Minneapolis to essential threads in the vibrant tapestry of our city, the cultural, faith-based, and creative impact of Latinxes is deeply woven into the fabric of Minneapolis–and the state.

It’s nearly impossible to miss Luis Fitch’s iconic calaveras, skulls, decorating the city and prominent along East Lake Street. This artist, known for his bold, papel-picado-inspired style helped design the new state flag. While our sibling city St. Paul has many spaces for Latinx art and theater, Minneapolis is catching up. Since 2012, Cine Latino has hosted five days of Spanish- and Portuguese-language cinema at The Main Cinema. More than just movies: parties, food trucks, and special guests all come together to celebrate Latinx storytelling on the silver screen.

Looking toward the future, local member-based COPAL, Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina, a grassroots organization rooted in community well-being, is working on opening its Latino Center for Community Engagement (LCCE). The future 16,000 square foot space is proposed as a “transformative community space.” As stated on its website, “this center will be a vibrant hub of unity, celebration, and cultural exchange, embodying the transnational spirit of our communities.” Plans involve a community space for events, an art gallery, a cafe, a greenhouse, and a soccer field. Expect more economic, health, and environmental justice opportunities supported by a resource center and by leasing space to organizations, with a priority given to those serving the Latinx community.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what COPAL accomplishes with this incredible opportunity – it doesn’t hurt that it’s easily within walking distance of my home, just off East Lake Street – and I know many others within and sharing community with the diaspora share the sentiment, too. It is an exciting moment to engage with the 10% – and growing – Latinx population in Minneapolis, and there are surely many more to come in the near future. I hope you will find your own favorite ways to interact, exchange cultures, learn, and grow together.