The murals of industrial St Paul: an easy walking tour

It was a gorgeous day in the pandemic today. Too gorgeous to work all day, especially on a Friday and especially when I have all night to work. So I was thrilled to get an email from TPT with a list of murals in St Paul in a pretty walkable space – well distance. The murals were actually in a very industrial area of the city but it was perfect for social distancing so I headed out.

I’m going to borrow from the TPT article to get the basics info with a few notes from my day and the extra art and stories I found on the way…

Martzia Thometz Mural at the Universe Buildings, 670 Vandalia Street. These hands are across from the Dubliner pub. It’s an area where a lot of laborers work. I love that the hands are feminine and hard working.

Farther west down University is Mr. Kiji‘s Mural at Dual Citizen Brewing Co., 725 Raymond Avenue. Very geometric, it’s a blast of color that you can just about see from 280.

Then back near Barely Brother’s Records is the Ask Why mural by Christina Vang, Teeko Yang & Oskar Ly at Oak Tree Arts, 809 Carlton Street. It reminds me of U ARE ALIVE street art in Dublin by Maser & Arches. I’m a sucker for words.

And my brush with greatness, I happened to run into Adam Linz, jazz bassist extraordinaire on my way to Ask Why. I even said hello!

Down close to Hwy 280, near the park, I saw Priscila De Carvalho‘s Mural at Budget Sign Shop, 2474 W. Territorial Road. The colors are great and I like to see the bridge connecting what I assume are St Paul and Minneapolis. Then there some Joy of the People gate art and a fun garage.

Next I made my way to the Hampden Coop to see Cey Adams Mural at 928 Raymond Avenue. The giant Love is a day brightener and fun to see the tiny flowers, which are remnants from Flower Offensive in 2015 stuck to the back of a sign.

Then it’s a step into the industrial with Claudia Valentino & Daniela Biamchini’s Mural at Precision Coatings, 2313 Wycliff Street. It’s hard to tell from the picture but the powerful fist in the air is punctuated with a ring of mirrors. It was so bring on a sunny day; I’m curious about it on a stormy day.

Right around the corner is the Fadlabi Mural at Wycliff, 2327 Wycliff Street – North Side. I like the cartoon super-hero feel of the picture.

The mother and child Mural by Mariela Ajras at Wycliff, 2327 Wycliff Street – South Side was so touching. Made even more touching by being so out of place in an industrial part of town.

Next is the Chroma Zone Mural and Art Festival mural. The festival happened just last year (2019) when 15 artists worked on 12 mural. I found almost all of the mural and a few that weren’t on their list.

Just down the road was the Chuck U Mural at Spot Weld, 2290 Wycliff Street. I love the blue and I’m a fan of his work. I bought a print a few years back at the Indeed Brewery during Art a Whirl. You may recognize his work from Indeed beer cans.

I love the eyes of Biafra, Inc.‘s Mural at Bro-Tex, 800 North Hampden Avenue. If you’ve ever been to the Urban Growler, you’ve probably seen these – or at least they have seen you.

A bid of a walk away is Ewok‘s Mural at Tech Dump, 860 Vandalia Street. This is so fitting for the wall of the Tech Dump. It’s very geeky and just perfect.

I don’t have the artist on these murals. They are right by Can Can Wonderland. It’s glimpse at St Paul through the ages. I did notice that the ice pick guy mural includes neighborhood names – and includes Macalester Park. I’ve never heard Park – always Macalester Groveland and now I’m tempted to see if it used to be Park. We’ll know the quarantine has gone on too long when I report back on that one!