[0:00] My name is Andy Rodriguez. I'm the park [0:02] director for the city of St. Paul. Thank [0:03] you so much for being here. This is a [0:05] really exciting day. Look at this newest [0:08] mural in the city of St. Paul. Let's [0:10] give everybody a round of applause. [0:16] You all will hear from a lot of speakers [0:19] today, including our right track interns [0:21] who have done such an amazing job. Let's [0:22] give a shout out to them and their work [0:27] and all the partners and others that [0:29] have worked on this project and [0:30] specifically Alyssa Cedar Leafleaf Doll. [0:32] Thank you so much for your partnership [0:34] in making this happen. [0:37] It's a very happy day for us. If you [0:39] remember this tunnel before this artwork [0:41] was here and what it looked like, this [0:42] is a night and day difference and [0:44] something in my world that we call a [0:46] game changer and something that um we [0:49] can all look back and be proud of and [0:51] what this is in terms of community and [0:53] how it reflects this neighborhood. So, [0:55] thank you all so much for being here. [0:57] We're going to have a short program that [0:58] we'll get through. I am going to pass it [1:00] off to our new council member for W 4, [1:02] Council Member Molly Coleman. [1:07] Hey everybody, welcome to Ward 4. We are [1:10] so excited to have you all here tonight [1:12] to celebrate the opening of this [1:14] absolutely beautiful piece of public art [1:16] that is going to be enjoyed by so many [1:19] members of our community for so many [1:21] years to come. I just want to give a [1:23] huge huge thank you to our parks [1:25] department, to the right track program, [1:28] to Alyssa, to all of our student artists [1:30] who spent their summer researching, [1:34] learning, designing, painting this [1:36] mural. It truly took a village. It is [1:39] just absolutely I think for all of many [1:42] of us who probably walk or bike through [1:43] this tunnel often you know how [1:46] absolutely transformative it is how we [1:48] now have our stories of our city of our [1:51] community reflected on the walls um it's [1:54] just absolutely incredible so thank you [1:56] thank you thank you to our young people [1:57] who made this possible thank you to the [2:00] city and with that I am going to turn it [2:03] over to Shu to talk about the right [2:05] track program thank Thank you. [2:10] Um, yong. Everyone, my name is Sue. I am [2:13] the Right Track uh program um program [2:16] manager for the Right Track program. Uh, [2:18] Right Track is a city of St. Paul's [2:20] youth employment and training initiative [2:22] connecting over 1,000 young people to [2:24] each uh each year to high quality uh [2:28] internship and training opportunities [2:30] across industries uh including the [2:32] project we're celebrating today, the [2:34] McMur the McMurray mural. It's been a [2:36] true pleasure to witness and the [2:38] evolution of this mural from this early [2:40] stage of the community engagement last [2:42] July to the beautiful piece we have here [2:45] today. The mural holds a special piece [2:47] in my heart not only for the artistic [2:49] talent uh and value of our right track [2:52] interns but also the powerful [2:54] acknowledgement and celebration of the [2:56] moon culture and the vibrant moan [2:58] presence here in Minnesota. [3:00] [Applause] [3:02] I want to congratulate our right track [3:04] interns for your dedicated time, your [3:08] creativity, your passion to bring the [3:10] mural to life that your engagement [3:13] commitment is truly do shine. And [3:16] lastly, I want to thank Alyssa now for [3:18] your artistic talent, but not for your [3:22] engagement and your care throughout this [3:24] process, especially your mentorship and [3:27] your collaboration with our right track [3:28] interns. With that said, please join me [3:31] in welcoming our mirror artist, Alyssa. [3:34] [Applause] [3:37] >> This is just overwhelming all the people [3:39] here and in this setting. It's so cool. [3:42] Such a dynamic place. And that's because [3:44] you guys are all here. So, um, yeah, I [3:49] feel like I'm going to repeat, but the [3:50] most special thing tonight will be to [3:52] hear from our intern artists as they [3:53] describe the artwork that they got to [3:55] make. Back in June, before this started, [3:57] I got to go to Sweden and meet my [3:59] Swedish relatives. And in Sweden, they [4:02] were celebrating Midsummer and the elder [4:05] flowers were in bloom and people were [4:07] drinking elderflower juice. And when I [4:10] came to Komo Lake, there were elder [4:12] flowers along Komo Lake. This is my [4:14] section here encountering the deer in [4:17] Komo Park, the pavilion, and then the [4:20] elderflower connected to my culture. So [4:22] that was an exercise we did with the [4:24] interns is what do you find about [4:27] yourself when you come to KO? Find [4:30] yourself in KO. And after exploring for [4:33] a few weeks, the students chose animals [4:35] and plants and places that represented [4:37] who they are. Um we also had an [4:39] unofficial intern who's over here. He [4:43] had no idea what was going to hit him [4:44] when we landed at the Mung Cultural [4:46] Center. [4:48] And he gave us a tour of the Mung [4:51] Cultural Center and then became our Mung [4:53] um ambassador. And so it's just so cool [4:56] how he has exposed us and shared with us [4:58] parts about his Mung culture, especially [5:00] the food and um his enthusiasm and love [5:03] for his people's evident uh as well as [5:06] how much he's connected with our youth. [5:08] So, I want to thank the parks department [5:10] also, especially the people who let us [5:12] use that building. That building's like [5:14] a glorified locker room and we turned it [5:16] into a inside out arts studio. We just [5:19] exploded in there for like 3 months. It [5:22] looks really nice now. We repainted the [5:23] benches as a thank you. But it would not [5:26] have happened without the access to the [5:28] building and the access to this space [5:29] that we are granted from the parks [5:31] department. Um, Right Track, uh, you [5:34] know, Right Track continuing to work and [5:36] and helping support these students, the [5:38] stakeholders that came to our pitch. [5:40] These kids got to pitch their design in [5:42] a professional setting to a crowd of [5:45] about 10 stakeholders involved in this [5:47] project, whether it was parks, people [5:49] from my Minneapolis public schools, um, [5:52] from right track. And it was such a [5:54] special experience to feel supported by [5:55] them and also to present our work to [5:58] them. And finally, you guys. I couldn't [6:00] have asked for a better team. For real. [6:02] There were 200 students that wanted to [6:04] do this project. I did 25 interviews and [6:07] I picked the best six interns in the [6:09] whole city. So, I'm just going to say [6:12] that [6:14] you guys showed up every day. I don't [6:17] think anybody like legit missed a day. [6:20] Maybe one kid got sick once, Ethan. [6:23] Maybe not. No. All these guys came hard [6:27] from the start working bringing their [6:28] creativity and mostly they invested in [6:30] each other as friends and then as like [6:33] co-workers. They brought each other [6:34] food. They'd play games during lunch um [6:37] and they sent many many group texts that [6:40] are still going. So, it's been really [6:42] really fun. I'm so honored that you guys [6:44] all did this with me and I just can't [6:46] wait to see what you do with your [6:47] creative lives. So, we're going to hear [6:49] a little bit from them. Um, first I'm [6:52] just going to pass the mic to you Pang [6:54] to tell us about the section that we [6:55] dedicated to M people in St. Paul which [6:58] is right here. [7:01] You'll go next. [7:05] >> Come over here. [7:09] >> Hello everyone. I'm Eupang Jang. Um, I [7:13] came onto this project as one of the [7:14] monk consultant um by giving some of the [7:16] interns and Alyssa tour over at the M [7:18] cultural center. Lissa was not lying [7:20] when she said, "I did not know what I [7:22] was taking on." What was just a few text [7:24] messages of me answering questions to [7:26] Alyssa ended up being uh me being [7:29] invited to the unveiling in the uh the [7:31] pre uh one before we had this one here. [7:33] And I just went, "Oh my god, this is so [7:36] much bigger than I expected it to be. So [7:38] much bigger than I can even dream of." [7:40] And I'm so proud of these interns as [7:42] well too cuz I was here with them seeing [7:44] them work as well. And they are leaders [7:46] in their own way. And um I cannot be [7:48] more grateful to be a part of your [7:50] lives, a part of this project as well [7:51] too. And I look forward to seeing all of [7:53] you in the future once again on the [7:55] stage talking about your future [7:57] products. [8:00] So a little bit about this piece here. [8:02] It was an inspiration that uh Alyssa did [8:04] as well um inspiration of the monk [8:06] people. When I was asked about what [8:08] flower and what animal would represent [8:10] the monk people, the more I thought [8:11] about it, the only two that came to mind [8:13] was a chicken and a rice flour. And [8:16] that's not very exciting comparing to [8:17] every other ones that you see here. [8:19] However, for the monk people, chicken [8:22] and rice is a type of animal that can [8:24] survive anywhere. And that's kind of [8:26] like what the monk people were. [8:27] Adaptabilities through wars and [8:29] hardships. And even coming here to the [8:30] United States, um, in America, settling [8:33] here in Minnesota where they didn't [8:35] speak the language, they didn't look the [8:36] same either, too. It was simply like a [8:39] rice plant. The ability to grow and [8:41] adapt anywhere, too. was the inspiration [8:44] behind this piece as well too. So I [8:45] could really really couldn't be more [8:47] grateful to have a piece of this here [8:49] right here in the heart of St. Paul uh [8:51] here in Komar Park as well. Um so once [8:54] again thank you and I'm going to pass it [8:56] over to [8:59] Ethan's section now. [9:01] >> Yep. [9:04] Hello. I'm [9:06] Hello. I'm Ethan Kendall. Uh, I did the [9:10] this section of the mural. [9:13] Yeah, we were told to do plants and [9:15] animals and really the only ones that [9:18] came up came to mind were like, [9:22] >> okay, I I like drawing trees and also at [9:25] the time when we were looking up [9:26] animals, I wanted to draw a barn owl. [9:30] Why? I just felt like it. Okay. [9:34] like really that's that that is my [9:36] entire reasoning. [9:40] Yeah. Uh yeah, it's I also took the [9:44] winter theming because we live in [9:47] Minnesota. This place gets stupid cold. [9:50] There has to be at least one section of [9:52] this mural that has snow in it. [9:55] Otherwise, it's false advertising. [9:59] Yeah. [10:01] Well, yeah. [10:04] Yeah, there's I don't I I came without a [10:07] script prepared. Uh yeah, [10:10] >> just tell them like where you're going [10:12] to school. [10:12] >> Oh, I'm going to Augsburg. So, yeah. In [10:16] Minneapolis. So, yeah. Also, if you look [10:19] here, uh this is my initials. I Yeah. E [10:26] T and then K and then I inverted it and [10:30] stylized it because I wanted to. [10:33] >> You can pass it off to Mina. [10:35] >> Okay. Um where where where is me? [10:39] >> Oh, there you are. [10:46] >> Okay. So, this piece is the one that I [10:49] was working on all summer. Um, in the [10:52] picture there's one animal, two [10:54] different colors. Um, there's a jaguar [10:57] and there's a black jaguar. Um, I'm a [10:59] biracial individual and to pick one [11:02] animal that represented my culture was a [11:05] little bit um difficult at first, but I [11:09] seen how um a jaguar could be two [11:12] different colors. So, I used that and [11:14] I um added a monstera leaf because I [11:18] think they go really well with the [11:20] leopard or jaguar print and um I think [11:23] the colors go nice together. Um I also [11:26] came unprepared, but here is a train. [11:28] And the train was to represent the train [11:30] that is above this tunnel. Um because [11:34] it's kind of hard to ignore cuz it's [11:35] really loud. And also it's also [11:39] represents how some of the first um [11:41] black Americans to come to Minnesota [11:43] from the south were railroad workers. So [11:46] there's that. And I made some of these [11:49] designs on the bottom. And that's all. [11:53] [Applause] [11:56] >> Uh my name is Elijah Parker. This is my [11:59] section of the mural. Um, you know, like [12:02] Ethan had said and Alyssa had said, put [12:05] >> she had told us to, you know, pick like [12:07] an animal and a plant of some sort. And [12:11] I couldn't really pick an animal, but I [12:14] wanted to put some type of like not a [12:17] message, but what's it called? Like [12:20] memorial out there. Um, so the butterfly [12:23] I had drew that for my great grandma who [12:27] had um had breast cancer. She won, but [12:30] like she had passed away later on. Uh, [12:35] so I put this in there for her. There [12:38] was like a drawing that had said, "Float [12:40] like a butterfly. Sting like a bee." [12:42] >> So if you see obviously, you know, it [12:44] looks like a butterfly. You can't really [12:46] see it here, but this is like a stinger [12:48] right here. Um, I chose a sunflower [12:51] because my grandma right here, she likes [12:55] sunflowers and just plants in general in [12:57] nature. and sunflowers. I think they [13:00] like kind of bring peace as in like a [13:02] sign of peace. And in the background [13:06] there is a waterfall. You know, who [13:08] doesn't like waterfalls? Uh [13:12] and [13:13] I'm pretty sure I'm not going to say [13:16] this. So, um I'm pretty confident. I'm [13:19] like 99% sure that the dragonfly brings [13:21] like peace or hope in the M culture. Uh, [13:25] so I put that in there, too. And we have [13:29] some different symbols down here. I know [13:31] the one in the middle here is Mina's. [13:34] Uh, the one on the left is mine. And [13:36] this one, I think, is Yas means. So, [13:40] this is my section of the mural. [13:47] [Music] [13:49] >> All right. We're going to have Ali talk [13:50] about her section next. [13:55] See? Okay. Um hopefully I'm not talking [13:59] that [13:59] >> it's perfect. [14:00] >> Okay. So, it sounds so echoey. [14:05] >> Okay. I'll avoid I'll avoid laughing [14:07] alky. Okay. [14:10] So, um I tried painting marolds because [14:14] um my parents and stuff were like trying [14:16] to [14:18] what do you call it? Like um grow [14:19] marolds. It did not work out if I'm [14:21] going to be honest. [14:23] Um, but I als it's like also like a nice [14:26] um way to represent um my culture, which [14:29] I'm Hispanic. Um, and like mirolds like [14:32] are often used for Day of the Dead, but [14:33] also they could be used for like um fun [14:36] holidays or whatever besides Day of the [14:38] Dead. Anyway, um I chose the Slov [14:42] because we went to the Komo Zoo. [14:45] I'm blanking on the name. Um and I saw [14:48] the sloth and I'm like, "Oh, that's [14:49] pretty cool." So, I just chose it on a [14:51] whim. [14:52] Um, what else? Uh, the son over here. [14:56] Um, Ally, you'll see her thing later. [14:59] Um, she helped me like paint the face [15:01] and whatnot. And then, well, I feel like [15:04] a lot of people like sons with faces. I [15:06] don't know. Um, like you know, like I [15:09] was debating whether to put sunglasses [15:11] on it like like a little kid, but I [15:13] decided not to. Um, and [15:17] um, oh, this design pattern, whatever. [15:19] Um, [15:21] I based it off of like Aztec um, [15:24] clothing because I just thought it [15:25] looked cool. Um, [15:29] I think that's it. [15:36] >> Allie. Okay. So, now we have Ellie over [15:39] here. Give it up for her. [15:44] >> Hi guys. How's everyone doing so far? [15:47] >> Okay. So, my name is Ally. Um, this is [15:50] my mural. So, basically the focal point [15:53] is the tiger. I was for um Chinese like [15:57] zodiacs. They have like different [15:58] animals for like each different year. [16:01] So, I was born year of the tiger. And as [16:03] a kid, like my parents would always get [16:05] me like different tiger themed things. [16:07] So, I decided to put a tiger on my thing [16:10] cuz I feel like it just kind of I [16:11] resonate with it. I feel like I am a [16:13] tiger. I don't know. And then you can [16:16] see right here the conservatory. We all [16:18] know what the conservatory is if you've [16:20] been to Ko. If you haven't, it's just [16:22] like a conservatory for plants. It's [16:24] like a big landmark for Ko and kind of [16:26] like Minnesota. Um Ko Park is the most [16:30] diverse park in the state of Minnesota. [16:32] So I think it was cool to like add the [16:34] conservatory cuz it's such an important [16:36] landmark for motans. And right here you [16:40] can see different morning glories. I'm [16:41] pretty sure I added them because they're [16:43] kind of like I think they're like [16:44] curious or something. I'm just like a [16:46] very curious person. I was like asking [16:49] questions about different things and [16:51] whatever. So I added morning glories [16:54] spread around and then [16:56] um the yellow flowers right there. I'm [16:59] Cambodian which is a country in [17:00] Southeast Asia and the national flower [17:03] is called a rdul. So it's like this [17:06] yellow flower that you'll see in [17:08] Southeast Asia. So, I added that just to [17:10] rep some of the merch, rep some of the [17:13] heritage. And then, um, sorry, we added [17:16] a volleyball because I think volleyball [17:18] is a great sport, you know, bump serve. [17:21] And then the patterns down here, I made [17:22] this one with the hearts. Um, and we [17:25] have some like different more geometric [17:27] ones. And that one's Ali's. And then, as [17:29] you can see on my name right there, I [17:31] wrote my name in Cambodian. So, you [17:34] know, if you're Cambodian, you can read [17:35] it. And yeah. [17:37] >> Yeah. Thank you. [17:39] [Applause] [17:42] Okay, next up we should make some noise [17:44] for my girl Yasmine. Where is Oh. [17:48] [Applause] [17:51] Um, hi everybody. I'm Yasmine. Uh, this [17:54] is my section of the mural. Um, as you [17:56] can see, I have a lion and dandelion. [17:59] So, the lion is important to me because [18:02] I'm half Moroccan and um the lion is [18:05] like a symbol for like their soccer [18:07] teams and stuff like that, which I also [18:09] love soccer. So, um that's kind of how I [18:12] show that side of my family. Um and then [18:15] the dandelions, they're kind of like [18:17] this simple flower that you see like all [18:20] over, but they're really bright and to [18:22] me like really hopeful. Um especially [18:24] like when they turn white and you can [18:26] like make a wish on them. Uh that's kind [18:29] of like the idea I wanted to represent [18:32] there. Um and in the background you can [18:34] see like uh that uh ride up there was [18:38] from Komo Town. Um so we wanted to [18:40] represent you know another place in Ko [18:43] um in the background. Um and then I have [18:47] two of the designs here. I actually [18:49] designed the one in the left and the one [18:50] on the right. Um, and they're inspired [18:53] off of henna designs because I do henna [18:55] a lot and I wanted to again like kind of [18:57] put that part of my culture into this. [19:00] Um, and then in the middle is a mung [19:02] design um that we saw a lot that we also [19:06] um put there. [19:09] Yeah. [19:11] [Music] [19:16] >> Five, six, seven, eight. [19:23] [Applause] [19:26] [Music] [19:36] Oh. [19:44] [Applause] [19:50] Oh, [19:57] [Music] [20:17] you look so [20:19] [Music] [20:25] [Music] [20:27] more. [20:33] [Music] [20:54] your [20:56] happy moment. [21:00] [Music] [21:15] for you know [21:22] she know [21:24] [Music] [21:41] Fore! [21:46] [Music] [21:54] Foreign! Foreign! [21:55] [Music] [22:17] One more [22:20] out of [22:24] [Music] [22:40] your daddy. [22:48] [Music] [22:50] She [22:54] don't [22:56] know. [22:59] [Music] [23:02] [Applause] [23:08] >> One, two, three. Yeah. [23:16] Heat.