New mural planned at rebuilt Bde Maka Ska Pavilion

New mural planned at rebuilt Bde Maka Ska Pavilion

Agreement between MPRB, Native American Community Development Institute, and Hennepin Theatre Trust paves way for new mural coming this year

A new mural will be created this fall at the rebuilt Bde Maka Ska Pavilion thanks to a recently approved agreement between the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), and Hennepin Theatre Trust (HTT).

NACDI and HTT have an ongoing collaborative program called We Are Still Here, a multiyear collaborative partnership bringing large-scale, high-profile public artworks to the Hennepin Theatre District, the American Indian Culture Corridor and the greater Twin Cities metro area. This ongoing and evolving initiative seeks to match emerging Native artists with established Native arts mentors in an extending fellowship that creates a variety of public artworks that promote Native and Indigenous storytelling in the community.

The mural on the Bde Maka Ska Refectory building will serve as the capstone project for the emerging and mentor artists in the current round of the We Are Still Here program, which is funded in partnership with the McKnight Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board – Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment.

Meet the Artists

Jearica Fountain

Jearica Fountain is a creative community builder specializing in activism for climate action, human services and Indigenous rights. Her passion to advance BIPOC representation stems from deep connections to the lands of Turtle Island, her ancestors and the Indigenous way of life. She has experience in collaborating with Indigenous-led nonprofit organizations and Indigenous-owned companies to build on the empowerment and growth of Native peoples, taking their conceptual ideas and creating visual representations in a creative art form.

To learn more about Jearica Fountain, follow her on Instagram at @jearicafountain or @jearicafountain_designs.

Racquel Banaszak

Racquel Banaszak of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, is a visual artist based in Minneapolis, MN. Her works include beadwork, collage, embroidery, illustration, and painting and often focuses on Indigenous histories, kinship, and contemporary representation of Indigenous women and families. She is continually inspired by her mother’s stories, urban Indian relocation archives, and Indigenous pop culture. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Heritage Studies & Public History at the University of Minnesota, with a focus on Indigenous representation. She earned her graduate certificate in Native American studies from Montana State University in 2018 and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design in 2012. She studied Indigenous visual culture at the Ontario College of Art & Design University in Toronto, Canada.

To learn more about Raquel Banaszak, follow her on Instagram @raquel_kwe

Summer Cohen

Naawegiizissukwe (She Comes From The Center Of The Sun), Summer Sky Cohen is an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Ojibwe in Wisconsin. She belongs to Makwa Dodem, Bear Clan, and grew up in the wilderness of the upper peninsula of Michigan. Living off the land with her family, Summer learned about the creativity in survival, using plants and animals in her artwork. She graduated from Northern Michigan University in 2003 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and Native American studies and spent 10 years in cultural resource management and revitalization in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) in upper Michigan. After leaving GLIFWC, Summer continued to teach Native people the gifts she holds in her mind, offering a holistic way to understand our place on this Earth through the intertwining of beads, bling and buckskin to tell Native stories and ensure the survival of Native culture.

To learn more about Summer Cohen, follow her on Instagram @cohensummer and Facebook @beadsblingbuckskin.

Thomasina Topbear

Thomasina Topbear is a self-taught artist, muralist, published illustrator and organizer from the Oglala Lakota and Santee Dakota Nations. She is a board member of the international all-female paint crew Few & Far Women and co-founder of City Mischief Murals, an all-BIPOC artist collective centered on healing through art. Specializing in large-scale murals, her work can be seen on the sides of buildings throughout the country. Thomasina has organized a number of events focusing on empowering and creating safe spaces for youth and fellow artists to practice their crafts. She draws influences from her Oceti Sakowin culture while using art to express thoughts on community, social justice, spirituality and togetherness.

To learn more about Thomasina Topbear, follow her on Instagram @tomierae, @citymischief, and @fewandfarwomen

About the Bde Maka Ska Pavilion Rebuild Project

The project is constructing two new buildings, including new, all-gender accessible restrooms and ample outdoor public seating to replace the building that burned down in 2019. The site will reopen to the public by September. Please stay away from construction areas while work continues.

The Minneapolis Sailing Center and Wheel Fun Rentals are operating at northeast Bde Maka Ska this season. Visit the Bde Maka Ska Refectory Rebuild project page and subscribe to email updates for construction updates.

This activity is made possible by voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.