Downtown Minneapolis is embracing its artistic side this weekend with its annual Street Art Festival.
Chalk artists, spray paint artists, skateboarders and many different performers will fill Nicollet Mall and the surrounding streets over the next few days.
WCCO's Laura Oakes spoke with spray paint artist Reggie LeFlore. His giant mural of local skateboarders was unveiled Thursday to kick-off the festival.
“So, this mural is depicting some skateboard youth that skateboard out at Third Lair (Skatepark) over in Golden Valley,” LeFlore says. “But enlarged, they represent kind of like the Twin Cities’ skateboarding community, and like the surrounding elements.”
LeFlore explained to WCCO where the inspiration for the image came from.
“I worked with my photographer Hannah Walsh to go up to Third Lair,” LeFlore says. “We took photos of five of the skateboarders that Mark Rodriguez, the founder of Third Lair, handpicked. These five skateboarders, they're the most dedicated and ambitious skateboarders for this project. And then they just gave me the reins to do what I do best, you know, they just wanted some portraits up there and they didn't really cross into the whole creative process with everything else surrounding it. Me adding the buildings and like the big X and like some other elements and stuff. So they really let me just do what I wanted with this project.”
For many, the skateboarding street art, graffiti, spray painting is all based on inner-city culture, and LeFlore says despite not understanding it, it’s important to still appreciate the lifestyle and artwork.
“You know, I feel with what we're doing here, this is a legal piece,” explains LeFlore. “I'm not going to call this anything, you know, like graffiti art or graffiti or anything of that sort. A lot of these elements dovetail off of each other and there are a lot of good positive vibes that come from that. I feel like there's this unfair sort of, persona that a lot of young kids have when it comes to skateboarding, when it comes to using spray paints, when it comes to really just being around. And I feel like a lot of it is eye opening in a sense that it's helping us understand that there aren't a lot of things for young kids to do or young kids to be a part of, or even young kids to be glorified through.”
LeFlore adds that he hopes people will give this art a chance to be seen and appreciated.
“I just wish folks will give it a chance, you know, give street art a chance, give graffiti a chance, give skateboarding and youth and all this stuff a chance, because there’s a lot of amazing things you can do.”
You can check out Reggie LeFlore's mural on First Avenue and 8th street, along with all of the other art along the Nicollet Mall through Sunday.
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