A long awaited mural honoring Prince will begin to take shape next month in Downtown Minneapolis.
The mural, which will be located on Ramp A at the corner of First Avenue and Eighth Street, is the result of several years of work that included input from Prince himself before his death on April 21, 2016.
"The early conversations, and a conversation with Prince was like one in two words meaning you have to deduce from a lot of things," said Sharon Smith-Akinsanya, who was one of a number of people that worked on the tribute. "From the conversations, we knew Prince didn't want a statue because he was concerned they wouldn't quite get his entire image correct. That's tough to do with clay and that sort of thing."
Smith-Akinsanya, who was a guest of Georgia Fort's on 9 to 12 Monday on WCCO Radio, said they were also able to deduce that the honor was important to Prince.
"The Dylan mural was a thing, and we understood that while Prince really loved the Dylan mural, he also wondered, 'Why not me?'" said Smith-Akinsanya. "Prince wasn't a complainer, he wasn't a whiner, and he wasn't a moaner. You could just feel when you know somebody you sort of get a sense and he's wondering, 'Why doesn't anything shine purple?'."
Smith-Akinsanya said that there were several options they considered, but opted for an iconic mural in Downtown Minneapolis.
"Ramp A wasn't the first option either," added Smith-Akinsanya. "We thought about putting across from the Dylan mural, but it was problematic because it was adjacent to a parking structure that was privately owned. We didn't want to run the risk of someone selling that structure and then a structure being built over Prince's face."
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Ultimately, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the City of Minneapolis offered up the Ramp A, a public structure, as a place for the 100-foot mural.
Painting on the mural is scheduled to being on May 16, with a block party to celebrate its completion on June 2.
Hiero Veiga was selected for the piece and an area will allow onlookers to view the process throughout May.
"It's time to crown our Prince," Smith-Akinsanya said. "We fortunately had the support of Prince's family members, close collaborators, and the estate to really help us come together and choose a world-class muralist to put up an awesome design of Prince that we will all be proud of."