Cross the Mississippi River on Saint Paul's Marshall Avenue and it morphs into Minneapolis' Lake Street — a colorful kaleidoscope of cultures.
As Lake Street's collection of murals grows, so does its sense of safety, beauty and community — thanks to groups of artist-activists.
Chicano artist Jimmy Longoria and his organization, Mentoring Peace Through Art , is one such group. The team paints local businesses with murals, Jimmy says, "embracing huge spans of wall, every inch covered in a jungle of graffiti-deterring, ribbony paint."
MPTA's goal: to "foster youth leadership through art projects, forge strong communities and fulfill expectations that art works."
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