Brooklyn Center Invests in Murals to Uplift and Beautify Community
If you’re looking, you’ll notice more and more public art in Brooklyn Center these days.
This mural on the side of Brooklyn Center Elementary School is just one of several in the community as part of a larger public art effort.
“The City of Brooklyn Center created a Beautify Brooklyn Center planning for public art document in 2020,” said the city’s artist-in-residence, Raquel Diaz Goutierez. “I was hired in the fall of 2022 to advance that plan.”
Goutierez said her aim was to oversee the city’s master plan for using public art to both beautify and uplift the city.
Already, there are public murals on the side of Brooklyn Center Elementary School and the city’s liquor store. She has already overseen collaborative efforts at public events like the Community Health Fair and Juneteenth to help create smaller projects with input from citizens.
“Murals advance the city’s cultural expression and allows the city to have that public art depict the diverse community that people live, work, worship in,” said Goutierez. “So, it’s just a beautiful opportunity for the city and community to come together and tell us what they want to see.”
Portraits of Brooklyn Center City Council members and Mayor April Graves now hang right outside the city council chambers.
She also coordinated the re-working of a wall just outside the city council chambers at city hall. It now includes individual portraits of the city council members and Mayor April Graves.
“It gives them an opportunity to see the city council in a different life, and to see that art is invited everywhere, in every building,” she said.
Goutierez also believes public art can help boost economic development.
“When people look at the murals, I hope they see the opportunity we’re creating here and the future of what Brooklyn Center can be,” she said.
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