In 2017, the M commissioned guest artist Vanghoua Anthony Vue (Brisbane, Australia) and five local artist-partners to create three new works commemorating the Hmong diaspora. The resulting murals appear on the 4th Street façade of the Jackson Street Parking ramp and in the windows of the Historic Pioneer Endicott, which is home to the Minnesota Museum of American Art; a third large work was created on canvas and exhibited at the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA) in St. Paul’s Little Mekong neighborhood.
The murals followed an intensive month of workshops and conversations the M and Vue held in March 2017 with local Hmong elders, families, artists, and organizational partners. Vue returned to St. Paul in September 2017 to lead creation of the commissioned works with a team of local artists: Xee Reiter, Christina Vang, Melissa Vang, Nicollazzi Xiong, and Shoua Yang.
Mural locations
The Historic Pioneer Endicott | 141 East 4th Street, St. Paul
Jackson Street Parking Ramp | 345 Jackson Street, St. Paul
Seeds of Change: A Portrait of the Hmong American Farmers Association.
Photographs by Mike Hazard
August 10 – September 23, 2018
Red Wing Arts Association
418 Levee Street | Red Wing
The photographs and books on view in Seeds of Change: A Portrait of the Hmong American Farmers Association were created by multimedia artist Mike Hazard. These images comprise a year in the lives of Hmong American farmers working on the HAFA farm in Vermillion Township, Minnesota.