***
In Minneapolis, the sound of paper flowers rustling fills a community room in a building along Lake Street. Running east-west, Lake Street cuts through the heart of the city’s southside and is home to a large Latino community.
“They are putting these are these paper flowers that are cempasuchil, which is a flower of the dead, the shape of the flower of the dead. And we’re covering it all with it.
Teresa Ortiz looks on as artists and community members cover a giant cross with the cempasuchil in preparation for Lake Street’s Day of the Dead celebration.
The community room is buzzing with artists, business owners, and community members all making art for Dia De Los Muertos. It’s one of many workshops hosted by Comunidad Latina Unita en Servicio, or C.L.U.E.S., an organization that supports Latinos across the state.
Ortiz, who works with C.L.U.E.S. in the education department, says she wants to bring life back to Lake Street, home to many family-owned businesses.
“It’s been a project that CLUES has started in order to highlight the work of Latino artists in the Twin Cities, but also to bring back Lake Street to the community to see, and show, mostly to show, to the world that Lake Street is still alive, and you know, doing some things.”
Across the river in St. Paul is the C.L.U.E.S. headquarters. The C.L.U.E.S. building is wreathed in large-scale murals. Inside, the hallways are filled with mosaics, papier-mache sculptures, and a gallery with still more murals.
And, at the center of the work is Teresa Ortiz’s son. Aaron Johnson Ortiz is Director of Arts and Cultural Engagement at C.L.U.E.S.
“More than one time, I’ve seen people walk into the gallery and break out in tears because there just isn’t enough spaces like the one we have. We’re currently the only art gallery in the state of Minnesota that’s specifically focused on the Latino community, and that has, you know, staff and arts programming year-round. So we’re kind of a unique space. And so for me, it’s just a question of making sure that people feel represented, that they feel welcome and that they recognize their own beauty.”
MinneCulture on KFAI is supported by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund