The Saint Paul Cultural Garden is an artistic project led by Cliff Garten and dedicated in November 1993. The project reflects the history of St. Paul, its connection with the Mississippi River and investigates issues of racism in America. The project involved visual artists Ta-Coumba Aiken, Armando Gutierrez G. and Xiaowei Mei, as well as poets Sandra Benitez, Soyini Guyton, Roberta Hill Whiteman, John Minczeski, David Mura and Xeng Sue Yang.

A plaque near the garden reads:

The Cultural Garden is a gift to the residents of the Saint Paul area from The Saint Paul Foundation to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Naming of Saint Paul, developed in cooperation with the City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and Public Art Saint Paul.

This mural is located on the backside of a laundromat in St. Paul’s West Side neighborhood. It’s by Armando Gutierrez G., with the help of Rod Swanstrom as his assistant and a local teen organization. It’s very similar in style to another Gutierrez mural, “Hunger Has No Color” and around the corner on the same building is a signed Gutierrez mural.

This is an interesting mural in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul. It has what looks to me like colorful Aztec and Mexican imagery, along with these odd black and white scenes at the bottom. I don’t know what the title is and the signature is faded, but it’s by Armando Gutierrez G. The date is also obscured to the point that it’s too hard to read.

I haven’t been able to find any information on the mural, but around the corner on the same building is another mural that is very similar in style to another Gutierrez mural, “Hunger Has No Color.”. I’m not sure if this mural and the one around the corner are connected in anyway (other than being on the same building).

This 1985 mural lacks the color and vibrant hues of other West Side murals, but it adds a lot more punch with its social commentary. The black and white mural shows real people from the neighborhood, including the artists themselves and some of their family members (Richard Schletty’s grandparents and son, Mark, and John Acosta’s daugther, Santina).

Originally the artists planned to color the mural, but they got so much feedback on the muted hues that they decided to keep it that way.