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| MARILYN LINDSTROM -
Biography |
Born in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, Marilyn Lindstrom has directed and created hundreds
of community created pubic works of art starting in 1971. In
1973 she painted on her first community created mural with young
people on a cultural center in Minneapolis. In 1978, inspired
by the great community mural movement in Chicago, she founded
Wall Painting Artists (WPA) a community mural painting group
with other local muralists including Ta-Coumba Aiken. Upon invitation,
Marilyn created a mural in Managua, Nicaragua in 1983 on a children’s
library with noted San Francisco muralist Miranda Bergman. Marilyn
founded the local Neighborhood Safe Art program in 1991 and
went on to create a decade of youth created public art winning
numerous Committee on Urban Environment (CUE) awards by the
city of Minneapolis. She is currently on the roster of Artists
in Education program of the Minnesota State Arts Board and the
COMPAS Artists and Writers in the Schools program which have
made her work available to many communities through out the
state of Minnesota. One of her youth-created large outdoor murals
was on the Migizi Communications wall, on Lake Street in Minneapolis,
sponsored by the Fresco Community Outreach program, entitled
“The Language of Hope”, created with fourteen teenagers
and five mentor artists.
In the year 2000, Marilyn was awarded the Leadership Initiatives
in Neighborhoods (LIN) fellowship by the St. Paul Companies
to pursue research into her own cultural heritage by traveling
to Northern Europe. She spent several months researching ancient
symbols and sites in Sweden and Finland as well as in the lands
of the Sami, the indigenous people of Northern Europe. Also
that year, Marilyn was invited by the International Adult Education
community to lead a mural- making workshop at a conference in
Kampala, Uganda, Africa. Locally, in 2000, Marilyn collaborated
with highly regarded, Chicago -based community muralist and
mosaicist, John Pitman Weber on a multi-cultural mosaic pillar,
entitled ”Honor the Spirit”. A pillar to claim the
land for a new cultural center in a very international, multi-cultural
community in Minneapolis. In addition, Marilyn has just recently
completed a three year partnership with Intermedia Arts as one
of five artists through the People- Places -Connections program,
part of the National Animating Democracy program where artists
partnered with community organizations to create art and dialogue.
Marilyn partnered with Hope Community in the Phillips neighborhood
to create mosaics with community residents, “Mosaic Conversations”.
One of her most recent public work is entitled “Hand to
Heart”, a mosaic series located on the gateway pillars
and over the front entrance of the Jeremiah Program’s
new building in downtown Minneapolis. Sponsored by the City
of Minneapolis and the Jeremiah Program, a program which strives
to change women’s lives for their children’s future”.
The deeply symbolic mosaics were created by the women residents
and staff of the Jeremiah Program, community members, artists
assistant Malichansouk Kouanchao, and directed by lead artist
Marilyn Lindstrom. “Hand to Heart” mosaic series
along with the new building designed by Collaborative Design
Group just was awarded a CUE (Committee on Urban Environment)
Award for 2004.
Currently, Marilyn is working with Anishinabe artist Robert
DesJarlait on mosaics for over the two interior fireplaces at
the Franklin Community Library in Minneapolis.
Marilyn lives in the Whittier neighborhood of south Minneapolis
and is a proud mother of her sixteen year old son, Odin Grina. |
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