A mural has been created to transform the boards that have been protecting TU Dance Center since the riots that occurred in the Twin Cities following the murder of George Floyd in collaboration between TU Dance Center students and artist/dancer/choreographer, Lela Pierce and graffiti artist Kyle Alexander, with contributions by TU Dance Center teaching artist Herb Johnson III and community artist Pramila Vasudevan. This will be a space for our community to process the grief, sadness and anger felt by our community during this time and also a space to express our unwavering belief that black and brown lives matter and our hope for the future that we imagine is possible.
Please feel free to drive by TU Dance Center to see the front entrance mural before the boards are removed. The window boards have been stored inside the building. The full art work will be displayed inside TU Dance Center and available for viewing once the space is reopened.
(see mural making photo gallery below)
Meet the Artists:
Lela Pierce was born and raised in rural Minnesota on Dakota and Anishinaabe land. She currently resides in South Minneapolis. As an interdisciplinary artist, she creates painting, performance/dance, sculptural installation and sound based work. Through practice she strives toward a deep rooted connection to land and place and a deep yearning for ancestral healing. Lela has presented work locally at several different Twin Cities venues and internationally in both Sweden and India. She is a Jerome Emerging Artist recipient 2018 and is currently pursuing an MFA in the interdisciplinary art and social practice area of the Art Department of the University of Minnesota.
McKnight Fellow, Herb Johnson III Aka JDot Tight Eyez graduated from Perpich Center for the Performing Arts in 2010 and studied 3 years at the Lundstrum Center for Arts. Herb is now at the University of Minnesota as an Urban & Street dance instructor. He currently choreographs and performs solo and in groups 612 Crew, DeadPool, and Mixtape. Professional work includes iLuminate from America’s Got Talent, Choreographing G-Easy’sHalftime show 2018, and SuperBowl 52 half-time Show 2018 with Justin Timberlake. Herb began teaching for The School at TU Dance Center in Fall 2019.
Kyle Alexander was born in Chicago and raised in South Minneapolis. He is an avid skateboarder and loves to listen to music, paint and hang with friends. In recent weeks he and his friends have painted several boarded up storefronts in Minneapolis – responding to the Murder of George Floyd in graffiti style. Kyle finds inspiration and a sense of being grounded through the love and care of his mother and grandmother and the relationships he has built with community members on the Southside.
