City Chief Murals
Photo Courtesy of City Chief Murals.
The Power in Unity mural was painted by City Mischief along with some wonderful community members from the area. It was created to bring the many different cultures in the Phillips neighborhood together. It highlights the extraordinary power we have to create positive change when united. Partially funded by Heart of the Beast Theater’s micro grant “Possibility Project”.
Thru Indigenous Lens honors the creative magic and eye of the artists in our community. When IGG came across the work of City Chief muralists we were not only impressed and inspired, but also moved by their bright and affirming images. With messages like “Better Together” and “Protect our Sisters,” Chief City Murals and their muralist crew are putting out the artistic medicine that we need now and into the future. It is an honor to feature their murals and to highlight a couple of the Indigi-femmes who are leading their mission.
you can find more of this team’s work on instagram @citymischief.
be sure to give them a follow and a shout-out! and if you’re in the twin cities area, maybe even bring their work to your community.
City Chief Murals
City Mischief Murals’ mission is to produce murals, creative projects, and events with a primary focus on leadership opportunities for youth and healing through art for communities of color. We are an all BIPOC (Black/ Indigenous/ People of Color) artist collective creating community-based murals & events throughout the Twin Cities, Minnesota. We have experience in planning/ designing large scale murals, live exhibition painting, fundraising, custom canvas work and community events.
The Crew
Lead Artists and Project Coordinators for City Mischief are Holly (Miskitoos) Henning and Thomasina Topbear. Additional members are Joy Spika, Charles Garcia, Rony Valle Lopez, Simone Tinker.
Holly (Miskitoos) Henning is an enrolled member of Marten Falls Anishinaabe First Nation and has paternal ties to Constance Lake Oji-Cree First Nation. She is an active visual artist and muralist utilizing art to elevate community voice, healing and advance change. She has been part of several community arts-based events and mural projects throughout the United States, Canada, Africa, and Mexico. She uses acrylic paint, aerosol paint, traditional Native American artforms and dance as a personal and political tool to address, explore and portray contemporary Indigenous struggle.
Photo Courtesy of City Chief Murals
Thomasina Topbear is a self-taught Santee Dakota & Oglala Lakota muralist; she has been a member of the international all female street art crew Few & Far Women since 2015. Thomasina helped found City Mischief Murals, an all BIPOC mural collective that actively paints large scale community-based murals in the Twin Cities. She has organized a number of local and national community-based murals focusing on youth, women, activism & BIPOC artists. Thomasina’s inspirations come from her Indigenous culture and graffiti style type lettering, she uses these influences to express her feelings on community, social justice, culture, feminism and togetherness.
Photo Courtesy of City Chief Murals
Protect our Sisters Mural
The Protect our Sisters mural was a donated project City Mischief painted for Nawayee Center School which is an alternative urban native high school. Two names of young women are featured in the mural who attended the school. The mural is dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women located in Phillips’s neighborhood of South Minneapolis. In this neighborhood our Native sisters/relatives have higher rates of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, survival sex and homelessness. This mural was produced to bring awareness to this issue in our community and to honor the survival and resiliency of our indigenous sisters/ grandmothers/ mothers/ aunties and daughters despite enduring generations of forced colonization and genocide.
Photo Courtesy of City Chief Murals
“With every deliberation we must consider the impact it will have on the 7th Generation.”