Bridging Cultures-36th Ave Festival & Paint-a-Thon

Bridging Cultures is a weekend-long neighborhood festival on September 14 and 15, 2024, taking place at the border of Seward and Longfellow: The 36th Avenue underpass underneath the Midtown Greenway. It will feature two significant creative events: a paint-a-thon to finish transforming the 36th Avenue underpass, and a community-building cultural festival at Hiawatha Collegiate High School. We’re looking for individual supporters to join our amazing sponsors and governmental partners to help fund this community-building, traffic calming and street beautification celebration! 

The event is a partnership between Hiawatha Academies and 36th ART, a resident-led community improvement coalition in the neighborhood surrounding Hiawatha Collegiate High School, with assistance from the City, Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, CP Rail, Park Board, Midtown Greenway Coalition, Metro Transit and others!

Building on the success of the two wall murals our students created under the 36th Avenue Greenway bridge last year with help from a team of local muralists, we now plan to creatively complete the transformation of the aging, unwelcoming structure with help from City Mischief Murals, an amazing group of multicultural artists led by Indigenous culture bearer Thomasina TopBear. 

In addition to colorfully painting all of the remaining concrete surfaces of the bridge—during a one weekend paint-a-thon—we plan to produce a community-building cultural festival at Hiawatha Collegiate High School, coinciding with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month!

The festival will be produced by the renowned nonprofit Indigenous Roots. The festival is designed to bring Hiawatha students and their families together with our Seward and Longfellow neighbors for an afternoon of music, dance, art-making activities, storytelling and more. 

With your help we can continue to use the arts to build pride among our students, cultivate positive relationships in our community, celebrate our cultural heritage and transform the nearby bridge into a landmark gateway, an inspiring reminder that, through meaningful partnerships and a group of committed individuals, we can make a big difference in the lives of our youth and our community!

Check out the coverage of the first phase of our student-led murals  in the press:

• Star Tribune: Graffiti artists, students bring 36th Av. S. bridge mural to life in Minneapolis 
• Telemundo Minnesota: Residentes Del Sur De Minneapolis, Estudiantes Y Artistas Se Unen Para Transformar Un Puente
• KARE 11: Student artists paint mural in Minneapolis celebrating nature, Indigenous roots 
• Longfellow-Nokomis Messenger: Murals Transform Railroad/Greenway Bridge Over 36th Avenue South
• Video Recap: River Memory