Historic Walker Lake is the historic commercial center of St. Louis Park, and today is a small business corridor with great charm and an exciting mix of businesses and uses. The Historic Walker Lake Placemaking Committee and GoodSpace Murals have worked with community to design and create a mural telling the collective story of Historic Walker Lake’s past, present, and future.

Learn the Stories

Learn how the mural went from idea to reality, understand the artistic process, hear the stories behind who and what is pictured, and get to know some of the folks behind the Historic Walker Lake community mural! All seven videos are available to watch at the link below:

Download and Print the Coloring Sheet

You’ve seen the way GoodSpace Murals chose to color the mural, now try for yourself! Download a printable coloring sheet to create your own version of the mural on paper:

The Design

The Historic Walker Lake mural visually tells the story of the past, present, and future of the community. The mural includes imagery of historic Walker Street businesses, housing in the surrounding neighborhoods, and important individuals whose collective stories communicate the essence of Historic Walker Lake and of St. Louis Park.
In the lower left corner is Phyllis McQuaid at 92 years young. She was the first woman elected mayor of St. Louis Park, and also served as a school board member and state representative. She was one of the first to champion light rail transit in Minnesota, and was a leader on the issue for two decades despite overwhelming political opposition. Out of the hands of Phyllis McQuaid comes the light rail, for both our community and in the mural.
Moving clockwise, we see an oriole, St. Louis Park High School’s mascot, flying over the head of T.B. Walker, who sits surrounded by the railroad and alongside a lumber railcar. Walker, a rich lumber baron whose name we see on street signs in the area and the Walker Art Center, purchased about 2,000 acres of land in the heart of St. Louis Park in the 1890s, with the idea of building an industrial village with factories, housing for workers, schools, and a commercial district. Due to financial panic, the vision was never fully achieved, but it left a lasting legacy in some of the factories, housing, and street grid that we see today in St. Louis Park.
Two monarch butterflies fly on either side of St. Louis Park High School students Jae and Yusuf, representing transformation, opportunity, and the future. The school is an anchor of Historic Walker Lake, and the diversity, creativity, and compassion of the students is a strong and welcoming presence that can be felt in the area.
Moving further clockwise, we see Dr. B. Robert Lewis, the first African American elected to a Twin Cities school board, and to the Minnesota Senate. A doctor of veterinary medicine and a veteran of the Korean War, Lewis moved to St. Louis Park from Omaha in 1962, and was one of only 26 Black residents of the city at the time. Just four years later, he was elected to the St. Louis Park School Board, where he led efforts alongside students, some of whom are pictured in the mural holding the welcome banner, to increase diversity among teachers and staff, educate school employees on race relations, and eliminate racism from curriculum. Dr. Lewis was a founding member of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council (now known as the Human Rights Commission) and went on to serve on the State Board of Education and in the Minnesota Senate where he was a leader supporting survivors of domestic violence, providing healthcare to people with low income, and creating medical services programs for incarcerated people. Lewis died of a sudden heart attack in 1979 at the age of 47—the next year, the Minnesota Public Health Association created the B. Robert Lewis Award, presented annually to “an Elected Official who has distinguished themselves in aggressive pursuit to establish and maintain health as a human right and to secure optimal community and personal health.”
In the center of the mural, above the train, is St. Louis Park’s first Black resident, Woodfin E. Lewis, who moved with his family to the city in 1952, a decade before Dr. B. Robert Lewis. A nuclear physicist, Woodfin Lewis moved to St. Louis Park from Ames, Iowa to be close to his new job to which he was recruited at the Honeywell Research Lab. Just four days after moving into his rental property, the landlady had a change of heart and evicted the Lewis family, citing complaints and pressure from white neighbors who didn’t want their children to have to play with Black children. Though the eviction caused outrage from many in the business, political, and especially the religious community, their support of the Lewis family could not undo the harm or sense of unwelcome they felt in St. Louis Park, and they soon moved to Minneapolis where they could be in community with other Black families. In 1959, at the age of 36, Woodfin Lewis, whose scientific research involved radiation, died of cancer.

Community Design and Painting Process

We are grateful to have received input from so many neighbors through our online survey, neighborhood suggestion boxes, focus groups, and design input events. This input was incorporated by the artists into the mural design, so that it reflects the values, hopes, and dreams from the community it represents. Prior to social distancing due to COVID-19, we had one community paint party at STEP’s Empty Bowls event at Westwood Lutheran Church, where community members got to paint the base layer of the mural alongside the artists. Thank you to all who participated in this design and painting process!

Thank Yous and Acknowledgements

Historic Walker Lake Placemaking Committee:
Ted Ekkers, George Hagemann, Angela Jacob, Cindy Jurgensen, Jamie Marshall, Gary Morrison, Curt Rahman

Special Thanks:
Kara Cisco, Phyllis McQuaid, St. Louis Park Historical Society, STEP, Westwood Lutheran Church, SLP Nest, Historic Walker Lake Business Association, GoodSpace Murals artists Jacqui Rosenbush, Greta McLain, Kenny Kallevig & Vivi Griego

Funders:
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

This activity is made possible thanks to a grant from the St. Louis Park Arts & Culture Grant program, a collaborative program from the City of St. Louis Park, Friends of the Arts, and the Community and Youth Development Fund.