Reflections from Emily Dahm

Last Thursday afternoon while I was out in front of Hennepin on my own sketching out the design for the “Protect Trans People” mural, I heard someone say to me “Looks like you could use some help”. I hadn’t planned on the community chalking to begin until the next day, but collaboration waits for no one. I accepted the help and Leo and I began working on the mural. I got to know a little bit about him. He is an artist and storyteller, spending a lot of his time illustrating comics based in a cyberpunk world. He brought his talents and improved what I had started. By feeding off of each other’s ideas we were able to make something 10x better than what I could accomplish alone.

While we were working some more people approached us curious about what we were doing. One young man shared about his struggles with housing instability and homelessness. Because of this little gathering he was able to get connected with other people going through the same thing, as well as to resources that could assist him through it. It was soul-fueling to be with a group of people full of understanding, willing to support and listen. A genuine community experience happened before the community event even started. It happened because someone was brave and generous enough to reach out and say “Looks like you could use some help”.

On Friday we added color to Hennepin’s front retaining wall and sidewalk for the weekend of Pride. It was a pretty exhausting process, but well rewarding. I found myself pleased with the end result, but even more pleased by the continuous support from folks just passing by. Celebratory honks, claps, and affirmations made the event what it was really meant to be, and best demonstrated the power that art has in the community. The design inspiration for the long mural came from plants and flowers native to Minnesota. I thought of it as the rainbow connection between bio and human diversity on earth. Both things to be celebrated and safeguarded.

I wanted the second mural that reads, “Protect Trans People” to be a reminder that there is still work to be done to make this world a safe place for trans people. In the wake of the murder of Liara Kaylee Tsai, a 35-year-old transgender woman, it felt imperative to create a message advocating for the safety of trans people. I feel as though Hennepin is uniquely privileged to make an impact through this kind of messaging, because everyone deserves to live in this world exactly as they are.