Workers Memorial Mural Almost Finished At State Capitol
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It is a monument to nobody famous. But the unusual memorial taking shape on the State Capitol Mall is for people who are seldom celebrated.
Minnesota artist Craig David is putting all the pieces together – literally; thousands of pieces of cut-and-colored stone, fitted just right, creating a sweeping panorama of Minnesota's labor history.
"The working person doesn't really get their credit, do they?" David said. "[The work is for] all people that are working folks in Minnesota, and to those who have died on the job or who have been injured on the job."
The Workers Memorial depicts strikers, iron ore miners, construction workers, bridge builders, and health care assistants, among others.
The privately-funded monument is drawing a lot of attention. Even Gov. Mark Dayton is following the progress. He shed his suit coat and tie to slap on some cement, personally attaching several stone pieces to the wall himself.
"It has really surpassed even my hopes and expectations," Dayton said. "It's just so well done, and so descriptive and so wonderfully artistic as well."
David has created other well-known pieces of public art, including the light rail station murals outside Target Field, and the wall mosaic at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center.
For this one, David says everyone can find a story.
"This is a tip of the hat," he said. "This mural is the people's mural."
The Workers Memorial will be officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30.
