Professional artist will conclude Latino/Latin American Studies Program

A public conversation with professional artist Gustavo Lira is at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at the music rehearsal hall, Benedicta Arts Center, College of Saint Benedict.

The event, which is free and open to the public, wraps up the Latino/Latin American Studies Program for 2016-17. The theme of the series is Latin@ Cultural Citizenship: Culture, Action and Community.

Lira will lead a community mural project with CSB and Saint John’s University students during his week-long residency April 3-7. They will ultimately produce a mobile mural on cloth.

Students will work with Lira to develop visual language in mural form as a response to the guiding question, “What kind of community do we want and how do we get it?”

For the past 20 years, Lira has lived and worked in Minneapolis, and has participated in countless community workshops and public art projects. He has created art in partnership with various high schools, colleges, cultural centers, neighborhoods and non-profit organizations all over Minnesota.

Many of his projects involve working with members of the local community, especially students and young people from different cultural backgrounds and diverse environments.

Most recently, Lira completed a mural commission for the Seward Community Co-op in south Minneapolis.

This event is co-sponsored by the art department at CSB and SJU.