The McKnight Foundation unveiled Belonging to the Entire Universe, a new large-scale mural by Minneapolis-based artist and McKnight Visual Artist Fellow Leslie Barlow. The mural marks the Foundation’s first original artwork commissioned for its downtown headquarters and the launch of a new rotating public art series created to spotlight Minnesota’s diverse creative voices.
The mural transforms the south-facing exterior of McKnight’s headquarters into a vivid expression of the Foundation’s mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Facing U.S. Bank Stadium and spanning approximately 66 feet by 32 feet, the work will serve as a dynamic landmark for residents, workers, and visitors alike.
At the center of the mural are three intergenerational figures, representing agency and care for self, generosity and care for community, and a collective orientation toward vision and possibility. These figures are surrounded by layered visual elements that draw from Afrofuturism and Indigenous futurisms, honoring both ancestral knowledge and speculative futures where people and planet thrive. Textile-inspired forms, resembling quilt fragments, function as “DNA”—metaphors for interconnected histories and shared futures—with each pattern referencing the diverse cultural ecosystems and programmatic areas that shape McKnight’s work. Symbolic elements, including constellations, local plant life, and the Mississippi River, situate the mural within both a specific geography and a cosmological framework, reminding us of our relationship to land, lineage, and the universe.
Barlow’s process began not on the building itself, but in the studio. She first painted the mural as an oil painting on a 7-foot-wide by 3.5-foot-tall canvas, then sewed in textile elements that add texture, depth, and layered meaning. The completed work was scanned at high resolution and printed for large-scale installation — preserving the hand-painted and stitched qualities of the original piece at an architectural scale.
“This work extends beyond the personal into a shared visual language shaped by community voices, cultural memory, and place.”
—Leslie Barlow, Artist
“This mural emerges from collective storytelling, engaging public space as a site of reflection and as a space for imagining more just and interconnected futures,” said Leslie Barlow, the mural’s artist. “Drawing from my own experience of art as a space of refuge, survival, and possibility, this work extends beyond the personal into a shared visual language shaped by community voices, cultural memory, and place.”
Barlow’s approach was informed in part by conversations and feedback with McKnight staff, board, community members, and grantee partners, which helped shape the themes and visual language of the work.
“This project reflects how McKnight approaches art and culture—by centering artists and investing in work that is grounded in community,” said DeAnna Cummings, Program Director for Arts & Culture at the McKnight Foundation. “Leslie brought care and intention to every part of the process, and the result is a public artwork that feels shaped by the people and places around it.”
The mural is the first in McKnight’s new rotating public art series, which will feature a new large-scale commission approximately every three years. For this inaugural commission, McKnight opened the opportunity to its extensive current and former McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellows network, reflecting McKnight’s 40-year legacy of investing in Minnesota’s artists and culture bearers. Since establishing the McKnight Artist Fellowships in 1982, the Foundation has supported 1,145 Artist and Culture Bearer Fellows, helping to build one of the most vibrant and diverse arts ecosystems in the country.
“This mural is both a reflection and a call,” said Tonya Allen, President of the McKnight Foundation. “Rooted in the history, cultures, and landscapes that shape Minnesota, Leslie’s work honors what has shaped us while inviting us to imagine what’s possible. It reminds us that a more just and hopeful future is something we must create together.”
Barlow was selected through a competitive process developed in partnership with Forecast Public Art. The selection committee reviewed multiple unique and compelling submissions. Ultimately, a cross‑departmental committee of McKnight staff and board members unanimously selected her for her figurative practice, artistic rigor, and alignment with McKnight’s mission and values.
“It reminds us that a more just and hopeful future is something we must create together.”
—Tonya Allen, Presidente ng McKnight
“From the start, the selection committee was looking for a work that could hold complexity — something that reflects both who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Noa Staryk, McKnight Foundation board member and member of the mural selection committee. “We were drawn to Leslie’s ability to tell layered, human stories. This mural captures a sense of connection that feels both grounded and forward-looking, and truly reflects McKnight’s mission.”
Before McKnight moved into the building, the exterior mural space was part of a rotating art series commissioned by previous tenants. A loon mural remained on the wall beyond its originally intended timeline, becoming a familiar presence in the neighborhood and during McKnight’s first year in the space. As McKnight launches its own series, the prominent mural wall now enters a new chapter, one rooted in McKnight’s enduring commitment to artists and the public good.
“Leslie’s work invites people in, sparks curiosity, and reflects the richness of Minnesota,” said Meghan Binger Brown, McKnight Foundation board member and member of the mural selection committee. “The more time you spend with the mural, the more you notice — including an emphasis on community, care, and the future we’re building together.”
The mural can be viewed on the south-facing exterior of the McKnight Foundation headquarters at 921 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN.
Explore the Mural
Hover over different parts of the mural to learn about the ideas, symbols, and stories woven throughout the work.
Tungkol sa McKnight Foundation
Ang McKnight Foundation, isang foundation ng pamilya na nakabase sa Minnesota, ay nagsusulong ng isang mas makatarungan, malikhain, at masaganang hinaharap kung saan ang mga tao at planeta ay umunlad. Itinatag noong 1953, ang McKnight Foundation ay lubos na nakatuon sa pagsusulong ng mga solusyon sa klima sa Midwest; pagbuo ng isang pantay at inklusibong Minnesota; at pagsuporta sa sining at kultura sa Minnesota, neuroscience, at mga pandaigdigang sistema ng pagkain.
About Leslie Barlow
Leslie Barlow is a visual artist, educator, and cultural worker from Minneapolis, MN. Barlow believes art and art making is both healing and liberatory, through the power of representation, witnessing and storytelling. Her life-sized oil paintings are inspired by community and personal experiences, and often serve as monuments to community members and explorations into how race entangles the intimate sphere of love, family, and friendship. Barlow is a recipient of the 2025 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship, 2021-23 Jerome Hill Fellowship, 2019 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship, 20/20 Springboard Fellowship, and six MN State Arts Board grants between 2016 and 2026. Her work can be viewed in collections around Minnesota including at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota Historical Society, Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota Museum of American Art, and US Bank Stadium. Barlow earned her BFA in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and her MFA in 2016 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In addition to her studio practice, Barlow is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and supports emerging artists at Public Functionary as the founder of PF Studios. Barlow is also the founder of ConFluence, a BIPOC arts, science fiction, and fandom convention, and co-founder of Creatives After Curfew, a mural collective. Barlow is represented by Bockley Gallery.
Artist Statement
This mural emerges from collective storytelling, engaging public space as a site of reflection and as a space for imagining more just and interconnected futures. Drawing from my own experience of art as a space of refuge, survival, and possibility, this work extends beyond the personal into a shared visual language shaped by community voices, cultural memory, and place. Developed through engagement with stakeholders and informed by the McKnight Foundation’s values of stewardship, curiosity, equity, and respect, the mural invites viewers into a vision of care, connection, and liberation.
At the center of the composition are three intergenerational figures, representing agency and care for self, generosity and care for community, and a collective orientation toward vision and possibility. These figures are surrounded by layered visual elements that draw from Afrofuturism and Indigenous futurisms, honoring both ancestral knowledge and speculative futures where people and planet thrive. Textile-inspired forms, resembling quilt fragments, function as “DNA”—metaphors for interconnected histories and shared futures—with each pattern referencing the diverse cultural ecosystems and programmatic areas that shape McKnight’s work. Symbolic elements, including constellations, local plant life, and the Mississippi River, situate the mural within both a specific geography and a cosmological framework, reminding us of our relationship to land, lineage, and the universe.
My hope is that the mural operates as a visual oasis: an expansive, immersive field that interrupts the rigidity of the surrounding built environment and invites a slower, more intentional way of seeing. The oil painting surface, translated to vinyl mural, holds traces of accumulation, revision, and intuitive mark-making—where fragments and gestures remain visible as part of an evolving whole. As both artist and facilitator, I approached this project as a living process shaped through dialogue, listening, and study, inviting McKnight community voices to inform the work as it developed. In this way, the mural reflects not only a final image, but an ongoing practice of becoming—one rooted in shared imagination. Ultimately, this work is an offering to reflect and to imagine together what it means to build a more abundant, creative, and equitable world. The world we deserve to belong and live within.
