All around St. Paul, various forms of public art can be found, ranging from statues of iconic “Peanuts” characters to the beautiful murals in the Creative Enterprise Zone near the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.

These are the better known public arts that anyone from St. Paul knows about. However, if you walk up and down Snelling Ave., you will find public art hidden along the sides, near local businesses and in Hamline Park.

For example, right by the Hamline Elementary School off of Snelling Ave. and on the side of Pho Pastuer, there’s a beautifully done mural. However, many people only catch a glimpse if they’re driving up Snelling or if they only drive to campus and leave right away after classes.

This leads to one of the reasons that there should be more public art, not only on Snelling Ave. but also in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood in general. Many people are just passing through because Snelling Ave. is a popular highway and a transit at the University Ave. cross section..

If there were more public art pieces in the Hamline-Midway community, it would draw more people into the neighborhood beyond commuting and attending the Minnesota State Fair. One example of public art that I believe would benefit the Midway community would be “Paint the Pavement.” This is an initiative that has been done not only in other states but also in other areas around St. Paul.

With “Paint the Pavement,” you can have the community collectively work together to create art that not only will be seen by many but also fits within the identity of the Hamline-Midway community.

Another reason public art in the Hamline-Midway area is good is that it helps with community building, not only for the neighbors but also for us Pipers as well. This is especially true if some students have not been able to see more of the neighborhood where Hamline resides.

While some of the classes do walking tours of Snelling Ave., weather permitting, not every class points out the murals or public art unless it pertains to the class. Given how the university is placed in the neighborhood, this would promote intermingling of the university and neighborhood communities.

Not only that, but community is important — which we have seen during and after the effects of Operation Metro Surge. People from all communities came together, and public art programs offer a way for the Hamline-Midway community to come together and offer a place of belonging and expression.

Finally, another reason why there should be more public art in the Hamline-Midway community is the fact that this offers support for local artists who are from the Hamline-Midway neighborhood and community.

When you look at some of the already existing public artworks in the Midway, some of them are made by artists who either live in the neighborhood or who work in the Hamline-Midway area.

One important thing to remember is that public art is a broad term that simply means any medium of art that is placed in public spaces for anyone to see and admire.

While I am mostly talking about murals and painting, that does not mean some can’t make a sculpture or some kind of installation. Art has many media and forms that could be shown and exist in the community.

However, like any initiative or program that is done, cost becomes a part of why certain projects are not able to be worked on. If you look at the boundaries of the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, it is a big area, which means a project like “Paint the Pavement” would have a huge cost for the paint, the artists and more.

Besides cost, like the roads and sidewalks, the public art that is created would have to be maintained to make sure it lasts, especially with the damage that comes not only from the passage of time but also from the elements.

With projects like “Paint the Pavement,” you may also have to worry about traffic. For example, if you choose to paint an intersection instead of a sidewalk, you have to safely block traffic to make sure no one gets harmed, which adds to both maintenance and project costs.

So I encourage you, the next time you have a break in between classes or have a free day, to engage with the neighborhood. Take a stroll down Snelling and around the Hamline-Midway community and take a moment to find and enjoy all the public art around.

Who knows, you might find some inspiration to make something as creative as the public art you see. Perhaps you will find a new way to enjoy the Hamline-Midway community or gain an interesting perspective.