Rochester artist Greg Wimmer was commissioned to paint this mural last summer in downtown Walnut Grove.
MY NEPHEW, ADAM KLETSCHER, who lives and teaches in Walnut Grove, told me to check out the new mural downtown when I recently visited this southwestern Minnesota community. So, after leaving the Family Festival during the town’s annual celebration of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, I stopped to photograph the 20-foot by 78-foot painting on the east side of Bubai Foods along Main Street.
Being a bit rushed, I failed to photograph the front of the building housing a combination Asian and American food market. And I didn’t have time to go inside and ask questions.
Later I connected with Terry Yang, who moved to Walnut Grove in 2001 from St. Paul, opened the Asian portion of Bubai Foods in 2003 and purchased the American foods side in 2005.
Yang is among the estimated 30 percent of Walnut Grove’s 870 residents of Hmong ethnicity. The Hmong first came to this rural area in 2000, Yang says, to settle in a quiet small town with affordable housing (“We don’t have to lock our houses or cars here,” he says) in a landscape similar to their native Laos.
Walnut Grove is now home to retired Hmong and to young people employed mostly at factories in nearby Marshall, Wabasso and Worthington.
The mural in progress. Photo courtesy of Greg Wimmer.
It is that infusion of Laotian immigrants that figured in to the design of the community-supported mural painted last summer by Greg Wimmer of Rochester based Wimmer Illustration and Design with assistance from Adrienne Lobl. Mural sponsors included individuals, local businesses and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.
This snippet of the mural shows Laura Ingalls Wilder as a teacher standing next to a Hmong woman. To the left is the log bridge spanning Plum Creek, where the Ingalls family lived in a sod house.
The painting, Yang says, shows the similarities between Laos and Walnut Grove and also melds the new Hmong culture and the pioneer history of this Minnesota community. For example, Laura Ingalls and a Hmong woman stand side by side, one in a simple lace-collared prairie dress, the other in intricate and colorful traditional celebratory Hmong attire reserved for special occasions like weddings and New Year’s celebrations.
Wimmer worked with the Hmong community, integrating many of their suggestions in to the design. A log bridge spanning Plum Creek, part of an original Ingalls family mural here which had faded and was in need of repair, was incorporated in to the new work and represents the bridging of two cultures, according to the artist.
“My personal opinion is that it (the mural) makes a statement about the changes in the community without saying a word,” Wimmer says.
In the foreground, left, a Hmong man plays a bamboo flute near a rice field as his daughter carries a basket. In the background, a pioneer busts sod with an ox and a plow.
Yang also references the connections between the two cultures via two farming scenes—of a pioneer man plowing a Minnesota field with an ox, similar to the water buffalo that work the land in Laos, and of a Hmong family near a rice field and shown with a basket for carrying harvested crops from farm to village.
Native prairie plants, like black-eyed Susan and coneflowers, are part of the painting.
One of the draws to Walnut Grove, Yang says, is the land available for Hmong to plant gardens. Laotian natives, like native Walnut Grove area residents, are connected to the land.
Yang has always felt welcome in southwestern Minnesota and appreciates the mural showcasing the changes in his community, which now includes, he says, “so many races.”
Girls in traditional Hmong dress attended the mural dedication last year. Photo courtesy of Greg Wimmer.
FYI: Hmong dancers will be among entertainers at the Family Festival from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. this Saturday, July 20, at the Walnut Grove City Park as part of the festivities celebrating the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Click here to see the festival schedule.
And click here for more information about other events at the annual celebration.
BONUS PHOTOS:
Greg Wimmer painted this mural in nearby Marshall. Photo courtesy of Greg Wimmer.
And Wimmer painted this mural in Rapid City, South Dakota. Photo courtesy of Greg Wimmer.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Another sight to check out this weekend! Thanks again Audrey!
Absolutely, Erin. Even go inside the grocery store. As I recall, and it’s been years since I’ve been inside, it has a lovely wood floor and that old-fashioned look of yesteryear. Enjoy your visit to Walnut Grove and all of the festivities there.
The young Hmong girls in their traditional dress are a delight to the eyes and the foot gear tickles my fancy! I remember back to the summer when I was a kid that thongs/flipflops became the rage – 5 pair for a dollar at the discount store. Mama bought them for all the family. That was the first year that my feet didn’t toughen up from being barefoot all summer.
I agree about those girls in traditional Hmong garb. They are just darling.
Like you, I wore “thongs,” as we called them, every summer, all summer, while growing up on the farm. And they cost all of about 29 cents back then. I still wear flip flops, except my last pair cost $10. Well, they are “fancy.”
Mr. Wimmer does amazing work! He has made our downtown beautiful with many of his murals. It’s fun to see others that he has done, this one in Walnut grove is very cool, thanks for sharing.
I wondered if he had created the ones in Rochester. I knew you posted about this, but I did not remember. We have yet to explore Rochester and in a month the son will be moving from your city.
Love the artistry displayed in the beautiful mural(s). I have noted, and appreciated, the painting in Rapid City for quite a while. I’m so glad to see more and more towns doing such. I am sure you noticed the mural on the north side of the True Value Hardware Store in Houston (Hwy. 16 & 76). Son, Brady, painted that some years ago and he and wife now own the River Valley Convenience Stored located diagonally across the intersection. Great post, as always!!!! Hugs……
I wondered where your son’s convenience store was located when we drove through Houston. Yes, I remember the mural. I believe I photographed it when we were in Houston several years ago. I photographed the library mural, too. I see where you son gets his artistic talents. That would be you.
It is quite interesting how that gene gets passed along, isn’t it?? Although, DH is discovering that it was a “recessive gene” for him and it’s developing quite nicely in his woodworking these days. Have a great summer day!!! Hugs……
Oh, yes, woodworking is an artistry all its own.
Yes, and one that I steer clear of…..wood is way too unforgiving (unlike fabric!!!) LOL!
I bet DH has already built you some beautiful items from wood. Have you shown us and I’ve forgotten?
The thread spool cabinet (http://treadlemusic.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/lovely-sewing-room-addition/ ) and my large sewing table (which he made for me when I opened my sewing business).
Beautiful Murals – thanks for sharing:) Happy Thursday!
Greg is one talented artist, for certain.
Wimmer is a very talented artist. I couldn’t imagine tackling anything on that kind of a scale. I hadn’t heard of the Hmong people before but I do know Laos xx
Many Hmong families call Minnesota home, with a large population based our capital city of Saint Paul.
I agree that Greg Wimmer is talented. I couldn’t tackle such an art piece on a small scale as I don’t possess those types of artistic talents.
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