MINNEAPOLIS -- A team of artists is working on a giant mural featuring a portrait of musician Bob Dylan on a building in downtown Minneapolis.
On Wednesday, the artists began painting the 60-foot tall, 150-wide portrait of Dylan, who originally hailed from Duluth and once owned the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reports. The kaleidoscopic portrait will fill a whitewashed wall at the corner of Fifth Street and Hennepin Avenue.
Commissioned by the building's owner, Goldman Sachs, the mural is part of Hennepin Theatre Trust's effort to help revitalize downtown Minneapolis with a Cultural District.
"We want Minneapolis to be a 24-hour city," said Joan Vorderbruggen, arts co-ordinator for the district. "Arts and culture should be a part of every step you take."
The $50,000 project is being planned by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, who has left his mark on facades across three continents, including a mural of rappers Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. in Miami and one of Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai in Rome. This will be his largest project outside of Brazil.
Kobra's team of five artists, three from Brazil and two from Minnesota, will use boom lifts and air compressors as they work on the mural over the next two weeks.
Kobra wants to keep the design a surprise, but he welcomes people who want to witness the creative process. He envisions a triptych of Dylan, with three black and white images of the musician over different periods of his long career.
The mural will include lyrics from Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
