Jungle Welcomes New Mural to Transform Back Wall
The Jungle Theater is excited to announce that our LynLake theater is getting a new mural, helping celebrate our 25 years in this building and look forward to the exciting new things on our horizon.
Artists Christina Vang of La Bang Studio and Ka Oskar Ly of Ua Si Creative have put together a wonderful, colorful and meaningful piece that celebrates the Jungle Theater and our community. The pair will be working on this new work throughout the next couple weeks with the community being invited to watch the transformation during our Summer Showcase July 26 & 27.
Our Jungle flowers were conceptualized and designed by friend of the Jungle, Betsy Cole, to celebrate our new building 25 years ago. She had always been interested in the Jungle and explained that she was drawn to the hibiscus, feeling the design lead entirely by her heart.
Being her first major community art piece, Betsy took on the task as an incredible act to kindness to the Jungle Theater, with the efforts of her family and the community jumping in to provide this incredible work at a fraction of the cost to our regional theater.
Betsy explains bringing the massive flowers to life was a community effort. The two walls were painted by MCAD students Jake Dwyer, Jenn Salmon, and Bill Rebholz. Betsy was there everyday to bring the group coffee and donuts, commonly joined by community members who would gather to experience the creative process.
Today, Betsy continues to share only positivity about the Jungle Theater and is just as excited as we are for this new chapter in our building and for the respect that the Jungle shows our artists both on and off our stage. She expressed gratitude and excitement that the Jungle contacted her about the mural as decisions were being made about changing it.
Public art benefits everyone in a community, and we hope Christina Vang and Ka Oskar Ly new work will resonate with patrons, supporters, and passerbys for years to come.
About the Mural
"Vessels of Stories" explores the profound role of storytelling across cultures. The plants and vessels feel alive and are playfully derived from physical and metaphysical realms to invite curiosity and, like theater, reveal the truth in imaginary circumstances.
The contrast between hard and soft textures reflects the spectrum of lived experiences—some harsh and unyielding, others gentle and comforting. Altogether, they represent the delicate yet strong connections forming our communal narratives. The mural will combine painted shapes, patterns, and photographic elements to create depth, complexity, and richness that symbolize untold stories. The color palette echoes the red and green hues inside the theater.
"Vessels of Stories" offers an immersive journey that beckons viewers to interact with the narratives within and around each vessel. Like a theater, it's a space where stories breathe, shadows dance, and every voice, form, and environment contributes to the grand tapestry of human experience. This mural is a celebration of the art of storytelling and the textures of life encapsulated in the vessels that cradle our most complex narratives.
— Christina Vang of La Bang Studio and Ka Oskar Ly of Ua Si Creative
Join the Jungle for our Summer Showcase and watch the artists work in between play readings that highlight our Artistic Cohort!
About our Muralists
Christina Vang
Christina Vang (she/her) is a HMong American creative director and multidisciplinary artist living and working in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her practice is propelled by curiosity, play, intuition, empathy, and innate optimism. These unique aspects often manifest in the vibrant and colorful worlds she illustrates and the visually striking identities and systems she designs.
In 2016, she founded La Bang Studio to make design more accessible to the community. Since then, her practice has expanded to include murals, art installations, and engagement focused on place-based themes connecting local and global communities, identities, and cultures.
Christina's creative leadership extends to a diverse range of projects with partners such as Mixed Blood Theater, Loft Literary Center, Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota, John Kohler Arts Center, City of Bloomington, Chromazone Mural Festival, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC), Minnesota Opera, McKnight Foundation, Project Success, and the Women's Foundation of Minnesota.
Ka Oskar Ly
Ka Oskar Ly (they/she/nwg/nws) is a queer HMong multidisciplinary artist and cultural producer. Their work delves into the fluid and dynamic nature of culture, deriving strength from their ancestral lineage to empower communities. Their work combines soft sculpture, fiber arts, installation, pedagogy, and social practice, exploring identity, culture, and place to create liberatory practices and futures.
Ka's work challenges expectations of familiar materials and navigates the nuances of Hmong culture without words like 'art' or 'queer.' For nearly two decades, they have mobilized communities for racial and gender/queer justice continuing to work at the intersection of creativity and social change.
As a co-founder of Ua Si Creative, a HMong artist collective, Ka collaborates to explore innovative approaches for community engagement through co-design, production, and curation in public space. As an individual practitioner, they have received numerous awards, including the McKnight Artist Fellowship, Jerome Foundation grants, and fellowships from Springboard for the Arts, Forecast Public Art, and the Intercultural Leadership Institute.
Work will start on our new mural the week of July 22. Stay tuned for ways to get involved with the creation of this exciting new piece.