The I Belong Here Project Brings Art, STEM, and Belonging Outdoors
At The Works Museum, we believe that engineering is everywhere and everyone engineers. Over the past few years, we’ve also been exploring how engineering connects with identity and belonging, using ideas gathered directly from kids and families in our neighborhood to create artistic expressions that reflect our community and our mission.
Our newest project, I Belong Here, takes that approach outside our walls, with the development of a new mural and outdoor space called The Gathering Place.
The Mural
With support from Legacy* funding, we set out to create a mural that would make The Works Museum more visible while reflecting the museum's commitment to community and fostering a sense of belonging. As our Director of Learning Experiences, Marissa Woodruff, put it, “From a car window, a bus stop, or the moment a visitor walks up to our doors, we want everyone to feel: This place is for me.”
Local artist Kat Chelstrom has been part of the project from the beginning, working with our team to develop art activities for students in our community. This spring, we brought those activities to Family Engineering Nights at eight schools, where nearly 2,000 kids and their families participated. We asked kids to draw a picture of what belonging means to them.
Kat took the time to talk with each child about their drawing. Watching those conversations and seeing the pride kids had in sharing their ideas, was incredibly inspiring. Their drawings were thoughtful, intentional, and full of personality.
At each school, we connected the drawings into an ever-growing paper chain, showing how all of our individual ideas can come together to make a community stronger. Each child also left their “artist signature” by adding a fingerprint to a mirrored shimmer wall that will eventually be displayed inside The Works Museum's entrance.
Throughout the summer, Kat and our team sorted and compiled hundreds of drawings, looking for both individual images to incorporate line-for-line and themes that appeared often. Hearts, circles, and rainbows showed up again and again, inspiring the large colorful arch that will now welcome visitors at our door as well as other popular shapes sprinkled throughout the mural.
The Gathering Place
Just beside the museum, changes are underway to create a more intentional space for our community to connect. We’re calling it The Gathering Place because it will offer opportunities to spend time together through learning experiences, shared meals, and hands-on outdoor STEM activities.
Landscaping will be completed in spring 2027 and will include a fenced-in area, picnic tables, and a rock garden with boulders for kids to sit and play on. Some visitors may even spot a familiar sight: rocks they painted with their ideas of belonging will become part of the landscaping. These colorful additions are a reflection of the creativity of our community and a reminder that The Works Museum is a place shaped by the people who visit and create with us.
We hope The Gathering Place becomes an extension of the museum and a welcoming space where visitors can spend meaningful time together.
Coming Spring 2027
We’re so excited to see our building and outdoor space, which were formerly blank canvases, become a community landmark, shaped by the ideas of the kids and families who live in our neighborhood.
We are so grateful to everyone who has helped bring this huge splash of color and excitement to our little corner of 98th and Lyndale. We hope it sends a simple message to everyone who sees it: I belong here.
We’re looking forward to hosting a public celebration of the completed outdoor space and mural in May 2027. Stay tuned for more details!
*This work is funded in part by MHC with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
