ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul's fall art crawl is happening this weekend, but with a more somber tone. The event is honoring the life of Carrie Kwok, an artist part of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative who was murdered last Wednesday as she painted a mural. St. Paul Police called the murder a cold-blooded and random act of violence.
"We are healing together," said Ta-coumba Aiken. Aiken was an original founder of the co-op 39 years ago. "We know that after this is probably when things are going to hit even harder...but this gives us an opportunity to celebrate her, because she celebrated us."
On Friday, members of the Lowertown Arts Collective privately finished the mural that Carrie was working on when she was killed. Carrie had moved into the co-op in February.
"It has not been something that has frightened people as much as it has brought people together," said Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative member Tara Tieso.
That sense of community is what Tieso says Carrie was all about.
"She would say, you know, I went to farmer's market and I got six pints of strawberries, and I can't eat them all, so you have to come over," Tieso said.
The Co-op is displaying some of Carrie's work for the crawl, and has a memorial set up for her both inside and outside the building. Pictures at the memorial showcase her wonderful smile.
The art crawl continues on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It features more than 40 gallery locations throughout St. Paul.