ST PAUL, Minn. — A giant mural of soccer star Megan Rapinoe, located just a block away from St. Paul's Allianz Field, has been a trendy photo stop for a few months. But now it's also trending thanks to a visit from Rapinoe herself.
"She's one of my favorite players and she posted about it last night," said Emily Schute, who was among many fans who stopped by for a photo on Monday. "I didn't know it was a thing, so I was like, 'I gotta go.'"
For Schute, the timing was perfect. She's from Michigan, but traveled to St. Paul with her mom to see the U.S. Women's National Team play South Korea at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The international match is also part of the reason why Wes Burdine, owner of Black Hart St. Paul — an LGBTQ soccer bar — commissioned artist Rock Martinez to paint the mural on the bar in the first place.
"This is selfishly about me getting to meet Megan," Burdine said with a laugh. "I knew that if you're in town and there's a gigantic mural of you, it's pretty hard to not go visit it."
When asked about the mural on Monday, Rapinoe told KARE 11 that Burdine clearly had a winning strategy.
"Yep, definitely, if there is something this big of me, I'm likely going to want to see it," Rapinoe said with a laugh. "Particularly if it's on the side of a gay bar, and a soccer bar at that."
Though Rapinoe doesn't have any Minnesota connections, Burdine says her importance transcends the state and her sport.
"Black Hart St. Paul is a queer soccer bar and someone like Megan, who has been so forceful in advocating for others and using soccer as something more than just a game, she's a hero," Burdine said. "A hero to people like me, to soccer fans and to our patrons."
Rapinoe says the honor was hers.
"It's so humbling to be honest," she said. "I think gay bars and trans bars and lesbian bars all over the country and all over the world, those are sacred and sort of safe and just incredible places; and to have it be this beautiful mural, this beautiful piece of artwork, which sort of speaks for the culture in a lot of ways, sports in a lot of ways, it's very special to me. It's something I'll always remember."
Rapinoe also used her appearance to show support for the expansion of women's soccer in Minnesota. Burdine is also cofounder of Minnesota Women's Soccer, the pre-professional team that's set to kick off in May.
"They've gone to a kind of a grassroots, local level. They have a ton of investors, and they're just kind of doing it themselves," Rapinoe said. "Something like that is really incredible."
Before leaving, Rapinoe also left her mark on the mural itself.
Kent Erdahl: "I know you've signed a lot of autographs in your day, have you ever signed a building?"
Rapinoe: "I have not. None nearly as cool as that. To actually have the artist teach me a little bit, give me a few tips and then to actually tag this beautiful piece of artwork. I was actually afraid of like totally messing up. I wanted to nail it, so I didn't completely mess up this beautiful work of art. I'm happy I could get my little tag on there, and now I can say I'm a little graffiti artist."
And that aspiring artist even autographed her spray can, leaving it for Burdine to display in the bar, along with a couple of pieces of cardboard that she used to practice her new tag. Burdine says he plans to donate one of the pieces to an annual charity action put on by Dark Clouds, the Minnesota United supporters group.