Across the country, murals and other street art have become a symbol of those protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police — and now people are trying to document and preserve these art pieces for posterity as symbols of change.
One recognizable mural at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South — the corner where Floyd died — was created by North Minneapolis artist Peyton Scott Russell, who said he grew up on that corner and later moved to the North Side.
In a video interview with North News, Russell said that 12-foot-by-12-foot mural was one of two he painted in a Casket Arts Building art studio in Northeast Minneapolis. The murals took him three days to complete, he said.
The second mural is at 1930 Glenwood Ave. N.
In the interview, Russell said when he first heard of Floyd’s death, he wanted to participate in the outcry against it.
“I wanted to actually participate in a pretty brutal way,” Russell told North News. But then said because he has two children and didn’t want to jeopardize their health and safety, he took another avenue.
“My creative, artistic tools are the best way I can fight,” he said. “I’m a graffiti artist, street artist, and for something like this it’s just my most powerful tool to use so I decided to do something pretty large and place it … sort of (in) a guerrilla format so it has a really high impact.”
Pictures of the image have been shared around the world.
When asked about the importance and significance of the murals, Russell said he hoped the image of Floyd would “hopefully create the start of some real change — to have a visual that will continue to remind people that something really has to happen.”
Another mural at the intersection — on the wall of the Cup Foods — has also been shared around the world and turned into a memorial site laden with flowers and signs.
Three artists, Xena Goldman, Greta McLain, and Cadex Herrera, said they painted the mural to give the community a place to mourn.
“Hopefully, it’s a reminder that this should never happen again, and people need to step up in every way that they can to stand up against these corrupt systems,” Goldman said in a KARE-TV interview.
“We feel so helpless by the life that was taken away from us, and a system that feels so big, and scary, and out of our control,” McLain said.
With so many murals and art pieces appearing around the world, efforts are being made to document and preserve them by several organizations, including the University of St. Thomas.
The Urban Art Mapping Project at St. Thomas is asking for people to take pictures of any street art honoring George Floyd or promoting anti-racism so it can preserve the photos in its database.
“From the smallest sticker or tag to the largest mural or street painting — if you see George Floyd memorial or Anti-racist street art, take a pic and use this google form to upload it.”
The project participants ask people to photograph all the street art they see, including “murals, written text on walls, stickers, graffiti, projections, posters, and more,” saying the art “represents a powerful call for change.”
They’re seeking images from around the world and that their database “will serve as repository for images and a future resource for scholars and artists.”
Urban Mapping Group is also asking those who take down plywood with street art to contact their group so it can be preserved.
Another group, Preserve Minneapolis, is seeking images of street art honoring Floyd that it will “layer” on a virtual map of historic Minnesota sites.
A “public, online exhibition of this outpouring of street art as a way of showing solidarity,” the group said in an Instagram post.
“We want this to be a way to preserve and share these signs of community with those within and beyond our city,” they wrote. “And help us all better understand how we related to each other and our built environment.”
“Send a picture of a work of street art from your neighborhood (+ the address where it was taken) to: rcoffman@preserveminneapolis.org.”
On Sunday, Springboard for the Arts, hosted an event where black artists painted murals with messages of “solidarity, anger, solace and hope” on plywood along University Avenue between Rice and Dale streets.
The event included artists, such as Alex Smith, Aurum Oro, Canaan Ray-Strong, Geno Okok, Myc Daz, Noval Noir, Seitu Jones, Tony Johnson and Ta-Coumba Aiken.
One of the artists, Seitu Jones, made a stencil to memorialize George Floyd. The stencil and instructions are available for free at seitujonesstudio.com/blues4george/
A call for artists. #StPaul pic.twitter.com/sbZVNgeGJD
— Mary Divine (@MaryEDivine) June 6, 2020
While some of the art is the result of organized efforts (such as that of the Springboard for the Arts and the Uptown Association, which organized some murals on plywood boarding businesses in the Uptown area), other displays have simply emerged as a natural symbol of protest, such as the art and signs being hung on the fence surrounding the White House.
The fence outside the White House has been converted to a crowd-sourced memorial wall — almost like an art gallery — to black men and women who lost their lives at the hands of police.
Hundreds are strolling, looking, adding names and paintings and posters. pic.twitter.com/mXlZpfMAeX
— Hannah Natanson (@hannah_natanson) June 7, 2020
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Street art honored George Floyd. Now advocates want to preserve it for history. - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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