1,000 George Floyd protest murals on the move
MINNEAPOLIS -- The group behind preserving the protest murals created after the murder of George Floyd is preparing for a big move.
They're taking the more than 1,000 plywood murals, collected over the last three-plus years, to a bigger space.
"We're super excited because this is a long time coming," said Leesa Kelly, Founder and Executive Director of Memorialize the Movement.
The murals have been collected inside the Northrop King Building in Northeast Minneapolis.
"This weekend, we have volunteers coming into this space to help us organize," said Kelly.
Volunteers are categorizing the plywood murals for the big move on Monday. The new location is just five miles south in the Longfellow neighborhood.
Kelly said she hopes to open the doors in their new space by May of 2024, which would mark four years since Floyd's murder and would be in time for their annual exhibit "Justice for George."
"It just got to the point where we needed something new that fits the expansive growth that we've experienced over the last three years," said Kelly.
It's a collection that just keeps growing. In 2023, they've added more than a dozen pieces.
"This is our history," said Kelly.
The current space is not climate-controlled, nor is it well-lit.
"It will allow us the space to really spread out, focus on photographing, archiving properly, preserving the murals, doing touch-ups and patching, ether any murals that may have gotten chipped or damaged," said Kelly.
Murals that go beyond just artwork.
"These murals are an expression of a community's grief, trauma, heartbreak, hope, love, there's so much here," she said.
With the hope of preserving history for generations.
"To see art living on plywood, which is a living material and watch it evolve, and watch it grow, and watch the story continue and people continue to interact with it, and fall in love with it, and be healed by it, is just a really special thing," said Kelly.