Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Arts and Culture
Matt Sepic

Street art from Floyd protests gets permanent home

A woman goes through artwork
Leesa Kelly, founder of Memorialize the Movement, shows some of the artwork in the group's collection at a temporary storage space in northeast Minneapolis.
Matt Sepic | MPR News 2022

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

Updated: Sept. 23, 8:30 a.m. | Posted: Sept. 22, 4 a.m.

A group that collected and preserved hundreds of plywood murals from the George Floyd protests has found a permanent home for them.

During the civil unrest that followed the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, business owners across the Twin Cities covered their doors and windows with plywood to deter rioters. Artists followed and created murals on many of the panels.

Leesa Kelly founded Memorialize the Movement in 2020, which collected and preserved hundreds of murals painted on about 1,000 four-by-eight-foot pieces of plywood.

Kelly's group is seeking volunteers this weekend to move the artwork from a small storage room in the Northrup King Building to a building on Snelling Avenue in Minneapolis, two blocks from the former Third Precinct police station and close to the historic Coliseum Building, which is undergoing a $29 million renovation.

Kelly said that the new space has room for occasional public exhibitions, and it’s in a part of the city where much of the art originated.

“The neighborhood is a big mural neighborhood,” Kelly said. “There's still a lot of murals up. There were a lot of really important murals that were created in that area.”

Memorialize the Movement received grant funding to rent the new space.

“There've been a lot of growing pains, but it feels really good to finally see the fruits of our labor blooming, and seeing people believe in us enough to invest in us and take a chance on us.”

Kelly said she plans to create a photographic catalog of the murals.

Correction (Sept. 23, 2023): A previous version of this story misstated the ownership of the new Memorialize the Movement space. This story has been updated.