Minneapolis-based organization endeavors to safeguard artworks born from 2020 protests following the demise of George Floyd, ensuring their historical significance for future generations.
Five years after the world was shocked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, efforts to preserve the public protest art that emerged in his memory are underway.
Derek Chauvin's kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, captured on video, sparked widespread protests across the United States. In response, a myriad of art pieces were created in public spaces, honoring Floyd, calling for justice, and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
Many of these pieces, such as the Black Lives Matter mural on 16th Street in Washington, D.C., have been removed over time. In Minneapolis, however, Leesa Kelly and her organization, Memorialize the Movement, have been working diligently to save hundreds of pieces of public protest art. The group, which describes itself as a "living archive," aims to ensure Floyd is never forgotten and that the movement his death documented is memorialized.
Kelly, the founder of Memorialize the Movement, began her efforts in the summer of 2020. So far, the organization has collected and preserved over 1,000 pieces of 2020 protest art. These artworks are stored in a warehouse near East Lake Street in Minneapolis.
Memorialize the Movement not only preserves the art from 2020 but also commissions artists to create new murals on blank panels at events. These events, such as the annual "Justice for George," are community efforts supported by dedicated volunteers and funding obtained through various grants. The fifth annual event, themed "Radical Joy," was held in May 2025, focusing on community care, healing, and the creation of new artworks.
Kelly, an advocate for police reform, feels that progress has been slow and that making a change has been challenging. Despite these challenges, she believes that the community in Minneapolis has made significant strides in discovering its agency and power.
In unrelated news, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it is moving to drop police reform agreements, or consent decrees, with the cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis. These agreements were born out of probes launched after George Floyd's death and the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon claimed that Biden administration officials relied on "faulty legal theories" and "cherry-picked" statistics to accuse departments of widespread misconduct. She further stated that consent decrees can increase bureaucracy for police, making recruiting and retaining officers more difficult.
While advocates face various challenges, Kelly remains optimistic about the future. She emphasizes the resilience of the community in Minneapolis and its ability to accomplish meaningful things despite federal-level obstacles.
The preservation of Floyd's memory and the Black Lives Matter movement's documentation extends to social-media, where videos of his death continue to spark discussions and calls for justice.
The international business community has shown interest in supporting such causes, as evident in Memorialize the Movement's funding obtained through various grants.
As efforts to preserve public protest art continue, the entertainment industry might play a part in bringing awareness to ongoing political issues, such as police reform, as seen in the annual "Justice for George" events.
