JULY 31 – AUGUST 30, 2021
Free and Open to the Public from Dawn to Dusk
PLEASE NOTE
Minneapolis Protest Murals were de-installed on Friday, August 20 to protect them from the inclement weather due to Hurricane Henri. The works can still be viewed via our online photo album, and a virtual 3D walkthrough will be available at a later date.
The Watermill Center
39 Watermill Towd Road, Water Mill, NY 11976
in partnership with
MEMORIALIZE THE MOVEMENT
Minneapolis Protest Murals is an expansive outdoor exhibition of public art created organically in Minneapolis following the May 25 murder of George Floyd last year. Plywood murals, created by artists during the Minneapolis uprising of 2020, were collected from businesses and preserved by Memorialize the Movement, an organization founded by Minneapolis-based activist Leesa Kelly. Featuring 150 of the nearly 900 boards collected, Minneapolis Protest Murals — presented in commemoration of George Floyd and support of Black Lives Matter — is the most extensive presentation of these artworks outside of Minneapolis to date.
In speaking about preserving the protest murals, Leesa Kelly says, “It’s very much a form of healing. There’s this process of physically carrying the burden of the boards that helps to relieve some of that pain. Some of that tension you’re feeling in your body. You’re not just carrying this wood around; you are literally carrying George Floyd.”
We hope the exhibition of these works will keep the conversation alive, engage, challenge, and educate the public, and provide the artists and community members of Minneapolis with a platform beyond their city.
ARTISTS: Ballard, Alicia Cãnas, @ClowieMakesArt, Creatives After Curfew, Mameki Donzo, Face Me Por Favor, Free In Color Arts, @Froriginal, Fyok, Seitu Jones, Lissa Karpeh, Kola, Model Cities, Paint Our Peace, Darlington Panton, @PapaYoungVision, Jordan Roots, Witt Siasoco, @SignByP, Alex Smith, Springboard For The Arts, Donald “Bayou” Thomas, Laine Porwit
The exhibition is curated by Leesa Kelly and Noah Khoshbin in collaboration with House of Trees.
INTERVIEW WITH LEESA KELLY
MEMORIALIZE THE MOVEMENT
Memorialize the Movement is a grassroots organization founded by Leesa Kelly after the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed. The purpose of their work is to preserve the plywood murals and shed light on the issues of police accountability and racial inequality by uplifting the voices of the people who left powerful messages on the boards during the Minneapolis uprising of 2020. Through this work, they strive to bring Black narratives to the forefront of the ongoing fight for justice.
SPECIAL THANKS
Minneapolis Protest Murals would not be possible without Leesa Kelly, Memorialize the Movement, House of Trees, and the many artists who created the artworks on view.
