Save the Boards

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin while three other police officers assisted in his arrest and held concerned onlookers back. This prompted widespread social movements and protests across the country calling for the officers involved to be held accountable. The buildings that lined the streets where people marched installed boards on storefronts to shield the doors and windows from property damage. These boards however became blank canvasses for demonstrators to tell stories and express feelings through art. The boards conveyed messages, stories, and history, with one board reading "NOT THE FIRST MURDER NOT THE LAST, STORMS THAT NEVER SEEM TO PASS..." Similarly, Black Lives Matter art has a history as well, with people creating posters, boards, and murals related to the movement. Save the Boards collected and preserved art created in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, in the hopes that the preservation of these boards will "serve as tools for healing, learning, and reflection". == History ==

File:Street Art, George Floyd protest, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2020 (49997280282).jpg|thumb|Street art created in response to George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This mural was collected and preserved by Save the Boards. As a freshly graduated college student, Kenda Zellner-Smith enlisted the help of her roommate and friend, Emma Shepherd. It is a grassroots organization who also sought to preserve plywood murals as they functioned as a form of “protest”. Utilizing donations from the community, the women rented pickup trucks, Uhauls and storage units to collect and maintain the boards. In speaking about the project's efforts, Kenda Zellner-Smith wrote, "Collecting murals started out as an act of self preservation". By taking action to save the boards, Zellner-Smith explains her personal motivation as action towards "coping with the violent reality in which I was existing". == Activities ==

Mission and future efforts The mission of Save the Boards goes beyond collecting plywood according to Zellner-Smith. The founders, Leesa Kelly and Kenda Zellner-Smith, shared their motivations and explained "why preserving these artworks are important to the Black community." The event was partially funded by grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) and the Minnesota Vikings. Artist values and murals File:Street Art, George Floyd protest, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2020 (49997280012).jpg|thumb|Street art generated in response to George Floyd protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This mural was collected and preserved by Save the Boards. The organization believes that art has long served a purpose to be a tool for opening up difficult conversations in the face of social unrest. According to Memorialize the Movement partner of Save the Boards, Leesa Kelly, “we need the story told in a way that people will absorb it. But not in a way that makes them feel comfortable”. Save the Boards also calls to attention what they believe to be “manipulation of power and resources” through museums that struggle with equality in displaying marginalized stories. The organization thus declares that it will not function as a museum and will actively work to confront bias within the collection of the art. Since it is taking street art that may or may not be claimed, Save the Boards also acknowledges that any Black creators of the pieces may come forward and “retouch, reclaim, sell, keep, discard, showcase etc.” their work whenever they see fit. == Value of street art ==

About 2,700 pieces of street art emerged around the world in response to George Floyd's murder. These pieces ranged from the site of his murder in Minneapolis, to across the globe in Syria. Outside Cup Foods, the mural (as pictured above) illustrates a portrait of Floyd along with a sunflower behind him. One of the artists is Cadex Herrera who as an educator and intervention specialist at an elementary school, commented that he felt he needed to contribute to something after Floyd's murder. Mclain argued that art served as a form of healing for the community by saying, "Art is therapy. Art can say things you cannot express with words. It brings the community together to reflect, to grieve, for strength and for support." Street art especially murals, have been a long part of collective protest, and have typically served as a tool for "revolution, community building, and remembrance". Even across the world in Syria, artist Aziz Asmar, who created artwork in protest following George Floyd's murder, expressed similar sentiment saying, "Drawing is a world language everyone can understand," he says. "We are all brothers around the world, and we just want peace." The Save the Boards mission works to preserve pieces of plywood boards that were created by artists such as McClain and Asmar. The organization believes that by collecting, documenting and distributing visual pieces of the art back into the community of Minneapolis it can further serve as visual storytelling as a reminder of community strength. The boards preserved "do not belong to anyone, person or business" but rather aim to serve as a collective gift of healing and unity to the community. == See also ==