Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery and Memorialize the Movement present an exhibition of murals that were painted on plywood after the murder of George Floyd.
 A monochromatic blue painted portrait of George Floyd juxtaposed next to text reading “SAY HIS NAME” sits on a white paint rolled background on plywood.
Community-created mural based on Blues for George stencil by artist Seitu Jones, 2020. Springboard for the Arts, St. Paul, 96 x 116 in. Photo: Easton M. Green.

Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising
September 10 – December 7, 2024 


Public Program and Reception
Saturday, September 14, 2024
6:00 – 7:00 pm Program with Leslie Guy, Seitu Jones, Leesa Kelly, and Amira McLendon 
7:00 – 9:00 pm Reception

The program and reception are free and open to the public. Seating for the program is first-come, first-served. Auditorium doors open at 5:30 pm.

On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police on the street outside the Cup Foods convenience store at the intersection of 38th Street E. and Chicago Ave. Days of protests and unrest followed. During the uprising, business owners across the Twin Cities began to cover their storefronts with sheets of plywood which were soon turned into powerful messages and murals by artists, protestors, and community. The Cities were in turmoil and the urban landscape was transformed into a living visual chronicle of the moment.

During this time, Leesa Kelly founded Memorialize the Movement and began collecting and preserving these murals as businesses took them down. Memorialize the Movement has collected over 1,000 panels of plywood over the last four years and continues to do so today, along with exhibiting these murals for the purpose of keeping George Floyd's memory and the story of the uprising alive and fresh in people's minds. 

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery, in association with Memorialize the Movement, presents Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising, curated by Amira McLendon, a former Intern of Memorialize the Movement and the Katherine E. Nash Gallery. The exhibition features a selection of the murals from Memorialize the Movement's collection. Art and Artifact is the largest gallery exhibition of the murals to be presented since they were created and is Amira McLendon’s curatorial debut. Her goal for the exhibition is to encourage people to reflect on where we are now, as we approach the fifth year since George Floyd's murder. 

Exhibition Catalogue
The Katherine E. Nash Gallery has published a catalogue of the exhibition, including 100 full-page color images of the murals and essays by Leslie Guy, Leesa Kelly, Amira McLendon, and Seph Rodney. The catalogue is distributed worldwide by the University of Minnesota Press. This is the first publication devoted to the murals. 

Sponsorship
Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising is made possible with the generous support provided by the Associate Dean for Art and Humanities, College of Liberal Arts; College of Liberal Arts Public Engagement; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, College of Liberal Arts; the Department of American Studies, the Department of History; The Imagine Fund Special Events Award; the Institute for Advanced Study; Minnesota Transform: A Mellon Foundation Just Futures Project at the University of Minnesota; The Givens Foundation for African American Literature; Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts; Stuart and Kate Nielsen; Rosalie O’Brien; and an anonymous donor.

Related Exhibitions
Learn more about these exhibitions here.

September 10 – October 5, 2024
Viewfinders/ Miradores

November 19 - December 14, 2024
Layers of Joy

Press

Art Alum Amira McLendon Curates Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising • UMN Department of Art

'Murals from the Uprising' Exhibition Preserves Protest Art • MSP Magazine

Ten Must-See Twin Cities Art Exhibitions in Fall 2024 • Minnesota StarTribune

‘Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising’ Opens Sept. 10 • Minnesota Monthly

“Art and Artifact” — collective memory, collective action • Minnesota Daily

Culture and Community • Sahan Journal

 

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery spans 5,000 square feet for the presentation of exhibitions and related programming that engage with a wide range of artists, scholars, and collaborative partners.

Location
Regis Center for Art (East)
405 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm

The Regis Center for Art is locked to the public on Saturdays, with U-card access only. Visitors can call 612-624-7530 to gain entrance into the galleries and should plan to enter the building's main entrance located on 21st Avenue South directly across from the parking garage.

Contact Us
nashgallery@umn.edu
612-624-7530

Parking & Public Transit
Learn more about the parking options below:
21st Avenue South ramp
5th Street South lot
19th Avenue South ramp

Hourly metered parking is available nearby on 22nd Avenue South and Locust Street
The gallery is accessible via Metro Transit buses and light rail lines. For your best route, visit Metro Transit Trip Planner.

Accessibility 
Regis Center for Art is accessible to visitors who use mobility devices or prefer to avoid stairs. Service animals are welcome in the gallery.

A fully accessible, gender neutral restroom is available on the 2nd floor of the Regis Center for Art (West). To access this restroom, take the elevator to the 2nd floor and proceed across the skyway towards Regis West. As you exit the skyway the restroom will be directly across from you. Fully accessible gendered restrooms are located directly to the left hand side when exiting the gallery on the first floor of Regis Center for Art (East).

Large bags and backpacks must be left at the gallery front desk with the attendant. In order to protect the art, no food or drink is allowed in the gallery.

May 14 - September 9, 2024
Closed for installation

September 10 – December 7, 2024 
Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising

January 21 – March 8, 2025 
Paul Shambroom

April 1 – 19, 2025 
MFA Thesis

May 6 – 17, 2025 
BFA Thesis

April 30 - May 11, 2024
Vital Condition (BFA Thesis)

March 26 - April 13, 2024
Delta Passage (MFA Thesis)

January 16 - December 28, 2024 (Touring Exhibition)
Dreaming Our Futures: Ojibwe and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Artists and Knowledge Keepers
Katherine E. Nash Gallery | January 16 - March 16, 2024
Rochester Art Center | April 24 – July 21, 2024
Tweed Museum of Art | September 3 – December 28, 2024

September 12 - December 9, 2023
Regis Center for Art 20th Anniversary Exhibitions: Works by Faculty and Staff

May 2 - 13, 2023
Heart of the Matter (BFA Thesis)

March 28 - April 15, 2023
lineage (MFA Thesis)

January 17 - March 18, 2023
A Tender Spirit, A Vital Form: Arlene Burke-Morgan & Clarence Morgan

September 13 - December 10, 2022
A Picture Gallery of the Soul

January 21 - March 28, 2020
The Beginning of Everything

September 10 – December 7, 2019
Queer Forms

September 15, 2015 - January 27, 2019 (Touring Exhibition)
Covered in Time and History: The Films of Ana Mendieta 
Katherine E. Nash Gallery | September 15 - December 12, 2015
NSU Art Museum | February 28 - July 3, 2016
BAMPFA | November 9, 2016 - January 15, 2017
Bildmuseet | June 18, 2017 - October 22, 2017
Martin-Gropius-Bau | April 20 - July 22, 2018
Jeu de Paume | October 16, 2018 - January 27, 2019

Mission

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery is a research laboratory for the practice and interpretation of the visual arts

Vision

We believe the visual arts have the capacity to interpret, critique, and expand on all of human experience. Our engagement with the visual arts helps us to discover who we are and understand our relationships to each other and society.

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery will be a center of discourse on the practice of visual art and its relationship to culture and community — a place where we examine our assumptions about the past and suggest possibilities for the future.

The Nash Gallery will play an indispensable role in the educational development of students, faculty, staff, and the community.

History

Professor Katherine "Katy" E. Nash (1910–1982), a faculty member of the Department of Art from 1961–1976, proposed that the Student Union create a university art gallery. Founded in 1979, the gallery moved to its current location in the Regis Center for Art in 2003. Learn more about the remarkable life and work of Professor Nash.

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