During the days and weeks of unrest following the death of George Floyd, those pieces of plywood protecting businesses throughout the metro were transformed into artwork.

Artwork that is now hanging at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota.

The exhibit “Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising” opened just last month. On display: a range of emotions from anger to fear to hope. 

The plywood panels would have likely been thrown away, but instead, an organization called “Memorialize the Movement” started collecting them and storing them in a warehouse in south Minneapolis. They saved more than 1,000 of them, and a sample of them are part of the exhibit. 

The gallery director says the exhibit is a combination of art and history.

“For us collectively as a community, we need to remember what has happened in the past so we have a point of reference as we move forward in the future.”

The exhibit “Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising” is open through December 7th.