Street Art as Public Record: The George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive

Interview with Dr. David Todd Lawrence and Dr. Heather Shirey on the George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive

By: Lamont jack Pearley

The African American Folklorist recently spoke with Dr. David Todd Lawrence and Dr. Heather Shirey, co-directors of Urban Art Mapping, about their work documenting street art created in response to the murder of George Floyd and the anti-racist protests that followed.

Dr. David Todd Lawrence is Associate Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Dr. Heather Shirey is Chair of the Department of Art History at the University of St. Thomas. Together, they co-direct Urban Art Mapping, a project that documents and studies street art as a form of public expression.

Their work includes the George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive, a community-driven digital archive that collects photographs and information about murals, graffiti, signs, and other public messages created after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis in 2020.

About the Archive

In the days and weeks following George Floyd’s murder, public art appeared across Minneapolis, St. Paul, and many other cities. People used walls, boarded windows, sidewalks, and other public spaces to express grief, anger, remembrance, and demands for justice.

Much of this work was temporary. Some pieces were painted over, removed, weathered, or lost as businesses reopened and public spaces changed. Urban Art Mapping began documenting these works so that they would not disappear without a record.

The George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive preserves these public expressions as part of the historical record. The archive includes contributions from community members, photographers, artists, researchers, and others who recognized the importance of documenting what was happening in real time.

Why Street Art Matters

In the interview, we discuss why street art should be understood as more than decoration. In this context, street art served as a form of public testimony. It showed how people were responding to racial violence, police brutality, and the broader movement for justice.

Street art can document community response in ways that official records often do not. It captures public emotion, local perspectives, political demands, and community memory. These works help us understand how people used public space to respond to a major historical event.

Archives and Community Documentation

This conversation also addresses how archives are created. Archives do not only come from universities, museums, or government institutions. They can also begin in communities, especially when people recognize that something important needs to be documented.

From a folklorist’s perspective, the murals, graffiti, and street messages were already forms of cultural documentation. Urban Art Mapping’s work helped preserve and organize that documentation so it could remain accessible to the public, educators, researchers, and future generations.

Public Space and Memory

The interview also explores the relationship between public space, power, and memory. Public spaces often reflect decisions about whose stories are visible and whose stories are ignored or removed.

After George Floyd’s murder, street art became one way people used public space to make their voices visible. These works raised questions about justice, remembrance, police violence, racism, and community accountability.

By preserving images of this street art, the archive helps document how people used public space during a specific moment in history.

Why This Work Is Still Important

The George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive remains important because public memory can be erased quickly. Temporary art can be removed. Public attention can shift. Historical events can be simplified or misrepresented over time.

This archive helps preserve a record of how communities responded to George Floyd’s murder and the anti-racist movements that followed. It also provides a resource for people who want to study public art, protest, racial justice, memory, and community-based documentation.

This interview is about art, but it is also about documentation, public history, and the importance of preserving community response.

Learn more about Urban Art Mapping and the George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive:
https://urbanartmapping.org

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