How Plywood From Last Year’s Protests Became Art

During the George Floyd marches last year, businesses boarded up. This year, hundreds of those boards will be displayed in exhibitions in Minneapolis, New York and Chicago.

Kelly recognized that the boards told a story — of George Floyd’s life and death, and how they reverberated across her community and the country.

“That’s why it’s so important that they be preserved,” said Kelly, who had little connection with the arts world before this project. “Because this is Black history, and not just Black history, it’s American history.”