Social Justice Billboard Project

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The SOCIAL JUSTICE BILLBOARD PROJECT created by NE Sculpture I Gallery Factory is now made possible in part with support from the National Academy of Design/Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Trust Fund for Mural Painting, NYC.
This generous award from the Academy launched Phase II of the Social Justice Billboard Project on April 5th 2021. Phase II will last for 12 months. We are very grateful for the support from the Committee and Academy!  

The Social Justice Billboard Project elevates BIPOC voices and artwork in our community in Minneapolis, MN using the three billboards facing the intersection of 38th and Chicago, the site of George Floyd's murder and memorial. This Project was initiated in response to the murder of George Floyd and inspired by Peyton Scott Russell's "Icon of a Revolution" mural placed at Mr. Floyd's memorial site in the days following his death. Phase I of the project ran from July 2020 until the end of March 2021 and was entirely community funded thanks to contributions and social media promotion from supporters like you. Thank you!

The current three billboards went up in early July with the artwork of Luis Fitch, Maria Cristina Tavera and Patience Zalanga. These are the second grouping of art & artists in Phase II. 

Phase II started April 2021 exhibiting the works by Jim Denomie, Seitu Ken Jones, and Xavier Tavera. Phase II will run through March 2022.

We are very grateful to Naima Green, Ivan B. Watkins, Jessica Wimbley, William Ransom, Peyton Scott Russell, and Melodee Strong for sharing their work in Phase I of billboards in 2020 at the George Floyd vigil site on 38th and Chicago Ave South.

 Each Artists billboard is up for three months. Every three months we commission three new artists to be funded to create & exhibit public art which responds to the trauma of the murder of George Floyd.

The National Academy of Design/Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Trust Fund for Mural Painting, NYC is a group of National Academicians who convene regularly to distribute awards from The Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Trust Fund for Mural Painting in America, first established in 1932. Founded in 1825 by a group of forward-thinking artists and architects, the National Academy of Design was created to promote American art and architecture. Moving forward, the National Academy plans to sponsor mural projects every year across the United States in partnership with different non-profit organizations