“Longevity and loyalty”: Artists respect George Floyd with wall painting in Minneapolis
Steps from the very spot George Floyd took his final gasp in Minneapolis, a wall painting has become a spot to assemble and to grieve. A week ago, Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain and a little gathering of specialists finished the representation in under a day.
“Why did you feel so strongly about creating this mural?” CBS News asked.
“I was incredibly angry that I was watching another man die at the hands of law enforcement. We’ve seen this so many times. We needed to take action,” Herrera said.
“And particularly now, we feel like the entire country and world is screaming for justice, and this is our way of screaming as well,” Goldman said of the wall painting, which stands 20-feet wide and 6 1/2 feet high.
A sunflower encompasses Floyd’s face. Look carefully and they will see the names of others, as Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and Philando Castile.
“Why did you want to create the sunflower around George Floyd?” CBS News asked.
“The sunflower represents longevity and loyalty. The names inside the flower represent the seeds that were never able to grow into fully developed flowers,” Herrera said.
They will discover wall paintings for George Floyd to the extent Los Angeles, England and even Syria, however this one in Minneapolis has become a guide for recuperating.
“I wanted to create something that would help me heal personally and not realizing that through this, it would help the community heal as well,” Herrera said.
John Williamson was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He was a bookseller before shifting to reporter. He lives in New York City and is tall for no reason. He contributes in Digest Express as an editor.
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