As murals of George Floyd fade, Minnesotans are working to keep their message in the public eye

A mural of George Floyd was painted on a building near the site of his death at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

MINNEAPOLIS _ George Floyd's ubiquitous portrait is burned into our minds. Nearly four months after his death in Minneapolis police custody, the events of May 25 haunt the Twin Cities.

Business owners covered their windows with plywood boards as protests, riots and looting broke out across the Twin Cities. Artists quickly took to the streets, painting over those boards with portraits of Floyd and graffiti-style messages of hope, healing _ and anger, too.

As the protests slowed and business owners started removing boards from their windows, grassroots groups such as University Rebuild and Reuse Minnesota raced to collect them.

A mural featuring George Floyd was painted on the plywood covering a building in the 1800 block of East Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

Entrepreneur Leesa Kelly, 27, teamed up with the Minnesota African American History Gallery and Museum to create Memorialize the Movement. Kenda Zellner-Smith, 23, launched Save the Boards Minneapolis. After learning about each other through a Star Tribune article, the two partnered up.

Working with Midwest Art Conservation Center on preservation methods, they have collected nearly 200 boards thus far, along with donations from existing grassroots groups. They launched a GoFundMe to raise $50,000, which will fund climate-controlled storage big enough to house boards up to 40 feet long and an annual muraling event beginning next year on the anniversary of Floyd's death.

Some boards still cover the windows of businesses, like a series in Uptown that were recently defaced. Murals painted on the sides of buildings, like the iconic George Floyd mural on the side of Cup Foods, have a more chilling, permanent sensibility.

A drawing of George Floyd hung at the site of his death at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

"Everytime someone is driving through Uptown or down University Avenue, they are going to see those boards and remember what happened _ the injustice brought on George Floyd, the riots, the uprising," said Kelly. "And I think that's what's really important here, to continue that conversation so that his death isn't lost to time.

"I don't want it to be another hashtag that is trending and goes forgotten. It's something we have to continue talking about if we want to see change."

A drawing of George Floyd laid with flowers at the site of his death at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A drawing of George Floyd sat with candles at the site of his death at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A image of George Floyd was painted on plywood covering the windows a the U.S. Bank branch in the 900 block of East Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A mural featuring George Floyd was painted on an exterior wall at the perminanly closed K-Mart on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A mural featuring George Floyd painted over several pieces of plywood was dismantled by crews as they worked to repair a building at the intersection of West Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A mural featuring George Floyd was painted on an exterior wall of a building in the 2900 block of Blaisdell Avenue in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A mural featuring George Floyd was painted on the side of a building in the 100 block of West Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)

A mural featuring George Floyd hung on the side of a building in the 700 block of East Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)