George Floyd Square, Minneapolis
Untitled fist sculpture designed by Jordan Powell-Karis, with lead metal fabricator, Seven Bailey.
Photo by Jack Becker
One month after Floyd’s death, June 25, 2020, the fist first goes up made of wood.
Photo by Ben Hovland
On Jan 18, 2021, the fist, after being translated into steel, is installed.
Photo by Ben Hovland
The completed fist, in steel.
Photo by Ben Hovland
The fist, during a lightning storm (April 2021)
Photo by Ben Hovland
The intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis has become known worldwide as the site where George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a White police officer on May 25, 2020. Captured on phones by bystanders and shared globally, Floyd’s death sparked protests against police brutality and systemic racism around the globe.
The intersection was held for over a year as an occupation protest by people who had erected barricades to block vehicular traffic and transformed the space with amenities, social services, and public art of Floyd and that of other racial justice themes. After a guilty verdict was reached by a jury in the Chauvin trial on April 20, 2021, organizers of the occupation of the 38th and Chicago street intersection said they would continue to protest and hold the square until their demands were met, which included awaiting the trial outcome for the other three police officers at the scene of Floyd's death.
In addition to murals, gardens, street art, temporary installations and thousands of remembrances, a large fist was erected in the center of the intersection. Following the defendant Derek Chauvin’s trial, in late April 2021, the streets have been partially reopened by the City. Jordan Powell-Karris, a young Black artist from South Minneapolis, developed this iconic sculpture, which has stood now for 400 days, serving double duty as a traffic island. Self-funded, this public art project has taken on a life of its own, with wooden versions stationed at four points a block from the square, as part of a traffic calming measure. Others have been placed at sites where Black men have been killed by police, such as Daunte Wright, who was shot by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, MN.