Two events last year came together to create works of art: the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests. Both led to boarded-up businesses in cities across the United States. Those boards were turned into artists' canvasses.
"George Floyd was the catalyst," Dallas Army of Artists Founder Isaac Davies said. "Sometimes you just want to go out and paint something because you feel like you need to."
The painted plywood that covered windows, and doors, and street pavements was a form of protest. Now some of it will be included in a national traveling art exhibit curated by Mana Public Arts called 'Sites of Protest'.
"Artists played a really important role in helping convey what a lot of people were thinking," Davies explained. "I hope that it inspires people to not sit by while things are going wrong, and to make a statement."
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Some of the Dallas murals that were on display locally will be included in the traveling exhibit, along with works from artists in 20 cities across the United States.
"We didn't want it to be lost to the sands of time," Davies said. "So I think visual artists had a pretty pivotal role in helping shape the conversation as far as expressing that frustration and expressing that there's something wrong that needs fixing.
'Site of Protest' will start its run in Jersey City in September, then move to Miami in December, and finish in Chicago next March.
