There’s a lot of artistic work done at the memorial. This gas station closed and people have used it extensively in their art projects. I visited the site twice while in Minneapolis lats 2 weeks and word on the street is that there is some wonderful progress being made in the community as far as bringing people together and working on ending the systemic causes of racism. Many mornings there is a gathering of community here, under the gas station roof, to discuss what’s happening in the neighborhood. I was told there about 150 people from many different backgrounds who regularly attend these sessions. I was there when one was about to begin. One of the local Baha’is brings the coffee every morning, a native man, originally from the Cheyenne reservation in South Dakota, gave me some tobacco to use as an offering after I told him I had come to say some prayers and he lit some sage as part of his offering for the group. An African american man told the group how he had seen some homeless couple in the area the night before and led them to a warm shelter. A young white man who lives next to the gas station got the fire going that everyone was huddled around. There’s food and coffee and bottled water available for anyone. There’s art supplies for anyone. There’s a community patrol man I met on “duty” in the area. He’s part of the alternative to policing that’s forming in Minneapolis and other cities. They model it after a program initiated in Chicago years ago. No weapons, just good human deescalation skills and street credentials seem to be a big part of the program. All in all it was a nice mixed group of about 15 people last Sunday morning.

This is 7″ x 10″ using pencil, watercolor and gouache on cotton paper. $ 65 unframed.