Artist Memorializes George Floyd In The North Loop
During one of the city’s darkest moments, an artist had an idea to bring some light and hope to a corner of the North Loop—while paying tribute to George Floyd.
Since Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis Police on Memorial Day, the city has seen massive demonstrations, demanding justice. And since some of those protests have gone from peaceful to destructive, many businesses have boarded up their windows and entrances for the time being.
An artist who goes by the name HOTTEA asked Eric Dayton if he could paint over the plywood covering the former Bachelor Farmer restaurant and cafe, which Dayton closed permanently during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He (Dayton) was one of my early supporters,” said HOTTEA, “so I wanted to give something back for all those years, and we’re doing this.”
His artwork is a color field painting with an estimated 200 different colors next to each other in a mosaic style. And woven into that field of color are black panels that spell out the name, George Floyd.
HOTTEA hopes people will see that “even though things are really dark right now, our future is bright.”
He enlisted the help of workers from Askov Finlayson, another one of Dayton’s businesses, which is currently closed for the season. The artwork extends to the store’s windows and entrance as well.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop Neighborhood Association