Fundraiser underway to fix vandalized George Floyd mural on Lansing River Trail
LANSING — After a mural of George Floyd painted along the Lansing River Trail was vandalized, the community is joining together to raise funds to fix it.
The mural of Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, is under Interstate 496 on the Lansing River Trail.
Sometime in the past few days, the mural was defaced with white spray paint across Floyd's face.
More: George Floyd mural goes up along the Lansing River Trail, an unexpected addition to ARTpath
Artists Isiah Lattimore and Erik Phelps began working on the mural in early June.
Lattimore, a 28-year-old Flint man, came to Lansing to do a different mural for ARTpath, a 3.5-mile public art project along the river trail that is produced by the Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center. But he asked the city if he could also memorialize Floyd.
Multiple fundraisers started locally to support Lattimore. A fundraiser created by the gallery has raised nearly $2,000 so far.
Lansing artist Marissa Thaler created a GoFundMe page to raise money to fix the mural. Less than 12 hours after its creation, the page has more than $3,000.
"The outpouring of support is a nice counterweight to the vandalism," Lattimore said, "and you get to see the good side of humanity, which blew me away."
Restoring the George Floyd mural
Katrina Daniels and her team at the Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center have been working since Tuesday night on plans to restore the mural of Floyd.
"We contacted the artist as soon as we found out," said Daniels, the exhibitions director. "He felt trying to remove the graffiti could make it worse because of the remover you have to use. He agreed to come back and do a restoration."
The entire mural will need to be repainted, Lattimore said.
"The advantage is that we will be utilizing more space," he added, "and we will make it better than before.
Lattimore will once again team up with Phelps and bring in a third artist, Kevin Burdick, who he described as "top notch."
"One of the things I like about doing art in a public space is you get to have dialogue with the community," Lattimore said. "What you get to see afterward is the reaction of that."
Sometimes the public's reaction isn't good; Lattimore knows this from experience, but he said he feels grateful for the community support.
"I almost didn't have time to be upset," he said.
Daniels said she was heartbroken when she found out about the vandalism.
"What’s most disappointing is, prior to the vandalism, there was support for the mural," she said, "ranging from those who biked by and parents who took children there and used it to have difficult conversations about race in the community. It’s disheartening that one person destroyed something loved by thousands."
There have been other incidents of vandalism during the three years the gallery has been producing ARTpath as part of a city partnership.
"It’s something we have to consider when we work in a public space," she said.
Hear from the artist
Lattimore will be in Lansing from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 11 as part of the gallery's ARTpath Artist Talks series. Lattimore will be speaking near his artwork under Interstate 496 on the Lansing River Trail for the free event.
To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/734068654077825/
Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95. Contact LSJ reporter Kristan Obeng at KObeng@lsj.com or 517-267-1344. Follow her on Twitter @KrissyObeng.
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