Shortly after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rebecca Sorensen drove through Edina and was heartened by the Black Lives Matter posters she saw in the windows of businesses at 50th and France.
A short time later she learned an Edina Realty agent had been fired after writing on Facebook that she had taken down many of the posters in the business district. So Sorensen, a member of Edina's Arts and Culture Commission, started organizing her own solution.
As a result, two dozen artists, both professionals and students, have created wooden signs with messages of inclusion and racial justice that will be placed in flowerpots along W. 50th Street.
The public art installation, called Seeds of Change, will be dedicated at noon Sunday at the fountain downtown. Mayor Jim Hovland plans to speak and Edina Realty will provide Popsicles and children's activities.
Artist Alexander Brooks Parker helped some of the students create their art pieces, which will be waterproofed so they can be displayed all summer.
Brooks Parker was approached by Sorensen, who had seen his art outside his wife's clothing store, Carole Bruns Couture, in Minneapolis. At 53, he has never had an official display of his artwork.
"I was a little surprised that Edina was doing this but very proud to be a part of it as an African American artist," he said. "Having teenagers involved was a great thing too — to let the youth express themselves right now."
Much of Brooks Parker's work for the installation includes images of Floyd with phrases like "Keep Justice in Your Heart." He's eager to see the pieces surrounded by the students'work.
