About BLACC
The Black Liberation Archiving and Conservation Center (BLACC) is a Minneapolis-based cultural organization dedicated to preserving, activating, and celebrating stories of Black resistance, creativity, and community care. At the heart of our work is the Memorialize the Movement (MTM) Collection, a living archive of more than 1,000 plywood murals created after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 uprising. These works, created by artists and community members, stand as one of the most significant public art responses to racial injustice in U.S. history. BLACC stewards this collection while expanding its mission to honor Black protest, preservation, and public memory nationwide.
Our two flagship programs—the BLACC Fellowship and the Memory and Preservation Residency—train and support emerging Black archivists, artists, and cultural workers. Fellows receive hands-on experience in ethical archiving, community engagement, and curatorial practice, while resident artists collaborate with BLACC’s collections and local communities to create new works that honor and reimagine Black memory.
BLACC produced 12 exhibitions since 2020, participated in dozens of public programs, and facilitated over 50 workshops that invite communities to engage with history through art, storytelling, and intentional dialogue. These events transform preserved artifacts into living tools for reflection, healing, and liberation.
At its core, BLACC exists to answer the question: Who gets to be remembered, and how? By grounding our work in community knowledge and creative expression, we challenge traditional archives and institutions to position Black memory not as something to be commodified, but as a tool to empower communities and build narrative control.