John Schuerman is a Minneapolis-based artist and curator who took a walk around the Minneapolis 3rd police precinct in mid-July 2020. This was just a few months after the murder of George Floyd. Schuerman posted the following description and images from his walk on Facebook, forming a multi-faceted archive of the experience.
“A few days ago, I set out to walk the perimeter of the 3rd precinct in Minneapolis. After 20+ miles and 24 hrs I arrived back home, maybe wiser. It was a walking meditation on our community’s pain and roiling. I trace for you here a small part of my motional and emotional trip. The text below corresponds to the images in order as they happened.”
![a map drawing](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/01-Schuermand-The-3rd-Precinct-arsonist-ashes-and-ink-on-paper.jpg)
The Cauldron, arsonist ashes and ink on paper. The 3rd precinct contains the George Floyd murder site, ground zero for the mass-property destruction (Lake and Minnehaha), the two largest homeless encampments (Powderhorn, Minnehaha) and the soaring crime rates, free food stations, protests, street art, and more.
![map of 3rd police precinct](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/02-Schuerman-My-route-around-the-3rd-precinct.jpg)
Map of my walk. (which encircled all my other recent walks)
![path next to highway](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/03-Schuerman-At-the-corner-from-35W-to-Hwy-62.jpg)
The Edgelands -Miles and miles of walls, highways and edgeland culture.
![drawings from ash](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/04-Schuerman-Selfies-from-arsonist-ashes-dark-mood.jpg)
My Darkness, arsonist ashes on paper. Anxieties about water -due to COVID all public sources of water are closed, so I had to filter water from lakes and streams. Harshness of my surroundings, unnerving parts of the walk (places where I felt viewed with suspicion). Recalling my concerns and snippets from other walks. The vigilantes: “We don’t need luck, we got guns.” The homeless men: “Did so and so ever make it back?” “NO. he OD’d at the Center”. The Police Officer: “I wish I could help you but I can’t”, rape and gun violence in the encampments… I ask myself, ‘Why am I out here?’ it’s a dark feeling.
![Campsite](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/05-Schuerman-My-campsite-near-the-Ford-Parkway-Minneapolis-side.jpg)
Camp, next to Ford Parkway. Former homeless campsite, they probably moved to the Minnehaha encampment I walked through. Careful. Sweaty, Anxious. Fireworks rain through the trees as I turn in. I hear gunshots as I wake at 4:30 am. Pack up, glad to be through the night.
![Forest](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/06-Schuerman-The-beautiful-part-of-the-trip-along-the-Mississippi.jpg)
Beauty. The great river bluffs.
![car with writing on it](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/07-Schuerman-Downtown-just-south-of-Hwy-94.-The-whole-back-of-the-car-was-covered-in-this-fearful-writing.jpg)
The city again. What do we do to one another? Why?
![selfie on the street](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/08-Schuerman-Franklin-and-2nd-Ave-S.-Across-35-W-from-the-Electric-Fetus.jpg)
Familiar streets. I ease up. Franklin and 2nd ave. I walk on, pass another memorial. Two weeks ago the police found a man’s body in the street here, multiple gunshot wounds. Booze bottles, candles and trash mark the site.
![street memorial](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/09-Schuerman-38th-and-Chicago.jpg)
Almost home. 38th and Chicago
![map drawing](//teaching.ellenmueller.com/walking/files/2021/04/10-Schuerman-Hope-arsonist-ashes-on-paper.jpg)
Hope, arsonist ashes on paper. Can we still the violent, smoldering container, and reform to a kinder more equitable society? I hope but don’t feel hopeful. I hope our civic leaders will think hard and find wisdom, and if they do not, we vote them out no matter their politics. I felt like I had to do this walk. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was real. I took some risks to reckon with things. I’m left with many questions. How much safer was I on this walk because I’m male? Because I’m white? Will dis-empowering and demonizing the police lead to more violence in the long run as it has in the short run? Can police reform happen with a corrupt union in place? (a problem not exclusive to the police). Is America capable of working for its collective? or are we bound to a culture of self-interest? Am I?