Breonna Taylor memorial to be relocated to African American museum in Louisville

The Taylor makeshift shrine features a mural, posters, candles, art and other mementos in her honor.

Nov 3, 2020

The makeshift memorial that was erected in downtown Louisville, Kentucky following the March police shooting death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor will be relocated.

The outdoor memorial is currently in Jefferson Square Park, which has been the site of protests for months. It features a mural, posters, candles, artwork and other mementos that both Kentuckians and visitors from other states have left in her honor.

This September shot shows people visiting a makeshift memorial for police shooting victim Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, where a grand jury indicted a single officer from the three involved in her death. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The mural will be moved to the Roots 101 African American Museum, which sits along the Ohio River, located at 819 W. Main Street on the city’s Museum Row.

Founder Lamont Collins has said the Taylor memorial space will be an upstairs room that overlooks the water.

“When we buried our ancestors, those who went before us — traditionally, we always buried them near water,” Collins told TIME magazine Sunday. “We have a riverview area here at the museum. So my suggestion is, let’s give her and other people that have died at the protests a room to always honor what they did before us.”

The exact timing of the move is still to be determined.

Shameka Parrish-Wright, co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said a partial reason for the relocation is to protect the memorial from the forthcoming winter weather.

“I think it’s going to be amazing,” Parrish-Wright said. “It brings tears to my eyes to think about us being able to take this there and rebuild it and let that be a permanent home. Folks had suggested a storage unit, but we know what happens, and we won’t let Breonna be buried again.”

The memorial exhibit will feature a casket engraved with the names of victims of police brutality, as well as those who have died from hate crimes. The other side of the room will feature the display of mementos dedicated to Taylor.

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