Collective honors victims of criminal justice system... with flowers

<p>For the past five years, usually some time in August, members of the Flower Power Collective can be seen hauling buckets of flowers to the Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul. </p><p><br></p><p>From sunrise to sundown, artists and community members carefully place flower after flower on the grass, working to create a vibrant art piece. Group members say their goal is to provide healing spaces for those who have been impacted by their criminal justice system. </p><p><br></p><p>Whether they were incarcerated or knew someone who was, community members are encouraged to bring bouquets and share stories. </p><p><br></p><p>“It just comes together in such a beautiful way. Like, there's just enough structure where we can still flow like water. That's that's the only way I can describe it,” said artist Bella Dawson, who joined the group in high school.</p><p><br></p><p>Laura LeBlanc, who helped found the Flower Power collective, said it was born during protests after the police shooting of Jamar Clark – particularly because she wasn’t there. </p><p><br></p><p>“And I asked myself why I wasn't at the protests, because I believe in the protest deeply,” said LeBlanc, who formerly worked as an advocate for youth in the criminal justice system. </p><p><br></p><p>Though she still doesn’t have an answer, “what was clear to me was, we needed other spaces besides protests. We needed spaces where we build the world that we want to live in, that we're honoring the tragedy and not ignoring it. So that's what Flower Power is, is honoring the tragedy of that full continuum of the criminal justice complex.”</p><p><br></p><p>The first flower display LeBlanc remembers doing was at Philando Castile’s funeral. LeBlanc said the group started working  at 4:30 in the morning at the cathedral grounds, to avoid getting removed before their piece was finished. </p><p><br></p><p>But they didn’t get kicked out. Now, the group has a regular relationship with Philando’s mother Valerie Castile, and creates flower arrangements for the yearly cand