Making Space for the Story After the Mural

Why We Always Record a Podcast After a Mural

Here’s something we always do and honestly, it’s one of our favorite parts of the work.

After a mural is finished… we record a podcast.

Not because it’s part of a content plan.
Not because it feels expected.
But because it feels necessary.

By the time the paint goes up, so much has already happened.

There have been long conversations. Quiet ones. Hard ones. Kind ones. The kind where people share pieces of themselves they didn’t plan to. There’s been listening. Real listening. There’s been laughter, discomfort, reflection, and moments that don’t always make it onto the wall but absolutely shape it.

The podcast is where we get to pause and say, “Okay… let’s talk about what just happened.”

It’s a moment to breathe.
To reflect while everything is still fresh.
To honor the voices that helped bring the mural to life.

Because if we wait too long, something shifts. The edges soften. The feelings fade a bit. The story starts to get cleaned up.

And we don’t want the cleaned-up version.

We want the real one..you know the one that still feels tender, honest, and alive!

These conversations aren’t about explaining the mural or tying it up with a bow. They’re about making space. Space for artists to share what the process stirred in them. Space for community partners to name what surprised them. Space to sit with questions that don’t need answers yet.

At the heart of it, this tradition is about care.

Care for the people who showed up.
Care for the conversations that shaped the work long before the paint arrived.
Care for the idea that listening—truly listening—is just as important as what ends up on the wall.

The mural is what you see when you walk by.
The podcast is what you hear if you choose to linger a little longer.

It’s an invitation to step behind the paint.
To hear the story while it’s still warm.
To stay in the conversation just a bit longer.

Because for us, the mural is never the end of the story.
It’s just the moment that makes space for everything else.

Want to keep listening?
All of our podcast conversations live here a place to sit with the stories, hear directly from the artists and community partners, and stay with the work a little longer.
→ Listen to all Mending Walls podcast episodes here.

One last note of gratitude.
So much love to our friends Pam & Todd of 19 Red Fuel for being such steady, thoughtful collaborators in this work. From helping us shape these conversations to holding space for the stories behind the murals, their care and creativity mean more than we can say. We’re grateful to do this work alongside people who truly get it. 💛