This Was Never Meant to Be Just a Coffee Table Book
There’s something that happens when you stand in front of a Mending Walls mural.
At first, it’s just a mural.
The color catches your eye.
The size makes you pause.
But if you stay with it for a minute…
you realize there’s a whole lot more going on.
The story.
The people behind it.
The connection.
And for a long time, we kept asking ourselves:
How do we hold onto that?
Because murals live in the world.
They weather. They change. They exist in a moment.
But what about the conversations that created them?
Going Back to the Beginning
A few years after that first summer in 2020, as Mending Walls continued to grow and evolve into a nonprofit, we found ourselves looking back.
That first year… it was something.
Our friends at VPM and REDFUEL captured it in a documentary that went on to win an Emmy. And it told an incredible story.
But we knew there was more.
Because from the very first touch of paint to the final brushstroke, we had been documenting everything.
Every wall.
Every moment.
Every in-between conversation that most people never get to see.
And we realized…
what if we could create something that didn’t just show the murals—
but let people experience them?
More Than a Book
This is where the book came from.
And I’ll be honest… calling it a “coffee table book” doesn’t quite do it justice.
Yes, it’s beautiful.
Yes, it lives on your table.
But it’s also:
Stories
Quotes
Process photos
Behind-the-scenes moments
Real conversations that weren’t always easy
Each chapter walks through a mural from that first year.
But here’s my favorite part—
Every section includes insight from the artists pulled from their podcast conversations.
And there are QR codes throughout the book that let you listen to those voices.
So you’re not just seeing the wall…
You’re hearing the compassion behind it.
The questions.
The hesitation.
The humanity.
What You Might Not Expect
One of the things I love most?
There’s a full map inside the book that guides you to every mural from year one.
So it doesn’t stop on the page.
It invites you back out into the city.
To walk.
To look again.
To notice something you didn’t see the first time.
Why This Meant So Much to Us
Creating this book was personal.
For all of us.
Because it gave us a chance to pause—something we don’t always do in the middle of creating—and really reflect on what happened.
The hard work.
The hard conversations.
The moments of connection that could have easily been missed.
And to see, in one place, how much this project has grown…
and how much it’s already made a difference.
Meet the Team Behind the Book
This book holds the work of so many people who cared deeply about getting it right.
Brenda Soque, our year one photographer, and Katrina Hecksher Jones, who has been there from year one through today, captured the moments that so many people never got to see—the quiet ones, the in-between ones, the ones that mattered just as much as the finished walls.
When it came time to bring it all together, Sarah Marsden brought something really special through her design—helping shape the way these stories live on the page and supporting Katrina in making sure it all felt like us.
And we were incredibly supported by Ward Tefft, who not only helped bring this book into the world, but truly believed in it. Every project needs someone in their corner like that—and we felt it every step of the way.
Where We’re Seeing It Now
One of the most meaningful parts?
Seeing where the book is going.
It’s being used in schools as a tool for conversation.
It’s being shared in classrooms.
It’s helping students think about empathy in real, tangible ways.
And it’s also being gifted—
From people who love Richmond
to people who don’t live here…
As a way of saying:
“You have to see what’s happening here.”
Why This Book Matters
I hope people pick up this book for a lot of reasons.
To support the project.
To celebrate this city.
To share something meaningful with someone they care about.
But more than anything…
I hope it helps people slow down.
To look a little longer.
To listen a little deeper.
To consider what it really means to come to a place of empathy—especially when it’s hard.
Because that’s what Mending Walls has always been about.
And this book?
It’s just another way to keep that conversation going.
Want to Take It Home With You?
Whether it stays on your coffee table, gets passed to a friend, or finds its way into a classroom—
just know this:
You’re not just holding a book.
You’re holding a piece of a city choosing connection.
