the mural with Paige Dirksen.

Artist Paige Dirksen shares her perspective on the “All Bikes Welcome” mural controversy in Bentonville, reflecting on public art, inclusion, harm, and the deeper question of who belongs in our community.

Arts & Entertainment Paige Dirksen All Bikes Welcome City of Bentonville Season 2b

season 2 bridge, ep. 40.

listen.

episode notes.

In this episode, we continue the story of the “All Bikes Welcome” mural, this time from the perspective of the artist, Paige Dirksen, whose vision and brushstrokes brought it into being. What began as a joyful community project with more than 80 participants under the 3rd Street bridge at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve became the center of one of Bentonville’s most divisive civic debates.

Paige reflects on the joy of creating public art, the harm and exhaustion of months of controversy, and the sobering realization that inclusion itself was put on trial. She shares how public art can reveal both the beauty and the divides of a community, and what it means to hold integrity as an artist when your work becomes the stage for larger struggles over power, identity, and belonging. This episode, paired with our previous conversation with Dr. Rachel Olzer, reveals how art and advocacy intersect in shaping Bentonville’s character and in asking the deeper question: who truly belongs here?

about Paige Dirksen.

Paige Dirksen is a practicing visual artist and art educator residing in Bella Vista, Arkansas. She grew up in Iowa and earned a BA in studio art/psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and an MA in art therapy counseling from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Although Paige is not currently practicing clinical art therapy, her background in art and wellness informs a lot of her personal practice as well as facilitation of community arts and art education for all ages. Paige primarily works in relief printmaking as well as painting large-scale murals.

Website: https://www.paigedirksen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigedirksenstudio

episode references.

episode outline.

Episode Preview — Paige on harm and belonging: 00:00–01:25

  1. Introduction — Paige’s perspective on the mural: 01:25–03:09
  2. Paige’s background and role as an artist: 03:09–05:38
  3. Public art and community identity: 05:38–08:49
  4. Mural creation and collaboration with All Bikes Welcome: 09:47–13:33
  5. Community art and protecting the process: 13:33–15:14
  6. Policy confusion and shifting goalposts: 16:36–19:02
  7. Accusations, extremes, and civic engagement: 19:02–20:21
  8. Advertising complaint and Paige’s solution: 20:21–24:26
  9. Mediation meetings and dialogue challenges: 24:26–29:21
  10. Ideological battles and inclusion: 30:15–31:45
  11. Evolution of public support: 32:04–35:34
  12. Cycling and arts community response: 35:34–37:01
  13. Faith, Christian nationalism, and public debate: 40:03–42:26
  14. Harm, celebration, and power dynamics: 46:00–50:19
  15. Good intentions vs. meaningful impact: 52:57–53:21
  16. Repair, fears, and the risk of moving on: 59:22–1:03:15
  17. Wholeness and community belonging: 1:05:50–1:09:22
  18. Closing reflections and thanks: 1:09:22–end

episode transcript.

episode preview.

[00:00:02] paige dirksen.: There should never be a debate about who has the right to exist, and that's what happened. And a lot of harm was done in that process.

At the same time, I think that there are conversations within this situation that really needed to happen in our community. Things that have been bubbling, especially when it comes to the cycling community and who gets a seat at the table.

This conversation really morphed into who belongs and is Bentonville welcoming?

It doesn't mean we don't love our community or we don't love living here, just means we have areas to improve. .

episode intro.

[00:01:25] mike.: this is the underview, an exploration in the shaping of our place. My name is Mike Rusch, and today we continue the story of the All Bikes welcome mural this time from the perspective of the artist, Paige Dirksen, whose vision and brushstrokes brought it into being.

When Paige set out to design the mural, she wasn't trying to start a controversy. She was simply trying to create something that was an invitation centered around a message of welcome and belonging In a city that has invested so deeply in cycling and the arts.

The mural was created by over 80 people from children to adults, to people from all corners of our community, and they came together with paintbrushes in hand under the 3rd Street bridge to Coler Mountain Bike Preserve. What they created was more than a mural. It was a communal mark on Bentonville, a statement that everyone has a place here. But what began as a joyful work of community art quickly became one of the most divisive civic debates in Bentonville's recent history.

Paige found herself in the storm that she never asked for. Her art created in collaboration with all bikes welcome, a nonprofit working to build equity and inclusion, and cycling was pulled into battles over ideology and religion and politics. The City Council of Chambers became a place where inclusion itself was questioned, where religious beliefs were put on public display, and where one mural became the stage for a larger struggle over power, identity, and belonging.

In today's conversation, Paige reflects on what it means to create public art in a city where art and cycling are central to its identity, and where the meaning of welcome is still not clearly understood or accepted by all.

She shares about the joy of the community mural, as well as the harm and the exhaustion of months of debate, and the sobering realization that public art has the power to reveal both the beauty and the divides of a community.

Alright, we've got a whole lot to work through today.

episode interview.

[00:03:09] mike.: Let's get into it.

Well, I have the privilege today of sharing a table with Paige Dirkson.

As many of you know, Paige is the artist who has been at the center of the controversy of the All Bikes welcome mural here in Bentonville. Paige, welcome. I know that this is still very raw and real for you, so I just wanna say thank you, that you would at least be willing to come and sit down so quickly.

Let's jump into this. I think we're not here to rehash it. We're not here to talk through all a lot of the details. But for those of you that may not be familiar just a few days ago, the Bentonville City Council voted four to four with the mayor, casting the tie breaking vote to accept Paige, your proposal for modification to the all bikes welcome mural.

So I know this is, like we said, still very raw and there's going to be a lot of processing for weeks and months and years to come. And unfortunately, most people who probably came to understand this, came to understand this, what it was like fully into a position of conflict. And I maybe we could just back up for a moment because I don't think that really does justice to who you are and your story.

Maybe for those that don't know your story, maybe share just a little background about who you are as a human being first.

[00:04:23] paige dirksen.: So I am an artist. I've always been an artist my whole life. My background is in art therapy counseling. I have a master's degree in that, but I'm not practicing in a clinical capacity at the moment. Community arts is probably my favorite thing. I love to be able to bring people together over art. I'm also a print maker and an art educator. And overall, just really grateful that I get to live in a place where I do get to be that full-time and do that full time, for a living and be in an area that there is a lot of support for the arts.

[00:05:04] mike.: Well, that's a very short introduction of a very well established work that you've been doing. So I appreciate that. I think what we'll probably get into this as we go through it, but part of what you have been engaged with and others in our community, all bikes welcome and Rachel have been involved in for the past, gosh, it feels like nine months if not longer, has really been this work of public art.

My question would be maybe give us a starting point, or a definition that can serve as a foundation for when we think about, public art, what does that really mean?

[00:05:38] paige dirksen.: Yeah. I think first off, public art is really important to the identity of Bentonville. So we have to think about it in that context. First off, I think my favorite function of public art is the fact that it makes art accessible to everyone. It brings art out of galleries and into everyday life, and I love that I get to create a mural where, you know, instead of a select few, seeing it on a gallery wall.

Thousands of people gonna go buy it every day. It's, I think public art can be so many different things and can do so many different things. It can inspire, it can beautify, there's loads of research on how it can even reduce crime in areas, which is pretty powerful. And in, in some ways, maybe there's two different questions there that's what is the role of public art, but also what is the power of public art?

And I think, it can also educate people. I'm currently working with Crystal Bridges and the Children's Hospital and how can we use public art to collect data and do many other things for, their audience. So the possibilities really are endless.

And I think one thing I've really been reflecting on lately is how this particular mural can maybe have the power to strengthen community identity. I think Michelle Morris said it really eloquently when she gave some public comment at the council meeting the other night and she, talked about how it might be aspirational, right?

So I've been reflecting a lot on that lately. What are we aspiring to be as a community? What do we want our community identity to be? But beyond that, community murals are my absolute favorite thing to do when it comes to my job. I I'm not, I've lost count, but I think I've probably done four or five of them here in northwest Arkansas.

But some in other areas. And it is my favorite thing to bring people together to do a mural. And I think it's really easy for me to underestimate what that means to people. Every time I do one, I'm, I go through the motions and then when it's time to actually facilitate, it shocks me every time.

And I don't know why I am surprised, but to see people engaged in that way and to see them get to make a physical mark on their community means a lot to people. And I don't know why, it always surprises me, but it does. But it's a beautiful thing to witness.

[00:08:11] mike.: You walk through this process with the mural that really brought a whole city together. And I, when I say together, I don't mean all on the same side, but like together to have a public conversation. So about what it means to be welcome right? to find this place of belonging in a city. And when you do that yeah, from an aspirational aspect, I think you find that not everybody is on the same page in many ways.

I know with what happened with the mural was not the intent or expected in any way, shape, or form. Is, this is what public art can do, is that is that a fair statement?

[00:08:49] paige dirksen.: Absolutely . I think it's there to provoke and for people to have discussion and it, I can't, control what it's gonna mean to everybody, which is kind of really intriguing to me about my art.

People choose to see what they wanna see in, in art, and that's gonna say more about them than it is gonna say about the art. I think throughout this process, when you think about that aspirational side of it, like we're talking about, I've had to really stop and think like, where do these messages belong?

I think this process has, there's been plenty of times throughout it that's made me stop and think that should this message be in Bentonville, Arkansas.

And I think, it's brought out, the reality of some of the uglier sides of living here. It's also brought out some really beautiful sides of living here.

mural background.

[00:09:47] mike.: This mural is a part of public art. Maybe give us a little bit of context around how some of this came together, because I think this matters greatly about how the rest of this process played out.

[00:09:58] paige dirksen.: Yeah. So all Bikes Welcome is a nonprofit in our area that works to promote racial equity and gender diversity and cycling in our area.

The organization was on my radar for a little while and seemed like an amazing organization, and I'm not necessarily an athlete, but I do love cycling. I love all types of cycling and. I tried to be a part of other cycling groups in this community, but nothing ever really quite stuck or felt right for me.

So three years ago I went to grit MTB Festival, that's their keystone event. And I'm just not sure I have the right words to describe that experience for myself. I felt like I, I found a community where I could really enjoy cycling and feel supported in it. That first time I went to their event, someone said, I think it might have been Rachel Olzer the executive director.

We are about community nature and biking cycling in that order. And it, I, that really really resonated with me. And it felt like it rang true. And. I think that relationship piece is what they do really well. And I think we see this all the time, and I think about this with kids programming.

We like to like just dive right into skills with kids and we miss the relationship piece. We miss out on an opportunity to teach them how to take care of themselves and interact with others and all of that. Shout out to little Bellas because they do it right. My daughter has had a really great experience with them.

Fast forward I've gone back to Grit Festival and every time I attend one of their events it's just a beautiful reunion. And Rachel and I started talking about as an artist what I can offer the organization. And we talked about collaborating and getting excited about what we could do together. And so we created some designs for them. Such a fun process to really think about what would, what design would really represent their organization that just was about pure joy, because that's what a lot of people feel when they're in this organization.

And so after we created those designs, I was thinking about how can we create a mural? Let's create a mark on our community that has a message of belonging that really can be aspirational, but make a statement in our community that this is what we, this is what we're working towards.

I I've said this many times in city council meetings. I've made it really clear who my collaborators were from the start. That was the point of this project. To do this with all bikes welcome to do it for All Bikes welcome to do it for the community. And, not thinking in any way that there would be an issue with that. Supporting a nonprofit that is doing amazing work in our community.

And so I was really transparent about that from the start. And we also wanted to invite other people in that haven't necessarily been a part of the organization. So last October after I went through the process of getting this mural approved through three different boards through the city, the location that we chose was a location that had graffiti on it, that the city was not able to get off.

So we thought, wow, what a great way to beautify our community on a, in a spot that, people travel on. And so last October, we had a few days where over 80 people helped create it. And it was a really beautiful experience to bring people together over that.

a community's art.

[00:13:33] mike.: I think that community aspect of it, of having 80 people for you as a public art display, I've heard this theme come up, again and again as this has been debated around the city that you know, Paige, you should just make a change to it. And as you talk about public art I think this principle that you held from my opinion you held very firmly was that this was not your art. This was a community's art. And I would love to understand as you tease out some of those nuances, like what. What is that balance? Because you were the one that was put in a position to answer these questions, yet at the same time there was 80 people that were a part of creating this, who are collaborators and artists with you.

Yes. Help us. How, what does that dynamic look like? Yeah.

[00:14:21] paige dirksen.: So first off, the city wasn't treating this as a community art piece, any step of this, right? They weren't really treating this as a public art process to begin with. So when I, when they first reached out to me that something needed to be changed, my immediate instinct was to protect that community process.

Because if anything were to be changed now. Then a child comes back to see the pink rectangle that they painted a different color that just completely undermines the work that they did. It just completely erases the point of the whole project. So that first and foremost, that was my main concern in all of this.

And in the back of my head, knowing it was about something much deeper and uglier than just a near policy. So that was a big part of it for me.

[00:15:14] mike.: I think that aspect of that you've described is a really good example of having, 80 people and people of all ages and backgrounds come to collaborate in that it wasn't this is Paige's mural that she just arbitrarily has the right to change.

And that, I think in many ways, the way that I saw that was a protection of not only the process, but the concept of what public art looks like and the people that were a part of that process. And

[00:15:39] paige dirksen.: yeah. And then when you have a message of inclusion layered on top of all of that, right? There are so many red flags there.

And from day one, Rachel and I were very open to making changes. That's the thing that gets glossed over too. In a lot of this, we're seen as oh, unwilling to do something, or whatever it is. But her and I had many conversations about it, and we went into, to that, to those first meetings and the first questions to get clarification with complete open mind about it.

If this is about a policy, great, let's fix it. We're reasonable people. But the minute that there was something else that it was very clear this was about a deeper issue. We had to ask questions because the risk for making changes, felt a little greater than, and just, complying and moving on.

[00:16:36] mike.: It sounds to me like, you really have people that are just speaking different languages around public art, obviously government policy these are maybe if you had a spectrum, these feel like two very opposite ends of the spectrum.

I don't know, maybe I'm sympathetic and I'm a hundred percent biased, but feels like the understanding of what each other is asking becomes pretty, pretty complicated. And I think we saw this come up in many city council conversations that have come along, that really the clarity of what you were actually being asked to do seemed to be a little bit of a moving target.

Is that a fair thing to say? Yes.

[00:17:08] paige dirksen.: The goalposts kept changing throughout this process, for sure.

I think I've learned so much, so much in the last year overall, but especially when it comes to public art and public art policy. And one thing that was very clear to me pretty quickly is that no one was relying on the experts in this field to share with them what standard practice or what is reasonable and how do we need to fix the public art process moving forward so that it is actually a public art program and not a paint on demand or whatever else it, what they were asking me to do.

And, we have a body in our town, the _Public Art Advisory committee_ for the these things. And I think the individuals on that committee were very supportive and for the most part and wanted to share their expertise because that's why, what they're there for. But they weren't really given a voice in this either.

shift away from the center.

[00:18:12] mike.: And I think probably what unfolded next was probably a result of a lot of, oh, probably ambiguity and policy. City not having gone through this process before. Maybe I want to give people the benefit of the doubt, and that it feels like there was, some trying to come to some mutual understandings.

I think over time what you saw was people move from the center to just be farther and farther away. And that the process from my perspective, devolved into a whole lot of assumptions and a whole lot maybe of accusations and lack of understanding of each other.

How do you view that process of moving away from that center point into maybe where we ended up going into the city council meeting, which was a pretty, felt like a pretty volatile situation as far as I could see it.

[00:19:02] paige dirksen.: Yeah. And the way it happened was slow, but yet fast all at the same time, which is confusing.

And there were definitely extreme. I think that's what happens when leadership fails to create a clear process. On one side, you had people calling the mural propaganda and spreading lies about this organization. And on the other people were so frustrated that they lashed out. I understand why people are angry and leaving hateful voice messages for city council members is not okay.

And definitely did not help, our cause at all. I think it was really frustrating that council members assumed those people who went rogue in this were affiliated with the organization or were the organization and that's not good leadership either. That's just reacting to all the noise that's happening around.

But. It's, I think it's important to remember that the majority of people were reasonable in this. They were engaged citizens asking the city to consider what is truly at stake here. And I personally see that as, civic engagement. And that's a really good thing. And unfortunately, the extremes became the story because that middle was ignored.

solution to the advertising complaint.

[00:20:21] mike.: Paige through this process, you were asked many times to change the art and that was really primarily focused on the colors. But , there was , an argument that came up around the advertising issue and, you made a decision to provide a solution to that and I'm, I'm curious maybe what was your process in thinking through that and why did you do that?

[00:20:44] paige dirksen.: Yeah.

That, and I think first off, that was a, an extremely difficult decision and one that I had been thinking about. Even before it went, like really off the rails. 'cause at some point it, it really did. I think that I, I, you know, I really was thinking about, I didn't want to let the city off the hook in the sense of using policy as an excuse to remove the mural. The only reason why this was ever an issue is because of a small group of people that somehow gained an outsized influence on this process and never should have.

There were so many missteps on the way as far as how the city handled this situation. And, we saw smokescreen after smokescreen.

First it was a contractual issue, then it's the advertising. And, you know, while there were moments where it was like, why do I have to do anything here? And I shouldn't have to do anything here. I didn't do anything wrong. And more importantly, the organization did not do anything wrong. So why should we have to do anything?

And I think the stubborn side of me thought no. Mm-hmm. But. I think we kept having to find ways for them to say the quiet part out loud. Right? And that's, that was really painful too. At the same time, because we don't want any of our neighbors to have to continue to hear the quiet part out loud and that quiet part was the fact that the inclusion of the trans community in this project, and by inclusion I mean that they literally helped paint it and are a part of the all when we say "all bikers welcome" , that really struck a nerve for some right? And.

I think that it just got so off the rails that I wanted to say, Hey, I'm a reasonable person and we will address valid, reasonable concerns , not ones rooted in bigotry. And I also wanted to kind of position everybody in a better way to come out on top.

Unfortunately, that might not have been the outcome, but I, I think I also like refuse to give up on this community in a way too, and let people off the hook to think, well, what is this actually about? You know, like you have to discuss the actual issue that's happening here. Um, so that was tough. Yeah,

I think that there were a lot of moments in this, if I'm being honest, that I was positive that they were going to remove this mural. And I've had to really think about whether that could make a bigger impact in our community. Not that I wanted that, like, it, it feels really weird to say that out loud. But in the end, I think offering that a narrow solution that addressed valid policy concerns, gave City Council a way forward.

mediation meetings.

[00:24:26] mike.: I'm curious from your perspective being in the middle of all this, you engaged in two mediation meetings with people that brought forth complaints. What do you take away from that difficulty of dialogue or the inability to have dialogue? Around, and I know like it started with an art piece, but you became this arbitrator of a whole lot of other things that I know you never signed up for.

Like what did you see from a community perspective take place within the, maybe some of the parts that the public didn't get to see, and either those mediation meetings or, communication as you tried to work through to, to, I don't know, to try to hold things at a place to, to still maintain productive and constructive dialogue around what should be happening with this mural .

[00:25:12] paige dirksen.: I didn't sign up for that, like you suggested, but I also, that's, I also feel like that was my job, right? I needed to do certain things and I don't, I had a choice, but I also didn't, in my opinion, and I in many, moments in this have felt honored to be able to do some of that work as intense and exhausting as it can be.

The mediation meetings were interesting. I think I've been reflecting a lot lately just in this work and social justice work and racial justice work about, where should our energy be spent. I think we all have compassion fatigue right now. There's so much that we're bombarded with every day that it's really hard to not let that paralyze us and just do nothing.

People are feeling a little frozen right now. So it's hard to know like where to invest the energy in calling people into this work or, being in community with them. There are gonna be people that are just. Are very rigid in their beliefs. I don't think I'm necessarily the best voice for advocating sometimes with people who don't align with my values.

I was placed in a really hostile situation and even though the mediators report for the first meeting said everybody was very cordial, I didn't necessarily see it that way. I have always been taught in basic communication that there are rules, right? And one of the rules is that you get to speak for yourself and you don't get to tell somebody else what their intentions were.

And that was it from the start. Just a complete refusal to believe that my intentions are what I say they are. So that was hard. Yeah.

[00:26:57] mike.: Paige, I remember having a conversation with you before you, I believe it was the first mediation meeting that you went into.

And as you were describing what that process would look like yeah, I remember thinking to myself like, gosh, there's no way that I would walk into something like that. And I probably even said to you like, what are you doing? Why would you go into that space? Yeah. You chose to do i'm curious, like what, why did you do that?

[00:27:19] paige dirksen.: Yeah. I remember that conversation and I, I really wasn't sure what to do. I had asked the city. I had three requests in going into that. I said, I'm going to bring someone with me. And I said, I need it to be recorded and I need to be able to share what happened in that with city council members.

And the only response I really got was that you are the only one allowed in the room. Nobody else is allowed with you. Which, it's funny to me because the city policy says only the artist and the complainants. I made it really clear from the start, I had 80 artists help me with this thing.

I'm like, great, I will have 80 people there. But that was made very clear that could not happen. Not even one support person. It's beyond ridiculous that's what they asked me to do. But I also knew that if I didn't go, they were, somebody was gonna use that against, us in this argument that she's not willing to talk, she's not willing to, she's compromise.

And so I just wanted to take that off the table and I knew that if I went and I felt uncomfortable, I would just leave. And I also am really trying my best lately to lead with curiosity. And so I thought, let's go hear what these people are gonna have to say to me.

It wasn't helpful what they said to me. And it's interesting because I think the point of the me, the mediation is for them to share their thoughts and hope that I can, be encouraged to make some kind of com compromise with them. But I don't know that they viewed it that way. They came in and argued their point instead of tried to help me see whatever viewpoint vantage they had with it

[00:29:07] mike.: as you went through those conversations with the mediation, this was the first time you came face to face with people that actively did not want this mural and potentially this message to be in this city. How is, how do you view that as a starting point?

[00:29:21] paige dirksen.: Yeah, it's really hard to go into a situation like that from the starting point I was at because. I learned throughout the first part of this process, and then through a FOIA request that there are council members that are working with this group behind the scenes and this group being the Benton County conservative grassroots group, I think at that point and seeing communication between this group and city council members. That's when I realized that this was a part of a larger coordinated effort behind the scenes for a different agenda. And that this was about something much larger than a mural.

And I think that I was naive earlier to think that our elected leaders wouldn't bend to that kind of pressure. And that's been disappointing to see.

an ideological battle?

[00:30:15] mike.: So what's it like that realization that maybe you're in the middle of a larger ideological, political, battle that from the outside it looks like this mural is being used as maybe an intentional conflict point to move, other agendas and ideas forward that you were not trying to reciprocate this was not, I don't know. Was there a large, was there an ideological battle that you were trying to fight at the same time?

[00:30:40] paige dirksen.: That's what they, that's what they're claiming, right? And, no, it's, this piece has always been about inclusion and belonging in our community. That was it, right? That was, we wanted to create a message on a wall in our community that said everybody's welcome and to claim that this was sneaking in some kind of agenda.

It's such a funny question to me because from day one this piece was about inclusion and belonging and we just wanted to put a statement in our community to make people feel like they belong, to inspire and encourage people so that they felt like they belong.

We've had to laugh about it throughout this because it's not funny, but the claim that colors in a wall can push an agenda is comical in some ways. It's just ridiculous for anyone to assume otherwise it's, that's like point blank. That's it's so ridiculous.

[00:31:42] mike.: Was there an ideological statement you were trying to make?

[00:31:45] paige dirksen.: Inclusion is not ideological. Inclusion is inclusion. And it's funny how I've heard every city council member say at some point, yeah, inclusion's great in their own way, but then it doesn't translate. And that's hard because it's so obvious to, to many of us.

evolution of the support.

[00:32:04] mike.: Obviously there was a tremendous public response when this first started making its way out, that there, that this mural was, potentially going to be removed, changed. What do you think resonated with people in our community so much who were supportive of this mural that kind of brought this from something that was happening very quietly under a bridge to really the center point. One council member said this may be the most important decision that this city makes this decade.

That is a tremendous statement to understand how this message of inclusion became very quickly the center of this community's discussions. But I would go beyond that and say the center of this community's definition of how it was going to identify itself.

What did you see happen within all the people that came to rally around the support of this mural, what did you see? Why do you think this resonated so deeply with people?

[00:33:04] paige dirksen.: Yeah. It was really interesting to see the evolution of that support.

So it started, with the city kind of asking like, why do people care so much about this mural?

And, I had to kinda share with some of them they care about this because it's not about a mural. It's, it is about that message of welcoming and belonging. And I think we're at a pivotal point too right now with so many people feeling emboldened on a national level to, to try to erase and try to stop that inclusion and belonging out of fear and whatever else. And so it went from, people rallying. I think it was interesting to see people offer what they thought would be helpful, while not realizing that the organization was really capable of rallying and organizing support. At one point council members suggested that there were paid advertisements for whatever.

And it's just grassroots, right? It's people caring and the word getting out. And, some people have been very helpful and have done a great job asking what do you need? Asking the organization? What do you need? Other people have assumed they know what needs to happen here. I think.

Some people were afraid to speak up because they didn't want to get dragged into controversy or worried what's at risk for them. But I think silence is also a choice. It shifts the weight onto the people who are the most vulnerable. And I think it took a while for some people to realize that this situation affects all of us. That it's not just someone else's problem to deal with.

And I think a lot of white, straight cis people look at groups like all bikes welcome and maybe think, oh, that's not for me. Which is ironic because the rest of the cycling culture has always been tailored just for them. I think that there's a bit of a tension that can be hard for people to grasp.

On one hand we need affinity spaces where women, queer, trans, and bipoc cyclists can feel safe and build community. And on the other hand, allyship and participation from the broader community are also really essential. So it's a hard balance to strike,

cycling community.

[00:35:34] mike.: it's really interesting. I think it's something that we don't think about, maybe off the top of our head, is that you're in the middle of this community debate around this mural about cycling and about art and our community that has been defined by art and cycling for many years now. I'm curious from your perspective, like what did you see from the broader art and cycling community ?

[00:35:55] paige dirksen.: Frankly, there was a lot of silence. And I think, like we said, I think some people think this is I didn't do this mural, I don't do anything with this organization. This isn't for me. Or they think what's gonna happen if I speak out?

Fear always plays a role in some of this, unfortunately. I think I would've loved to see the cycling community step up and defend the organization that is doing the work of inclusion in cycling in our community. But I just didn't really see that.

[00:36:31] mike.: Yeah. How do you reconcile that? Or can you, there's this aspect of, yeah, hey, I'm for this mural, I'm for it staying. Maybe I'll send a message to the city council, which is absolutely needed and necessary, that public support that you saw. But that's very different than support for the organization itself. And so you end up in sometimes I think for me anyway, it can be easy to just assume one is the same as the other.

But I think I'm learning through this process too that maybe those two things are different. Is that fair? Could you speak into that?

[00:37:01] paige dirksen.: Yeah. And I think I had to think about so many different aspects of this project, right? I had to think about it from, the cycling lens. I had to think about it from protecting public art and community arts and advocating for that and advocating for, marginalized voices.

And I've made lots of mistakes throughout this process. I've learned a lot, and I'm still learning, and I'm gonna be processing this for a long time. But what I do know is that advocating for the cause means standing up for inclusion in broad terms, right? It's easier to rally around something like that.

Advocating for the work means defending the specific people and organizations doing that labor every day. And that's harder because it means standing in solidarity when they're being attacked. And I think too often people stop at the cause without showing up for the work, and at the same time, I don't wanna diminish a lot of the contributions that people made throughout this.

There was a really beautiful showing in our community, and I don't wanna diminish the role the community played in this, and because it was a big part. I don't wanna risk pushing them away from really digging in further. But I also wanna provoke a little bit more and get people thinking a little bit deeper about this.

I think creating the community we want means accepting where people are in their journey. First off, and for some people this was maybe the first time they have ever been really civically engaged. I think we really were able to expose a lot of, what's happening behind the scenes, which is good for people to see.

I think it takes a lot of bravery to give public comment at a city council meeting. That was the first time I had ever done it. I'm a professional now.

You're you do have a lot of experience.

Sure gonna miss those meetings for a while, but no it's not easy. So I just, I wanna, I do wanna acknowledge that.

I think that's really important. And I think your question makes me think of a quote that spends a lot of time rent-free in my head.

So it was written by a group of aboriginal rights activists from Australia in the seventies, and it says.

_*"If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."*_

And I, there's probably no other quote that I've thought about as much as this one and it's meaning has continued to evolve and change for me throughout the years. It's like I see it differently all the time.

My good friend Catherine, who I've learned a lot from and has a print of this quote on her living room wall and every time I'm there, it hits me. So I probably should put it on my own wall too. But, maybe we all do, but I, but that's the power of art right there too, right?

Like it. I see that. And it hits me. And I think that's a quote I've been really reflecting on lately.

faith.

[00:40:03] mike.: Yeah, thank you for sharing that. I've not heard that quote before and I think it's incredibly powerful and it brings that element of this dynamic, this deeper dynamic of, yeah we do care about public art and it matters. But I think as we walked through this process, and it became pretty clear that this was maybe not just about a mural, but it was about this larger ideological, framework really, that you started to see more voices come into this space than maybe you typically would. We sat through the last city council meeting where the decision was made and the conversations, especially from religious leaders or around faith or definition of welcome, it is a incredibly large part of what this conversation turned into in a way that I've never seen anything like that before.

I'm really, I'm curious your perspective on how do you view that part of the conversation or that part of where this went and maybe what that reveals about our community?

[00:41:02] paige dirksen.: And I think in some ways, two things were happening simultaneously. I think as it became not about a mural, the community also turned it into what they could comfortably see it as and how they could digest this information. And so sometimes, there are moments where it got a little bit off the rails and it wasn't about just pure inclusion and belonging. And, I think it shifting focus from a mural, from a very specific project with a very specific nonprofit. It did allow others to come into that space.

I think we so blatantly saw Christian nationalism on display trying to hold onto some power, and that's really hard to digest. People are entitled to their personal faith, but when faith becomes the justification for silencing or erasing others, that's not okay. And we all live here regardless of our beliefs and public art should be for everyone.

It was really powerful to hear from other faith leaders in our community that last meeting, to say, wait a second, you don't get the voice here. When it comes to faith, you don't get to hijack God in this conversation. And so I'm glad that people were able to weigh in 'cause I think it was powerful.

[00:42:26] mike.: Yeah, it was incredibly powerful and I could, this could be a whole, this should be a whole other series of conversations.

Absolutely.

Yeah. I think it's just an example of how this mural conversation became about so much more and the power of public art and maybe with the importance of it. And, I guess in some ways I have to ask are we willing as a community to step into public art in this way That can literally be a, an agent for change or, reflection around who we are as a people.

I just, this example of watching this come through has been so incredibly powerful. I'm sure there are other examples. I've never been through a process like this before. To see people literally come to a public microphone to advocate for people to be welcome and included without conditions.

To me, that was just a part that I would've never expected that would've been entered into this conversation. And it became about how this mural really elicited a response that yes, was about a welcome and inclusion, but in, in the term of being a human right, not in, just not to minimize the message, I'm not doing that. Not to say like, all bikers are welcome, but this became about being a human message around that what our community is going to be and what it wants to become, and that aspirational message that you had talked about.

And so I think in some ways for that to be so intensely debated to me was really shocking. If I'm honest . I don't understand how that becomes something that is up for debate. And yet Paige, you and so many others, Rachel, you stood in the middle of that debate to try to justify something, that I guess to many should have never should have. I guess my question would be in that, if I have a question, I guess my question in that would be like, should this have been a debate to begin with?

[00:44:21] paige dirksen.: There should never be a debate about who has the right to exist, first off. And that's what happened. And a lot of harm was done in that process. At the same time, I think that there are conversations within this situation that really needed to happen in our community.

I think there's things that have been bubbling, especially when it comes to the cycling community and who gets a seat at the table. I think when it comes to city council, there's a lot of irony in the fact that there is a woman of color on city council that was able to share some personal experiences of receiving death threats. And then, this conversation really morphed into who belongs and is Bentonville welcoming? And then the minute some of them felt personally attacked, the instinct was to take the whole thing down.

And I said this at the meeting, while some of them refuse to believe that anyone would feel unwelcome here, that's wild to me. I think there are many other people who here who can like really understand the reality for some people in our community that they don't feel that way. It doesn't mean we don't love our community or we don't love living here, just means we have areas to improve.

And there was just a, just an absolute refusal by some of them to believe that could be the case for some people here, because that's not their experience.

I'm going off in a lot of directions.

[00:45:58] mike.: No, you're good.

harm & celebration.

[00:46:00] mike.: You mentioned the word harm and I think that takes me to the place after the city council meeting, I walked out and there was a group of people that were outside the meeting and, the decision to keep the mural had just happened. And so you would think that people would be celebrating and that they would be happy. And we won this attitude of we won. And that was not the case at all. You, we, I walked out as a very quiet, very still very felt very heavy in its in its tone. And you and I talked about this, but I'd love for you maybe to share what you saw in that moment when people were outside and the weight of what had happened and it is happening. It was really starting to sink in.

[00:46:42] paige dirksen.: Yeah. I really wish I would've been able to feel like I could celebrate in that moment. I wish that would've been the case. But it wasn't. And that's because there was a lot of irreparable harm that happened throughout this whole process. And, while the outcome was what we were fighting for on the surface, the process inflicted real harm.

I don't really know how to respond to people right now when they tell me Congrats. Yeah. We sat through a lot of meetings where all bikes welcome and marginalized groups were just targeted. They were attacked. And that's not something I can celebrate. And it just overshadows the victory.

I think it's also, it's a reminder of the work ahead and, I don't wanna, I don't wanna reign on everybody's parade. Like I said earlier, I don't wanna diminish the work that did happen. I think it's a really good first start. It's a it's a good entry point for a lot of people, but now the work begins.

We, we, we gotta, we can't lose this moment. And I do think that this should be celebrated in some kind of way that we made this happen together. But I'm just not personally there yet. And I think there's a way to rewrite this ending for ourselves. And to me that needs to come when we are gathered as a community for joy and we need to be in community.

I think another reason why it just all felt so awful after that meeting was because of the way some of it happened. What happened in that meeting? It was brutal.

It was really hard to even consider celebrating because in that meeting, what it revealed was a, deeper issue at play and a power dynamic that, I didn't always see. But it became more obvious then.

[00:48:44] mike.: Yeah. Go on. What do you, when you talk about this power dynamic, what, yeah,

[00:48:48] paige dirksen.: I think that meeting especially and this process in general revealed how quickly attention shifts. So as a community, we have to ask why it was easier for some to protect me. But harder to protect an organization or the black woman leading that organization, which centers marginalized voices.

And that's something that I will take ownership of as well. I think that imbalance says a lot about who gets believed, who gets defended, and who's left to carry the heaviest weight of it.

[00:49:24] mike.: Paige, that's a hard truth to maybe have to consider. I'd love for you to go on if you feel comfortable doing that.

power.

[00:49:31] paige dirksen.: All this is still very raw and I'm still processing. Like I said, I think this mural became about me in a way I didn't ask for. I didn't really want that, but I was the visible artist. And at the same time, the organization was treated as the scapegoat. It was easier for some people to focus their anger on all bikes welcome than to engage with the mural itself too.

And I think that divide between me and them was artificial, but it also reveals some bias there. Who people saw as safe to defend and maybe who they didn't. And I think that's something that like all of us just need to sit with for a little bit, including myself.

[00:50:19] mike.: Yeah, I think Paige, this is the unraveling or the peeling away of the layers that reveal not something about our community. It reveals something about us, right?

As a, As a human being and maybe our experiences and our backgrounds or our places of privilege that we're so often just not aware of.

We can walk through our worlds. And I say this as a white male, right? And I talked about this before, but, and I'm not saying it, it's not just, but we can walk through our world. I can walk through my world many times and engage in these spaces when I feel needed to or are necessary. And I would want to do that. And yet at the same time, it's not my live reality every day. And so when we see a value that I find of great importance of including people, I, I wanna rush towards that and I want to be a part of, saying that we are being welcoming and we have to be welcome. And there is no margin for exclusion at all. I that I want to do that.

And at the same time, even within these processes, what you say resonates very deeply with me because, it reveals something even within our desires to try to help that we've got to do this deep work of understanding that even in these processes, they, this harm that you talk about, is shown in its continued marginalization of people.

And that's the live reality of so many. And, I'm embarrassed to say it that, that it's something that I have to learn about in myself even after the fact. And I think as we look towards, now I'm on my soapbox, I apologize.

But it's I think as we look towards what do we learn from these spaces, I think number one, as a community, maybe I'll just say about myself as a human being, as an individual, this has revealed a whole lot of things that I still have to understand and try to work through.

And as a community, I don't know how to do that. I don't know where those spaces are to have those conversations but I think it reveals within us, just the layers and layers that really, I don't know sometimes that the broader community would see that any other way.

And so I would never wish us to go through this process again. And so my hope would be that we could take some element of good or restoration or renewal from it. But I think it reveals that, especially within a broader white communities, that there are some deep seated things that we still have, to work through. And so I maybe your comments have elicited my soapbox and I apologize for that. But I think it is true. I would affirm what you say and that is true. That it's something that is not our default posture and it's, causes us to maybe have to Yeah, I, yeah.

meaningful impact.

[00:52:57] paige dirksen.: And I think it's just. It's good for us all to remember that good intentions don't always equal meaningful impact.

Yeah. And I hope, my hope is that these conversations we're having today, I hope the instinct for many listeners is to lean in instead of take a step back,

[00:53:21] mike.: which is hard because we step in to learn about our community and we learn about ourselves. And maybe why, to your point, this power dynamic of how hard it is.

Maybe that's one of my takeaways that the difficulty of this process is really the revelation that, the amount of our own understanding of who we are and our own biases, and I think maybe that leads, some of those public comments from people who have never spoke at city council before, if you go through those public comments they are a revelation about who we want to be because of maybe the recognition that we realize that we're just not there yet.

And that, that is, I would consider that a conversation and something that we have to move forward in. And, it's hard to balance out and process the understanding of the harm that has been done. And my hope would be is there good in it? And the good would be maybe that we can move forward into more conversations

[00:54:14] paige dirksen.: yeah. And I think some of the work that you and I have both committed ourselves to, especially in past year, past two years, in social justice issues. The journey that I've already taken, has really helped give me the appropriate lens from which to view some of this.

And I'm really grateful to have some of that foundation in going through this. And I think there are people who are willing to like, hold some hands throughout this to like usher people along. That's not the job of some, for some folks, and that's okay. And that's, we don't want that. And there are spaces where we can figure this out together.

[00:55:00] mike.: Yeah I don't know how else then to do it together. I would get it wrong every day of the week and twice on Sunday, as they say if I had to walk through this by myself. And so I'm deeply thankful for the people that, yeah, I've been able to watch, walk through this process. in a way it's been an incredible learning moment for myself within that.

[00:55:18] paige dirksen.: One thing that I'm, I've observed, that I've been reflecting on a little bit is yes. It feels really validating and good to have received all the messages of support I've gotten throughout this. It really has kept me going. And I I, one thing that's I wanna be honest about is that I am I tend to make myself smaller, right? I tend to be the person who wants to comply and follow the rules, even if they don't make sense. That has been me in the past a lot.

And I couldn't have done any of this without a lot of people right by my side. Especially Rachel Olzer, I am so deeply grateful for their friendship, their guidance and patience throughout this whole process. You know, they have been advocating on behalf of marginalized riders for a really long time, and when she speaks about her role in this work, it's really clear why it matters so much.

And I've relied on so many people throughout this process to do that. Yet I think, throughout this I have observed, especially other people who hold similar privileges to me and have put me up on a pedestal, right? And say, gosh, you're so brave. How are you doing this? I could never do this. And I think that's also giving themselves an opportunity to distance themselves a little bit from doing some of these things.

And I think there's a place, there's a different role for everybody here, right? Not everybody can speak at city council. Not everybody has money to give to organizations. Not everybody likes to put their face on social media. There's so many different things though, that everyone can do. And so we all just need to figure out our roles together. But I just wanted to say that because I am, I'm. I don't know that I'd call myself brave. Yes it takes some level of bravery to, to do some of these things. But I did it because of the people in my corner. And now that I'm, on the other side of this part of this fight, I want people to know that you can do that too. I, it in some ways it's really liberating to be able to like really know who I am and what I can say to people of who I am and be really honest about those things. So I guess I just want other people to know that they can do that too.

And it's not that I haven't made mistakes along the way too.

[00:57:54] mike.: Well, and I think it's important, and I, if nothing more of this process brought a whole lot of people into a space to see what happens when you can advocate together as a community for something you deeply believe in, and that's true of both sides of this issue.

And I think that process is what's necessary and needed to make sure that the community that we are building is going to be reflective of the values that we would hope for. And I would agree with you. I think it is something that, maybe is hard to do the first time, but you and I both know of people who didn't wanna speak at city council meetings in the, as through this process but did because they were so compelled by what needed to be done, that they were able to show up and to do what was necessarily needed. And to me, those are some of the incredible victories that took place of what now becomes possible in the future as we work through Yeah. Hard, hard problems together.

performative advocacy.

[00:58:45] paige dirksen.: And I think one thing that is really good to remember in all of this is.

I do see a lot of performative advocacy around us. So if you're thinking about building a bridge, then you have to recognize the gap. So it feels good, to be at city council when there's all these other people around you and rallying. But we have to address the underlying issue of why we're there. That's what we need to focus on next.

[00:59:14] mike.: Yeah, I mean, I I think full stop on that. That's, yeah, that's something we all can take away from and so I'm deeply thankful for those words.

what would you say?

[00:59:22] mike.: Lemme ask you this, I wanna maybe I'm gonna put you on the spot. What would you say to those that were not for this mural? What would your ask or your message to them be?

[00:59:33] paige dirksen.: Gosh.

Yeah. I think first off, I really loved the way that Bea Apple put this when she gave some public comment at the last meeting, is have some imagination. Imagine what this community could be, what this world could be. It's, and it's not just enough to tolerate. And then I think we need to go beyond that and it's, where's the repair? I know that there's gonna be many people that won't acknowledge the harm done and that there needs to be repair. I saw a lot of people trying to save face, in, in this situation. But we need to figure out a way to heal as a community.

And that, that also is going to mean not causing further division too, right? So like we have to hold space for all these things right now. You can be angry, you can be upset.

And I hope somewhere like deep in their hearts they can really try to think about, just at a basic level, what this mural was about. What I mentioned earlier, what it's about from the start, it's a message of inclusion and belonging for our community, period.

And I think, to the supporters who have come out, I think, we need to heal there. And that also is going to mean not causing further division. So while instincts may be to just throw up our hands and accept the ugly truths we've realized throughout this, it, it means doing things like sitting down with the council members you don't agree with. That's a possibility. You can do that. You can request that and talking to them in a very calm way about what you saw and about what you care about. 'Cause we're not gonna get anywhere if we keep screaming at each other. And I get it. I get people are angry, but we need to figure out a way to call people in to do better instead of calling them out or harassing them.

And that's really hard. It's easier said than done. I think if we do it together, we can figure out a way to, to do that.

learning about welcome.

[01:01:42] mike.: I realize this is still very, as you said, very raw, but I'm curious what you've learned about what it means to welcome through this process, or maybe what you're learning, I should

[01:01:52] paige dirksen.: say.

Yeah. I don't know that I have the right words for that one. I'm a visual artist, Mike. That's why. I do that. I don't do words. But what I keep coming back to too, is the fact. I know what belonging and welcoming feels like in my body.

I don't know how to talk about it, but I do know what it feels like. I think that's been a theme for me in my life in many ways of trying to figure that out and can I feel that? And I think this is a very recent and raw thing for myself and very personal. But I want that for others.

I want them to know what it feels like in their body to belong. And I think it has to be more than a mural or a message. It's a practice. I think that might be the right word for it. It's a practice.

I think this whole process showed me how fragile that can be too.

I'm learning this in real time with you as I'm saying these words. Yeah. Yeah, and I think we're gonna have to work at the speed of relationships and we're gonna have to work at the speed of trust in all of this. It's, there's no shortcuts in it.

And that's hard to sit with sometimes too.

fears.

[01:03:03] mike.: If you can, where we're at today. With both harm that has been created, but also a resolution to this mural. I'm curious, what are your fears for this place?

[01:03:15] paige dirksen.: I think it's hard to talk about my fears for this place without thinking about how they're so entangled with my fears for everything that's happening on a national stage right now, we're all bombarded right now. And so we need to be taking care of ourselves. I haven't done a good job of that lately, and we need to be taking care of each other, and I think that, I fear that Bentonville will choose comfort over courage.

I think I also, a fear that I think has weighed really heavily on me is that, and maybe because of this mural situation, that there are some people who will walk away believing this place isn't for them.

And once people feel like they don't belong, they stop trying to build that future here. And I think I also fear that like what we talked about earlier, that like sexy part of advocacy is over for a lot of people. And the parts that felt good throughout this, coming together, the parts that we got to do collectively, is over at this moment for people. So they go, they just go back to their lives, right? And I fear that I do that too. That's a fear for myself. And, and that people will just move on really quickly from this and that they're not affected by it.

I think one thing I'm really learning is that this, so much of this work is internal and that and there are no shortcuts there either.

what this mural means to everyone.

[01:04:47] paige dirksen.: While I was really considering what to do, and before I made a decision to offer any kind of solution to the city, I kept thinking about how I will never know what this mural means to each person. And I don't know what it remaining means to each person. I think it's really important that we remember that, not every trans individual is gonna feel the same way about this situation. They're not a monolith, not every adaptive writer is gonna feel the same way about this situation or the mural. Not every bipoc writer is gonna feel the same way. And so I've had to accept that there, there's gonna be someone that doesn't, appreciate how I went about this. And I've done my best to speak with the people that I need to speak with and hear from, and listen to and learn from. But I also needed like a whole other year to do that too.

So I think it's just a good reminder for everyone.

wholeness.

[01:05:50] mike.: I think through all of this process though, Paige, and everyone knows, like the hope is for this idea of community wholeness and going through this mural conversation, it can be easy to see nothing but the divide. And I, I think your words around repair and healing, and it's not easy work. There are no shortcuts. This is incredibly true. I'm curious though, what, but I do want to understand if you have a picture of what does wholeness look like?

[01:06:17] paige dirksen.: you know, mike, I listened to the podcast

[01:06:20] mike.: you know this question's coming.

[01:06:21] paige dirksen.: I knew this question's coming, but yet here I am.

I think for me, wholeness is being able to show up fully as yourself without hiding parts of yourself without shrinking. And. Being accepted in that form, whatever it may be.

And I think that it also means there are community structures, maybe the right term, that actively protect that. So not just, tolerating diversity and all the parts of everybody's self, but actively protecting that, we have to go one step further. Yeah, people need to feel seen and safe and valued in so many ways acknowledged.

When I think about the word wholeness right now, in this moment, I think there, there are some silver linings in this process, as horrible and awful as it has been. And one of those for me is knowing exactly who my people are and that's pretty cool. Yeah, I've found a lot of community from this, and I think that's what everybody needs right now, more than anything.

It's like we all need to find community in this moment because we all need to be able to take care of each other in this moment. And so I think we have an opportunity here where people showed themselves a little bit. And so we need to find a way to bring some of those people together so that they can, find community within themselves or, building on this moment. And not letting the opportunity go to waste in some ways.

And I kinda wanna come back now and as I'm just talking out loud, letting these thoughts in my head come out. I think the wholeness piece is for me, related back to that piece of feeling it in my body. And being able to feel that wholeness in our body, and trusting our body to tell us those things.

Yeah, that feels right.

[01:08:33] mike.: Paige I, I wanna say thank you. I think wholeness is the pursuit of that, and I think we're not there yet, but I think in, I think to see how we're moving towards it as a community, I think is hard and hard in that we have setbacks.

And now we have opportunities hopefully, to move forward.

And so Paige, I'm incredibly grateful for you for the work that you've done. I, never would've imagined all of this would've ended where it did or the process or what would take place. But we stand hopefully a little bit on kinda the other side of that decision, the city decision, with an opportunity Yeah. To move forward in a new way maybe a whole, a more whole way as you described.

And Paige, thank you for who you are and the work that you've done. And, I have a feeling we're gonna have a lot more to talk about. And so thanks for being willing to sit here, conversations

[01:09:22] paige dirksen.: there. Thank you Mike. And thank you for the support you've given me and my family throughout this process too. So appreciate that.

[01:09:31] mike.: Well, I do, I believe deeply in this work of belonging. It's been incredible to watch what something that was, should have been as simple as a message of welcome, has become this very in depth and very layered, and very community driven conversation about belonging.

I wouldn't wish the process on anyone. But if that is a place that we can take away, to dig deeper and to find the places that are still preventing or holding us back from that belonging then we will walk through it.

Thank You for stepping into a space that I know you never asked for, but we're willing to serve our community in this way.

And so Paige, thank you so much.

episode outro.

[01:10:10] mike.: Today's conversation with Paige reminds us that public art has the power to reveal who we are as a community. What began as a beautiful expression of community created by more than 80 people became the center of a storm that no one expected a storm about inclusion, identity, and belonging in Bentonville,

I would say this to Paige, that it took courage to hold her integrity as an artist and to protect the voices of every person who picked up a paintbrush to withstand the harm of months of public scrutiny, and to defend the belief that inclusion is not ideological. It's simply human.

Paige, you carried more than the weight of this mural. You carried the weight of our city's divisions and the pain of seeing your work and the people who helped create it with you, put under a spotlight that no one would ask for.

Through it all, you stood with honesty and integrity, reminding us that public art belongs to the community, and that welcome must be more than a slogan. It must be practiced.

To both you and Rachel, I wanna say thank you for your courage, your creativity, and your resilience. And thank you for giving this community a mural that continues to proclaim that everyone is welcome in this place.

But courage is not only for those on the front lines, it also is for the rest of us, the courage to listen, to repair what was harmed and to keep doing the daily practice of welcome in a city still wrestling with what that word means.

Both Rachel and Paige have reminded us of a deeper fear that now the mural remains. Many will believe the work is finished, that everything is fine and nothing needs to change. But the reality is that whether someone feels welcome here or not, will never be defined in the city council chamber or by mural on a wall.

Welcome happens every day where we make a decision to open our community wider, where we make room for another seat at the table. Always asking who else needs to have space created for them?

The next step of welcome truly belongs to all of us. How do we support the people and the organizations doing the work to ensure that we never have to fight the same battle again, and that we can live up to the message that already hangs in our community, that everyone belongs here.

And to everyone who came alongside to support this mural and its message of welcome. Thank you.

I'll say thank you for listening today, and thank you for being the most important part of what our community is becoming.

This is the underview, an exploration in the shaping of our place.

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