A letter of gratitude from us to you

Mural Arts moves faster than the speed of light. Ideas zing through our hallways, zipping from office to office as we tackle the issues facing our city. Big issues–education, mass incarceration, community and individual mental health, public space, creative placemaking–all have a place at the table, a place in the work Mural Arts does each day.

We are a busy crew, driven by a collective urge to get up every day and make our city a better place through creative work and conversation. But on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you’ll find us all in our conference room and meeting space, with laughter and chatter filling up the building from bottom to top.

Cranberry sauce jostles for a place on our conference table, flanked by a scrumptious plate of homemade egg rolls, a neat bowl of stuffed grape leaves, an aromatic dish of chili con carne, and a line of vegetables and breads that march down the overflowing table. And did a mention the dizzying array of pie?

We look forward to this lunch all year long: It’s Mural Arts’ potluck Thanksgiving. As delicious as the spread is, though, the meal is much more than nourishment. It’s an expression of who we are as a group, who we are as an organization.

At this potluck, we all have a place at the table. Our ideas have a place at this table, our beliefs have a place at this table, our creative, vibrant, expressive selves have a place at this table.

And you have a place at our table too. We’re saving a seat for each person who wants a safe space for reflection, who wants to be a part of the conversation, or who has an idea to make our city a stronger, more welcoming, more dynamic place to be.

That’s how we celebrate this season of gratitude: we give thanks for the beautiful, diverse, intelligent, funny voices that spring from each corner of our city, for the strings that wind together into a strong thread as we come together and move our city forward.

And so, with much gratitude, a very happy Thanksgiving from all of us to all of you.