Collaborative murals created on-site
Knowledge Walls, also called Inspiration Walls or Experience Walls, are created by asking a question or collecting stories around a topic, synthesizing and theming the responses, then turning them into an illustrated mural. Content can be collected through a survey sent in advance of the event, or by posting a question on a large board for folks to answer on stickies.
CASE STUDY:
Each year at The Natural Hazards Workshop, we co-create a community mural by asking participants to answer a prompt question. I then theme their responses and create a 4'x8' mural that illustrates their collective vision—a visual representation of what this community truly cares about.
There's compelling evidence for why group visioning works: when people can see their shared aspirations, it transforms abstract hopes into actionable momentum. The mural becomes more than art—it's a mirror reflecting the community's deepest values and a roadmap for the years ahead.
Watching participants discover common ground through this process never gets old. It's Margaret Wheatley's quote in action: a community literally seeing what it cares about, drawn large enough that no one can miss it.
In this mural the responses reveal how passionately this group values humanity, reminding me once again why visual facilitation matters. When we make the invisible visible, we don't just capture ideas—we catalyze the very change we're all working toward.