We wanted to celebrate our nation, because 2026 is our 250th birthday, and also, it feels necessary in this moment.
But how would we do it in a moment when celebrating living in the USA feels political, feels fraught with potential pitfalls? What could we do to bring people together across perceived differences? What would support a feeling of belonging, of collectiveness, of progress?
First, we had some useful narrative research that offers a way to talk about being American, living in the USA, and loving our democracy—a message that resonates broadly: the story of us, the people.
Second, we know some artists who love to collaborate with community.
Third, we had an innovative funder and partner in Think Big Alliance, a national organization that brings together advocates and communicators across issue areas to learn together and share strategies, especially narrative strategies. The leadership there decided to shine a spotlight on the new research with a creative approach, providing Art on the Streets with a grant to create a community event.
The Narrative Research Backing Us Up
Think Big kicked things off by commissioning research from Topos Partnership that answered our questions on how to tell our story of the USA in this moment.
Here’s what the researchers had to say:
Throughout American history, collective struggles to expand rights, broaden opportunity, and strengthen democracy have drawn on patriotic stories of American values — stories that connect people across race, gender, geography, ideology, and other divides. In 2026, partisan divisions run deep, and many everyday Americans feel sidelined. What stories of America can invite us to dream together and build together now? Can we tell an authentic, hopeful American story that celebrates and honors our progress toward equality, freedom, and opportunity while igniting the will to keep striving for a nation that truly fulfills these founding ideals?
Narrative strategists, researchers, and funders — guided by leading thinkers and changemakers — came together to meet this challenge. We analyzed the debates and discussions shaping the public conversation, studied the latest polling numbers, and, most importantly, listened closely to more than 4,700 Americans across the country. Here’s what we heard loud and clear: Americans are searching for a national conversation that recognizes their role — the role of the people. And there is a yearning for an honest, clear-eyed, hope-filled American story that brings people together in common cause.
Our multi-method approach — mapping the landscape, listening deeply, and testing frames at scale — brought forward a big idea that meets the urgency of now: In America, the people are supposed to be in charge.
It’s a deceptively simple yet profound idea that resonates across class, geography, faith, race, and ideology. Easy to grasp, repeat, expand, and rally behind, it feels both familiar and fundamental, yet it is almost entirely missing in the current public discourse and removed from people’s current thinking about their lives and their roles in shaping their communities and the country.
When awakened by using it to frame the dialogue, it’s an idea that opens the door for a multitude of voices to share their own authentic stories of what it means to be American — and what a brighter, more just future could hold.
Crucially, it makes space for both celebration and reflection, honoring our progress while being honest about the work we have left to do. And what’s striking is how this idea can shift people’s thinking — and the conversation — in powerful ways. People understand this idea of America as a call to action, an invitation for every individual to use their voice and play their part.
Fundamentally, this core idea reclaims the American story as the story of US: The people. ALL the people. Not the wealthy few. Not rulers. We the People are meant to be in charge. We’ve always been the force that drives America’s progress, and we carry the responsibility to lead the way forward today.
The research and other resources are free online and easily applicable to local projects and movements across the nation.
How the Artists Brought the Narrative to Life
With the narrative research in hand, and a grant from Think Big, the lead artist, Pam Kravetz, reached out to her community contacts in Cincinnati, Ohio, to ask a simple question: What did the community want to do for the benefit of their place and the people who live there? What happens if the people are in charge?
One answer: PaintNSkate to create a long-hoped-for mural on a public roller-skating rink, a piece of art inspired by the people, and then painted by the people for all.
For the first step in the process, Pam and her collaborator, engagement artist Rick Wolf, worked with the community of roller skaters to gather ideas for the art itself. They went to a gathering of skaters, put out the tools of art (colored pencils, crayons, paper), and offered some prompts. With responses to questions like “What do you love about the things your community does together?”, the artists created a concept for an enormous mural to be painted on the rink. (Watch the artists talk about working in community on the Art on the Streets website and in this webinar video.)
A Mural Designed for Movement and Meaning
The artists designed a piece of art to the specs desired by the skaters, including covering 40 by 60 feet across half of the Cincinnati Riverfront Rink, the largest waterfront skating surface in North America. Designed as a playful, whimsical, and functional artwork, the surface includes painted lines that guide skating patterns, support roller derby scrimmages, and allow for street hockey setup.
This specific plan required specialized help from the community of skaters and the leaders of Cincinnati’s Skate Downtown Cincy, including an artist with design skills, Matt Whitby, and a very committed engineering partner, Craig Davis. The mural had to meet the specs for multiple uses, look good to skaters while skating, and respond to ideas shared by the community:
• holding hands while teaching others to skate,
• the community includes people from all parts of the region, skaters with all levels of expertise, and
• the people are in charge, the skaters themselves are creating the opportunities.
The visual concept they created centers on “crowning” everyday people in the Queen City (Cincinnati’s nickname) and beyond. The design celebrates community members who bring their skills, experiences, and passion into shared spaces. It reflects five years of volunteer-led activation at the rink, where skaters have helped maintain, beautify, and reimagine the space. That work has built a new generation of park stewards and civic participants in Cincinnati. This approach celebrates the narrative, core American belief: real power and progress grow from the ground up, through participation, shared responsibility, and collective action.
Morgan Rigaud of Skate Downtown Cincy explains the design concepts and launches the opening of the
newly painted rink.
Video: Suzanne Waller
The People Paint
On painting day, the community came out to paint the mural.
The team that created the design spent two days preparing the rink in collaboration with Skate Downtown Cincy and the Cincinnati Parks crew.
Then on a bright, sunny, perfect painting day (after a rainy day forced a one-day delay in the project), well over 100 volunteers showed up to paint the mural with the support of the design crew, the skating community, and a group of paid professional artists to lead the effort.
Video and Photos: Margy Waller for In the Hands of the People/Think Big
Media Coverage: The Narrative Shines
Press coverage for the PaintNSkate event, designed to bring the Think Big/Topos narrative to life in a community event, reflects the strength of creative community partnerships. All of the local press outlet reports mentioned the organizing idea, “In America, the people are supposed to be in charge.” And every local television station and the local weekly magazine covered the event.
These results illustrate the way that creative approaches, realized on a local level with public participation, can amplify a message. (See full video clips of media coverage and stories on the Art on the Streets website.)
Defining Patriotism Through Action
PaintNSkate positions patriotism as something you do with others, not something you passively observe. This mural project highlights solidarity, inclusion, civic pride, and shared responsibility.
Research conducted for Think Big shows that Americans think of our nation’s story as all the people who work together to shape their communities, through organizing, volunteering, creative collaboration, and more. These activities increase a sense of pride, belonging, and motivation to participate in civic life.
“Our partnership in PaintNSkate brings this idea to life by turning a public space into a site of collaboration, creativity, and ownership. The mural becomes both a visual statement of the way community comes together and a functional tool for community use,” said Morgan Rigaud of Skate Downtown Cincy.
Video: CincyBucketList on Instagram
