In this episode, Anna Claussen (Voices for Rural Resilience) and Ash Hanson (Department of Public Transformation) talk with Central Iowa muralist and organizer Siriaco “Siricasso” Garcia about the power of art to bring visibility to diversity in rural communities. Siricasso shares how he turned to the canvas to process personal hardship and express experiences too often judged or silenced because, as he says, “the canvas always talks back.” His vibrant work highlights the beauty, resilience, and rich diversity of rural Iowa in bold and healing ways -- with projects like “Middle of Nowhere Festival”-- and challenges systems of oppression by encouraging us to claim our stories as our own brand -- creating space for others to feel seen, connected, and not alone.