Ben Schuh is a muralist from Iowa who has designed many murals for Iowa cities, including Des Moines and, most recently, Knoxville. As the winners of the 2022 #IowansUntie CommUNITY Contest, Washington will get to have Schuh design a custom mural for the city.

Schuh talked with KCII about his unique approach to organizing everything to design a mural. “So, I look at everything like a 4-H project because I grew up in 4-H. I do a lot of research. I spend time with each town to identify points of interest. By working with local people, I’m able to get an idea of what they want in the mural. I’ve already been provided with a lot of information, so I will cross-reference it with my own research to maximize the murals’ success.”

When asked why he chose to get into mural painting specifically, Schuh talked about the inspiration he drew from his trip to Chile, where he saw colorful murals adorn the buildings of the towns he visited.