During the Black Lives Matter protests, numerous businesses covered their windows with plywood to protect against potential vandalism. San Jose State student Miko Baker saw that plywood as a blank canvas.
She contacted the Latino-owned, local franchise of Cinnaholic to ask if they'd be open to an artist putting up a mural.
"I just messaged them on Instagram, nothing super formal, just like, 'Hey! Can I come paint your shop and help you out?' And they were like, 'Sure,'" Baker said.
In a similar fashion, artists from all over San Jose volunteered to paint murals in solidarity with the protests. "Instead of us reaching out to shops, they were reaching out to us," Baker said.
She soon turned her community project into Stories for Solidarity, originally called Storefront Stories, an organization linking businesses and local artists to collaborate on mural projects. Baker is still filling out paperwork to become an official nonprofit.