Here’s a new way to get to know America: Take a tour of its murals, found on walls, buildings and in parking garages from coast to coast. “Viewing America through the lens of its community art is like a civics, history and arts lesson all in one,” says travel expert Kristin Luna, who put together Parade’s roundup of some of America’s most amazing murals. She warned us that it was hard to choose just one mural for each state, and she was right. The variety is dazzling.

There are murals painted by famous artists (Keith Haring in South Philadelphia) and high school kids (Milford, Delaware). There are celebrations of inclusion (women in space in Huntsville, Alabama), calls to action (prison reform in Sacramento) and tributes to heroes and helpers, past and present, including Robin Williams (Chicago), the first female Ph.D. at Iowa State (Dubuque), civil rights advocate John Lewis (Atlanta) and Louis Armstrong (Lexington, Kentucky), to name just a few. You’ll find that in locales as diverse as Miami and Seattle murals have helped transform blighted spots into must-see attractions. And everywhere, you’ll see love.

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