SPRINGFIELD — Britt Ruhe has spent years immortalizing the stories of everyday people, whether it be a homeless person who hands out Bible passages or a woman in the community who makes sure everyone is taken care of.

Through towering murals painted alongside hundreds of community members on apartment buildings and parking garages, the founder of Common Wealth Murals has turned people who will never be celebrities into heroes.

Now, after being named a 2026 Commonwealth Heroine by state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, Ruhe finds herself in an awkward position as one of 147 women statewide — and four in Hampshire County — in the 2026 class of Commonwealth Heroines. The state program, run through the Commission on the Status of Women, recognizes dozens of women each year who make their community a better place to live.

“I don’t generally talk a lot about myself,” the Granby resident said during a recent interview in her dimly lit Springfield studio. “It’s lovely to get this honor, and it also feels a little awkward because I’ll always put someone else forward if I have the chance to.”

Ruhe’s community-led nonprofit can trace its origins to a vacation in Barcelona.

“Barcelona is full of street art, so I kinda got obsessed with it, and came back and started building mural festivals and just meeting muralists,” she said. “Anytime I heard anything street art was happening, I would go.”

The trip prompted her to leave a career as an education consultant in 2019 and pursue community mural-making full time. Since then, Common Wealth Murals has created about 100 public art installations across western Massachusetts, most depicting ordinary residents.

Ruhe said she doesn’t have a favorite mural. “I see them all like my children,” she said.

During the nonprofit’s first year, 10 murals were produced. Nine followed the traditional model, with a professional artist designing and painting the work. One project, however, involved about 700 community members helping to create the mural.

That experience transformed the organization’s mission.

“What really motivates me is, what if we made public art that was actually by, for and about the public living with the art?” Ruhe said. “What if we’re engaging the public who lives with the art? What do you want the art in your neighborhood to be? What do you want it to be about? And do you want to help make it?”

Today, Common Wealth Murals uses a paint-by-number approach that allows residents of all ages and skill levels to participate. After artists outline and number sections of a mural on fabric, community members paint the individual pieces before assembling them into the final work. The organization is currently working on a mural that will be installed in Pittsfield.

The murals often feature people whose contributions will never be celebrated by pop culture or the media.

One Springfield mural includes a local man known as “Preacher Man,” who spent years handing out Bible verses and lottery numbers on a neighborhood street corner while dressed as a homeless man.

“They talk about their neighbors, their friends, their mothers– just ordinary people engaging in countless acts of service in their day-to-day lives that never get recognized and will never be famous, but that’s who people want to see on the murals.”

After it was completed, one resident told Ruhe, “To see a mural of Preacher Man makes me realize that no matter how low I may fall, I will always have value.”

Another mural in South Holyoke centers on lifelong resident Betty Medina, portrayed with her arms outstretched in what Ruhe describes as a Christ-like, hugging embrace. Behind her, children ride bicycles while families gather for a neighborhood cookout — scenes that reflect daily life in the community.

“If you come through South Holyoke, you will almost always see kids riding their bikes or families having cookouts,” Ruhe said.

When residents help choose subjects for new murals, Ruhe said they rarely nominate famous people.

“They talk about their neighbors, their friends, their mothers — just ordinary people engaging in countless acts of service in their day-to-day lives that never get recognized and will never be famous, but that’s who people want to see on the murals,” she said.

She believes these murals provide a sense of pride and identity, and tell the story of local neighborhoods.

“I think it helps people experience a sense of belonging and connection to each other and their neighborhood, which is harder and harder for people these days,” she said.

She’s not much of an artist herself, and received a master’s degree in business from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She said her team of four artists and herself form a powerful squad, saying their efforts should be just as celebrated as she is recognized as a heroine.

“Artists are brilliant at taking complex and nuanced ideas and turning them into something visual that other people can relate to and understand,” said Ruhe. “But that’s one way of thinking, and then my brain just turns everything into spreadsheets, and so I can organize the hell out of anything. So we’re a good team.”

Members of her team lauded her as a role model, a mom and somebody who is always organized.

“Britt is on her P’s and Q’s,” said Talysha Rivera, who has worked under Ruhe since 2022. “I feel like she definitely holds things together, in a way that’s warm but also commands organization.”

“She’s literally the best. If you need a role model, she can be it. She’s like a second mom,” said Jovan Velez, who has worked under her for a year.

Giselle Guillen Martinez, who has worked with her for the past two years, said that, “She created something really special here. She’s really skilled at curating the space.”

“Britt’s commitment to building community and belonging with public art and community engagement is a powerful force throughout Massachusetts,” said Domb, explaining why she nominated Ruhe. “Her work is an inspiring example of what community-led public art initiatives can achieve. In these times, Britt’s effort to bring communities together in a common purpose to celebrate their identity, their history and their legacy is a welcome and needed gift. As a community organizer, an artist, a trainer and so much more, Britt is truly a commonwealth heroine.”