Miranda Pietzsch: Under Our Feet, a rug, a city, and the power of imagination. 

Under Our Feet, a rug, a city, and the power of imagination.

Step onto a rug and you might just step into a world. For Kansas City-based artist Miranda Pietzch, the iconic roadmap rug—those colorful childhood mats filled with winding streets and toy-town buildings—sparked a whole mural. Her piece, Under Our Feet, wraps a wall at Oppenstein Park in a playful nostalgia, reminding viewers of a time when the city planning was a game and wonder was everywhere. 

“I wanted to prompt the viewer to remember playing imagination games with roadmap rugs and feeling the power of community under their fingertips,” Miranda says. “I hope that shared memories of childhood makes people smile and stop to explore the places they recognize—and the ones they haven’t been to yet.”

A visual artist, writer, and animal welfare advocate, Miranda’s work blends whimsy and environmental education. Her creative style–full of bright colors, glitters, and joyful detail—is rooted in early 2000’s toys, childhood games, and a deep love for the natural world. 

When the word “Wonder” was announced for the 2025 Art in the Loop Project, Miranda’s mind immediately went back to childhood. “I actually found a roadmap rug at a thrift store and HAD to bring it home,” she laughs. “Now it’s by the door, so I see it every time I leave. It makes the city feel small in a good way. Like anywhere is reachable.”

That idea—of a city easily explored—runs deep in her mural.  While Union Station and The Plaza make appearances, so do Miranda’s favorite lesser-known KC spots like Lakeside Nature Center and the Toy and Miniature Museum. And tucked into the design are deeply personal touches: her old Jeep Donovan, her late pets Jerry and Roxanne, her current cat Eleonor,and even the polar bear from the zoo. 

“It’s a map of the city, yes—but it’s also a love letter to my version of Kansas City,” she says. “Places that maybe aren’t ‘icons’ to everyone, but they are to me.”

Miranda sharing details about her process with the public.

The mural is filled with easter eggs—fromt the mascot KC Wolf ot the logo of the Screenland Theater playing soccer. There is only one car in the whole mural: hers. That choice was intentional. Under our Feet is a piece that wants you to slow down and notice.

“This is not a billboard mural. I wanted people to get out of their cars and walk up to it,” Miranda explains. “So much of our city is built for cars, but not for people on foot. That’s why I love the streetcar—it’s helping make the city more accessible.”

As a muralist, Miranda also confronted personal challenges. This was her first mural ever—and the process was tougher than expected. Equipment failures, delays, and anxieties made it a daunting debut. But conversations with people walking by, especially those in the local unhoused community, kept her going.

“They were some of the most encouraging people I met. Every day someone would stop and ask what I was painting that day. That meant the world.”

Miranda also brings her background in environmental education to her art. Whether she’s working on shelter pet portraits with kids or raising caterpillars at home, she sees art as a vehicle for awareness. “People want to do good things—they just don’t always know how,” she says. “If I can make those ideas easier to understand and connect them to joy or curiosity, then I’ve done my job.”

Asked what her younger self would think of the mural, Miranda grins.

“She’d love it. She’d definitely ask why there’s not more blue in it—but she’d love it.”

As a queer artist who wasn’t always encouraged to pursue creativity growing up, Miranda offers this to young, emerging artists:

“Make art. Especially if you’re queer. This is the time. Your perspective matters. Your voice matters. And we need handmade things now more than ever.”

In the end, Under Our Feet is playful, personal, and quietly political. It invites us to notice our city, treasure our communities, and rediscover what’s right beneath our feet.

Miranda Pietzsch, artist of wonder and whimsy. She’s proof that imagination can paint a whole city.

BIO:

Miranda is a visual artist, writer, and animal welfare advocate based in Kansas City, Missouri. Her work varies widely in medium but is unified with bright colors and a sense of youthful whimsy. Miranda is passionate about blending art and the environment to help educate about the world all around us.

Want to explore Miranda’s KC?

Visit Under Our Feet at Oppenstein Park or follow Miranda’s work at @mirpeachy (Instagram)