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Mural Arts Philadelphia is a non-profit organization that supports the creation of public murals in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1986 as Mural Arts Program, the organization was renamed in 2016. Having ushered more than 3,000 murals into being, it calls itself "the nation’s largest public art program". As of 2022, the organization says it runs 50 to 100 public art projects each year; it also works to maintain existing murals. The program was founded under the direction of the local artist
Jane Golden Jane Golden is an American artist who has been an active mural painter since the 1970s. Background and education Following graduation from Stanford University, Golden moved to Los Angeles and created a number of large, well received murals in ...
, as part of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, with to facilitate collaboration between professional artists and prosecuted graffiti writers to create new murals in the city. The program, which employs more than 300 artists at least part-time, is one of the largest employers of artists in Philadelphia. The program also hires more than 100 prosecuted graffiti writers every year and involves them in the creation of murals around Philadelphia. In 2006, the program employed 36 former graffiti artists as staff members on permanent payroll. It also works with
community groups Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
to educate and children in the arts and involve them in the creation of the murals; in 2006, it involved more than 300 children a year. The Mural Arts Program is responsible for the creation of the largest mural in Philadelphia, at in length. Titled ''History of Immigration,'' it displays
settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s of different ethnicities who settled in Philadelphia over time. The program has been criticized for supporting the criminalization of graffiti and for hiring non-Philadelphia artists.


History

In 1984, artist Jane Golden approached Tim Spencer, who was head of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, about adding a program named "Umbrella". Spencer had initially envisioned a program that would rehabilitate graffiti artists and lead them towards other art forms. In the end, Golden's proposal won. In 1986, Mural Arts Project, led by Golden, was founded as a division of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. In 1991, the
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, formerly known as the Ash Institute, was established in 2003 and is part of the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The Center’s mis ...
awarded the Innovation in American Government Award to Philadelphia for the success of the Mural Arts Project. At some point, the Philadelphia Recreation Department absorbed the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network and elevated the Mural Arts Program to a separate entity. The Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates was founded as a nonprofit corporation to raise funds for the Mural Arts Program. In 1995, the Mural Arts Program commissioned Philadelphia artist Diane Keller to paint a multistory mural of former Philadelphia Mayor
Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democr ...
at Ninth and Montrose Streets, near the city's
Italian Market The Italian Market is the popular name for the South 9th Street Curb Market, an area of South Philadelphia featuring awning covered sidewalks, curb carts, grocery shops, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, cheese shops, butcher shops, etc., many with an ...
. Though some in the city's Italian-American community took pride in the depiction of Rizzo, the mural was frequently defaced in protest of his rough treatment of the city’s
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
communities. In 2010, the MAP had Keller repaint the mural at a cost of $20,000. After the mural was again defaced during the
George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
, the Mural Arts Program issued a statement ("We know that the removal of this mural does not erase painful memories and are deeply apologetic for the amount of grief it has caused”) and painted over it in the early hours of June 7, 2020. Since 2001 the Mural Arts Program has been headquartered in the former home and studio of the painter
Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...
at 1727-29 Mount Vernon Street in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia. During the 2001–2004 Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, the Mural Arts Program painted more than 600 murals around Philadelphia. In 2004, the murals painted by the program were on average the height of a three-story
row house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...
and wide. The average cost of each mural was $10,000–$15,000, including artists' commissions and supplies. In February 2006, the city of
Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, asked Jane Golden to speak in hopes of creating a similar program in their community. In 2007,
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
and his wife Camilla visited the Donald Gensler mural ''Reading: A Journey'', at 40th and Penns Grove Streets. The visit was intended to demonstrate how the murals have inspired regeneration in the
West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...
neighborhood. Prince Charles was interested in creating a similar project in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. In 2014 the Mural Arts Program celebrated its 30th anniversary with the book "Philadelphia Mural Arts @30" and an exhibition at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Monument Lab to produce several works of public art in Philadelphia.


Murals

* 1984: Several graffiti taggers were given the option to either go to jail or take part in a new city beautification initiative. Since then, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has overseen the creation of more than 3,800 pieces of art painted on sides of buildings. Of these art pieces painted on buildings, 2,000 are still viewable by the public, making this collection the "World’s Largest Outdoor Art Gallery." * 1998: Mural artist
Meg Saligman Meg Saligman is an internationally recognized American artist. She is best known for large scale murals and has painted more than fifty murals internationally, including several of the largest murals in the United States. The artist is known for m ...
created ''Common Threads'' at Broad and Spring Garden streets. The work comments on the shared history of humanity through the juxtaposition of classical sculptural forms with those of local high school students. * 1999: Artist Josh Sarantitis created ''Colors of Light'' at 12th and Vine Streets, facing the Vine Street Expressway. Commissioned in partnership with the Asian Arts Initiative, the mural represents the local Asian American community, including Asian Arts Initiative founder Gayle Isa and a poem by Jeffrey Loo. In 2017, the mural was completely covered by the construction of XS House, a 7-unit apartment building built on the adjoining 11' x 93' lot to the north. * 2016: ''The Atlas of Tomorrow: A Device for Philosophical Reflection'' (533 South Juniper Street, Philadelphia) is a piece by
Candy Chang Lizabeth (Candy) Chang (), born in November 10, 1989 in Hong Kong, won Miss Chinese Toronto in 2009, and Miss Chinese International Pageant 2010 second runner-up. She was a TVB actress. Due to her cheerful and outgoing personality, and the fact t ...
, an artist whose pieces often have a participatory element to them. In this kinetic mural, viewers are invited to spin a numeric dial. Where the dial lands directs the viewer to read and reflect on one of 64 unique stories. * 2018: Artist Joshua Mays and DJ
King Britt King Britt (born 1968) is an American educator, DJ and record producer from Philadelphia. Biography Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1987, he started working at Tower Records, as a buyer for th ...
worked with Mural Arts Philadelphia to create ''Dreams, Diaspora and Destiny'', an "
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...
" mural that included music and a
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
. The piece is at 5300 Landsdowne Ave. *June 2019: Baltimore artists Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn along with curator Ryan Strand Greenberg created ''Folding the Prism'', a mural that highlights the textile history of the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia. The piece is located at 12th and Spring Gardens Streets. *November 2020: artists Paul Santoleri and Abdul Karim Awad created "Light of the Northeast", a mural that features the Statue of Liberty. The mural is located at 6826 Bustleton Avenue in Philadelphia.  


See also

*
The Sprout Fund The Sprout Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding various programs designed to increase civic engagement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sprout-funded murals were named the "Best Public Art" by the ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' in 2006. ...
— Pittsburgh mural program
City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program at Google Cultural Institute


References


External links

* {{Authority control Culture of Philadelphia 1986 establishments in Pennsylvania Art in Pennsylvania Murals in Pennsylvania