PHILADELPHIA: A CITY OF COLOUR
The city of brotherly love is famed for many things: The Liberty Bell, Will Smith, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Soul music and the Philly Cheesesteak, but one turn down an otherwise nondescript street can yield the most striking of surprises.
Philadelphia is home to the USA’s largest public art program, dedicated to the belief that creativity can ignite change and offer travellers to the city the opportunity to see outdoor murals on guided and self-guided tours, by foot, trolley, train and even segway (highly Recommended).
So let’s look past some of the traditional tourist spots for some fresh artistic experiences that are still uniquely Philly… yet don’t involve you waiting in line anywhere near Independence Mall.
Starting out as an anti-graffiti program in 1984, for over 30 years Mural Arts has united artists and communities through a collaborative and egalitarian process, creating 4,000 (and counting) artworks that have transformed public spaces and individual lives.
Mural Arts aims to empower the people of Philly, stimulate dialogue, and build bridges with projects that attract artists from Philadelphia and around the world, and programs that focus on youth education, restorative justice, mental health and wellness, and public art and its preservation.
Popular mural tours offer a first-hand glimpse into the inspiring stories behind Mural Arts’ iconic and unparalleled collection, which has earned Philadelphia worldwide recognition as the ‘City of Murals.’
Railway Enhancement project in-process at 10th and Norris Streets, July 23, 2020. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Mural Arts’ roots date back to 1984, when the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network was established to address the city’s widespread graffiti issue. Artist Jane Golden was hired to reach out to graffiti writers, with the goal of redirecting their energies toward public art projects. In addition to diminishing the presence of graffiti and tagging, this collaborative mural-making process proved to be a powerful tool for generating dialogue, building relationships, empowering communities, and sparking economic revitalisation within the city.
The organisation works in every neighbourhood in Philadelphia, and the city has become known for its thriving public art scene—particularly its array of large scale murals.
Marian Anderson © 2012 Joshua Mays. Photo by Steve Weinik.
During 2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak spread and storefronts were shut down and boarded up, the local Philly hotspots took on a whole new meaning, but the Mural Arts programme saw an opportunity to create something beautiful from the chaos.
The plywood boards that protected city storefronts, become home to 28 art pieces by 12 different artists, bringing life back to the underused and baron streets. Working with a wide range of artists, the Center City Storefront Artwork Initiative, created a scaled-down, eye-level gallery to complement Mural Arts’ larger-than-life collection of permanent works.
Also, from October, several of the project’s most iconic murals, were temporarily enhanced with face masks added to the artworks along with the hashtag #MaskUpPHL to inspire more people to wear masks in public. At the beginning of the pandemic, Mural Arts jumped into action to employ artists and design vinyl ‘space pads’ to encourage distancing in grocery stores and food banks. The project blended public health and creativity and produced thousands of pavement art interventions within the last 10 months.
Other Mural Arts’ initiatives include Art Education for youth; Restorative Justice for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, young adults on probation, and their respective communities; and Porch Light for those struggling with mental illness, addiction, and trauma. Each of these initiatives generates projects and programming with themes and processes relevant to their target constituencies. Mural Arts also has a Public Art and Civic Engagement department, which focuses on creating a wide range of projects that are responsive to community needs, fuelled by the imagination of artists, and focused on sharing stories about Philadelphia and the people who call it home.
The organisation engages approximately 1,000 vulnerable adults in programs led through collaborations with SCI Phoenix prison, the Philadelphia Prison System, Philadelphia’s Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, and the Department of Behavioural Health and Intellectual disAbility Services.
Every year, Mural Arts employs approximately 250 artists and teaching artists, contributing about 2.1 million dollars to Philadelphia’s creative economy through artist wages.
With 50-100 new pieces commissioned each year, future visitors to Philadelphia will always be able to view the city with fresh eyes and can plan ahead for their trip.
Amy Sherald
One of the Key works to see is by the artist Amy Sherald, who made headlines around the world in 2018 with her official portrait of Michelle Obama. Since then, Sherald has brought her work to a new scale in Philadelphia, creating the oversized portrait of young local artist Najee Spencer-Young to challenge ideas of identity and the public gaze. The project developed when Sherald invited young Philadelphians to her studio where they spent a day learning about her unique artistic practice, exploring costumes, and taking photographs together that would later form the inspiration for the untitled mural on 1108 Sansome Street.
So why not make a plan to hop on a segway tour of the USA’s largest public art program, the engine behind a citywide movement and canvas for some of Philadelphia’s most jaw-dropping talent.
Overnight accommodation in a Traditional King room at ideally located Renaissance Philadelphia Downtown Hotel costs from £221 ($279) per night.
