My North Philly: Background Information

My North Philly is a Philadelphia Mural Arts project generously funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Community Partners in Arts Access (CPAA) initiative. CPAA-funded programs are working together to increase cultural programming and participation in North Philadelphia and Camden neighborhoods.

The groups are involved in a wide range of arts and cultural activities, including mural and puppet making, dance, jazz music, ceramics, playwriting and painting.

Over three years, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (MAP) will partner with over 20 north Philadelphia community organizations — churches, libraries, recreation centers and neighborhood groups — to create a series of murals which will illustrate the voices, stories and lives of My North Philly.

North Philadelphia is an incredibly diverse section of Philadelphia. Home to African Americans, Caucasians, Latinos and Asians, new immigrants, and lifelong residents, North Philly is composed of a myriad of distinct neighborhoods. Though its residents have struggled with the after-effects of Philadelphia's loss of industry and the resulting issues of urban poverty and violence, they also look towards the future of their neighborhoods with hope.

Throughout 2004, MAP conducted numerous interviews with a variety of community leaders and held focus groups with community members in various areas of North Philadelphia. The community and their leaders repeatedly voiced the need for revitalization projects that would clean up abandoned properties, beautify neighborhoods, create art programming for residents who have little or no exposure to arts activities, improve communication and cooperation among the neighborhoods, and legitimize the area by fostering a sense of collective pride.

With My North Philly, MAP hopes to address these issues. Over the years MAP has refined a unique process of mural-making that has the ability to strengthen and energize communities. This process engages all members of the community — leaders, family members, students — and brings them together by using hands-on techniques in a process that not only makes a mural but forms a bond among the participants. Community members build trust, accountability, and civic pride as they work together on My North Philly.

MAP's unique process will be expanded for the My North Philly project. Though all of MAP's murals are developed through community engagement, the My North Philly process will include in-depth interviews with community members and extensive research conducted by the project's ethnographer. The subsequent oral histories and field notes will allow the mural artists to gain a deeper understanding of the community and to draw their design inspiration directly from the stories and experiences of each neighborhood's residents.

Besides participating in the oral history process, all organizations involved will help identify neighborhood sites, contribute to the actual design of the mural, and help paint or create mosaic tiles for the large-scale murals. During the mural-making process, MAP will offer the community participants the opportunity to attend free computer and art workshops. These workshops will deepen cultural participation through intensive hands-on experience in the creation of the mural.

After the completion of the mural-making phase, My North Philly will go on to reach the Delaware Valley's broader public through a gallery show, mural dedications, a project publication, and mural tours. My North Philly will reach thousands of Philadelphians — young people, adults, and seniors will be both directly and indirectly involved in this wonderful project

It is MAP's deep hope that this project will lead to a broad spectrum of cultural participation as well as the creation of art works that have strong aesthetic, political, and social impacts. By engaging in the making of these large-scale works of art, the residents will call attention to their communities in an important way. The process of creating the mural will be as important as the final product, with images that continue to empower and strengthen the voice of North Philadelphia communities for years to come.

Keep visiting the website for My North Philly stories, progress and pictures.

For more information please email Lindsey Rosenberg at Lindsey.Rosenberg@muralarts.org or call her at 267-971-0155.