Past Exhibitions

Nature in the City

Tuesday, November 18 – Sunday, December 21, 2008
(Extended until January 22, 2009)


City Tree on Hartranft back wall—photo by Jennie Shanker

Opening reception: Tuesday, November 18, 2008; 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Thursday, January 22, 2009; 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House
1727-29 Mount Vernon Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Tel: 215-685-0750
info@muralarts.org

"The art of ecological artists is often designed to restore healthy conditions by fostering socio-ecological and political-economic change. At the conceptual core of most contemporary ecological art are ideas about: ecology and life-centered issues, community participation, dialogue and communication, and ecological sustainability." -- Don Krug, Ph.D.


Tree of Honor at Hartranft front entrance—photo by Shari Hersh

Using themes highlighted by Krug as its inspiration, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has created the Restored Spaces Initiative, a multidimensional three-year public art project done in collaboration with Mural Corps, the Mural Arts Program's award winning art education program for at-risk teens, Philadelphia schools and civic institutions. As part of this initiative, Mural Corps youth work with experienced artists to create projects in which the focus of the art is the environment. These projects are designed to transform a community space, generate affinity, and encourage stewardship with nature while providing an experiential learning opportunity, as well as a healthier, more beautiful environment for recipients. Through the Restored Spaces Initiative, Mural Corps youth are provided with an opportunity to impact the condition of the city, to be agents of change, and to gain experience from advanced art-making that is transformative, rigorous and challenging.

Nature in the City features three projects that were recently completed as part of this initiative, or are nearing completion: From Roots to Recovery, a project led by mosaic artist Emilie Ledieu that integrated mosaic stained glass on planters and along a section of fence along a section of the Lancaster Avenue corridor where murals have been painted; The Tree is a City, led by sculptor and art educator Jennie Shanker at the John F. Hartranft Elementary School, which resulted in a complete transformation of the façade and grounds of an otherwise bleak elementary school in North Philadelphia; and A Drop of Tranquility, a large-scale mosaic project led by Phillip Adams which was a collaboration between the Mural Corps and the Urban Nutrition Initiative of the University of Pennsylvania planned in conjunction with the garden and carpentry club at Sayre High School. Nature in the City is comprised of a wide range of visual materials; preparatory drawings and designs—those of the lead artists as wells as the youth, elements that can offer a close up of the subject and reinforce its scale, photographs documenting the process and of the completed projects, as well as documentary video.

Past Exhibitions