Celebrating Women in Leadership at Mural Arts Philadelphia

From left to right: Kali Silverman, Nadia Malik MSW, Shari Hersh, and Lisa Murch.

This Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the tenacious and creative women that lead some of Mural Arts’ biggest programs. Meet Kali Silverman, Lisa Murch, Nadia Malik, MSW, and Shari Hersh, and learn more about their work!

Kali Silverman

Kali Silverman was recently announced as the new Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice department. Kali has been a Project Manager with Mural Arts Philadelphia for 2.5 years, working in Community Murals, Porch Light, finally finding her home in Restorative Justice. A Temple alumna with an M.A. in International Community Development from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Kali has more than 10 years of experience in community building, including engagement and organizing. She is passionate about urban equity, creative placemaking, community empowerment, and arts and culture. Kali is a dynamic leader, organizer, passionate facilitator and educator.

Learn more about Restorative Justice

Director of Restorative Justice Kali Silverman and artist Russell Craig at Crown mural dedication. Photo provided by Kali Silverman.
Emerge Campaign wheatpaste posters, 52nd and Market Streets. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Butterfly Lakes © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Serena Saunders, FDR Park Welcome Center, 20th Street and Pattison Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Guild Graduation at 915 Spring Garden Street, February 25, 2022. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Billboard depicting Latoya Jones, photographed by Ken McFarlane. Part of Transformation billboard project, 2021.

Lisa Murch

Lisa Murch brings 20 years of experience to her role as Director of Art Education with Mural Arts. Lisa moved to Philadelphia to get her MFA at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and painted her first mural in 2001. She has since acted as a Lead Teaching Artist, Program Manager, and Senior Project Manager — roles that have exposed her to every angle of the mural making process. She is passionate about generating opportunities for young people using creativity to advance their sense of identity and direction. Lisa has presented on behalf of the organization at the Ifetayo Conference in Brazil, as a keynote speaker at the Living Walls Conference in Atlanta and at the National Guild for Arts Education Conference. She has received several fellowships and grants in recognition of her talents as an artist, including the Independence Foundation Fellowship, the Leeway Foundation Window of Opportunity Grant, and the Prince of Wales Foundation Fellowship.

Learn more about Art Education

Murals on the Move at Playstreets, 2700 North Judson Street, August 18, 2020. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Messages to Our Neighbors: Imagine What Our Country Would Look Like if the Government Didn't Spend So Much on the Military © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Aram Han Sifuentes & Art Education Students, Broad & Christian Streets. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Messages to Our Neighbors: These Racist Cowards Punch Down on Asian Americans and We Still Rise Up © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Aram Han Sifuentes & Art Education Students, 10th and Wood Streets. Photo by Steve Weinik.
We Still Here © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Gaia, Jetsonorama, & Ursula Rucker, 22 Maplewood Mall. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Metanoia © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Brad Carney & Dominique Lyner, George Washington High School, 10175 Bustleton Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Nadia Malik, MSW

Nadia Malik, MSW is the director of the Porch Light Program at Mural Arts Philadelphia. She completed masters degrees in Social Work and Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she worked as a journalist in the suburbs of Chicago and with several national nonprofits. Her nonprofit involvement has been in international and domestic policy for refugees, facilitating community involvement and communication at religious centers, and working with development departments on media and education projects. The Porch Light Program offers Nadia an opportunity to combine her love of art and writing with her passion for community work, particularly in the arena of mental health.

Learn more about Porch Light

We Are Universal © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Kah Yangni, Cake Life Bake Shop, 1306 Frankford Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Porch Light staff members color with young children at the airport. Photo by Dave Rosenblum.
Unity in Diversity © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Winnie Sidharta Ambron, Hardena, 1754 South Hicks Street. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Color me Back in-process at Walnut-Locust subway concourse, September 10, 2010. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Reaching Out © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / DISTORT & Gabe Tiberino, 3221 Kensington Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Shari Hersh

Shari Hersh is a community artist, organizer and facilitator. She has worked with Mural Arts Philadelphia for over twenty years where she established the Art Education Department, the Project Management Office, and founded the Restored Spaces Initiative and Trash Academy Program. She is currently the Director of the Environmental Justice Department. Shari’s preoccupations as both artist and producer are oriented around the tenets of environmental justice, organizing horizontal collaborations, and building projects that center relationships and reinforce social fabric. She researches and develops innovative projects in the public sphere that both practice visioning and building A More Just Future and encourage all project participants to move from individualism to collectivism.

Learn more about Environmental Justice

Lead artist Margaret Kearney and Yannick Lowery install Covid & Climate Posters at 1316 North 7th Street. Photo by Steve Weinik.
RAIR Residency. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Climiate Justice Initiative event at Cherry Street Pier, hosted by Oro 5 and DJ Oluwofemi with a projection by Illuminator Collective with Artwork by Denise Dunkley, Eurhi Jones, Gamar Markarian, and Dolores Standford, October 28, 2021. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Climiate Justice Initiative event at Cherry Street Pier, hosted by Oro 5 and DJ Oluwofemi with a projection by Illuminator Collective with Artwork by Denise Dunkley, Eurhi Jones, Gamar Markarian, and Dolores Standford, October 28, 2021. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Bring Your Own Bag public awareness campaign. Design by Margaret Kearney. Photo by Steve Weinik.