Ann Northrup is a Philadelphia painter and muralist. She has taught drawing and design at a number of colleges and universities, most recently, at Philadelphia University, where she served as director of the Foundation Design Program from 1998 through 2005. In 2001 Northrup undertook the large-scale painting of murals with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Philadelphia. These public artworks are conceived in ongoing discussion with community groups, who provide the impetus for her projects. Her students now are of all ages and backgrounds: youth, prison inmates, ex-offenders, troubled teens, and retired seniors. Northrup continues her painting practice both in the studio and through public murals, creating harmony through a synthesis of real-world problems and her own aesthetic.