Issue 07 – 2020 Catalog: Special Edition

Change Ignites Art

There’s no way around it: 2020 has been a blur.

This global pandemic amplified systemic inequities. With masks on, calls for change were shouted into megaphones and pasted on walls across our city. Art became a tool for organizing and connection, a way to encapsulate and motivate the moment. 

Even in the midst of a virus, economic uncertainty, and nationwide uprising against systemic racism, our work continued in lockstep with the challenges our communities face. It turns out that what we’ve known all along—that art ignites change—isn’t the end. Change ignites art. And in a year of extreme change, art became a key component of navigating this new normal together.

This year is nearly in our rear-view, but its impacts will reverberate for many years to come. And through the fog of chaos, the moments of light that brought us together, sparked by art, burn bright and boundless.

March 10 –
First case of COVID in Philadelphia
Read More
March 17 –
Mural Arts starts working from home
Philly gets the call to close down operations to reduce the spread of COVID. Mural Arts Philadelphia sends all of its staff home to begin working remotely.
Read More
March 26 –
Homeschool with Mural Arts
For an organization that does most of its work on the ground and in the community, working from home was a radical shift in the ways we do things. With the knowledge that a regular arts practice could help people cope, Homeschool with Mural Arts was rolled out within a few days of making the transition.
Read More
March 31 –
Murals on the Fly
We knew folks would soon be missing their regular arts fix. So, soon after the stay-at-home orders arrived, Murals on the Fly took off!
Read More
April 2 –
Handwashing Stations
In addition to our digital offerings, we partnered with Broad Street Ministry to install handwashing stations and temporary murals throughout the city to ensure the most vulnerable residents can stay clean and healthy.
Read More
April 3 –
Space Pads
Seeming more like an existential crisis than a physical one (why not both?), we were (and still are) forced into the reality that we cannot pass near a stranger in the grocery store without worrying for our health and the health of our loved ones. Brightly-colored Space Pads, temporary vinyl floor tiles set at six foot intervals, were designed by local Philadelphia artists to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Read More
April 14 –
First wave of peak Covid cases in Philly
Read More
April 24 –
Handmade Face Masks
Shortly after the pandemic began, the Porch Light team began working with community members to produce and distribute face masks to local neighborhoods.
Read More
May 1 –
Art Ignites Change Podcast
With everyone still stuck at home, we launched our very own podcast to take deep dives into the stories behind our well-loved projects, programs, and people.
Read More
May 6 –
muraLAB: Art in Action Speaker Series
As COVID-19 set into sharp relief the inequalities in our communities, muraLAB: Art in Action examined how socially-engaged art can help us develop better strategies for dealing with broad systemic issues.
Read More
May 8 –
Storefront Artwork Initiative
As storefronts shut down and local hot spots took on a whole new meaning, we installed 28 new temporary works on the shuttered storefronts of Center City.
Read More
May 18 –
Hope Medallions
These show-stopping pieces by Hagopian Arts featured inspiring florals and affirmations to empower the community to keep our chins up during these trying days.
Read More
May 25 –
Protests Erupt Across the Nation
After yet another murder at the hands of police, people across the country rise up in protest.
Read More
June 7 –
Frank Rizzo Mural Painted Out
For years, Mural Arts engaged the community about the fate of this controversial mural. After the events of the summer and the rising racial tensions, we could no longer, in good conscience, be associated with the Frank Rizzo mural. The mural did not support healing, but had become a painful reminder of the former Mayor's legacy.
Read More
June 17 –
Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists Announced
The art world, particularly the fine art world, has been historically shut off to Black artists, suffering from the same systemic racism and inequity that much of our society trades in. That meant that as our communities shut down to protect themselves from COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter uprising roared on, Black artists needed more support than ever. This new annual initiative offered twenty artists $1,000 each to support their craft–or just buy some groceries.
Read More
June 30 –
Emerge Campaign
Fostering inspiration and hope, the Emerge campaign created by the Guild program shines a light on the innate strength and resilience of people of color as they are challenged by both pandemics: COVID-19 and police brutality.
Read More
July 5 –
Philly Rising Virtual Mural
As both the pandemic and racial uprising were at the summer peaks, we put out the call for a new, entirely digital mural to uplift Philadelphia communities.
Read More
July 10 –
Playstreets
As the summer months stretched ahead of us with continued social distancing, stay at home orders, and closed camps and public spaces, families were in desperate need of creative at-home programming. Murals on the Move, our mobile artmaking studio, brought high quality art education and community mural-making to Playstreets across the city.
Read More
July 31 –
Stay Golden
Stay Golden harnesses the radical energy in the city by commemorating the powerful spirit of Black and Brown people.
Read More
August 1 –
Tours for All
We launched our first-ever virtual tours as a way to enjoy our beautiful outdoor gallery from the comfort of your home!
Read More
August 3 –
Art & the Environment Capacity Building Initiative
For our new round of capacity building funding, we chose three new regions that are developing community-based public art projects that tackle resilience as climate change continues to shift the environment.
Read More
August 26 –
Crown
In response to the ongoing protests supporting Black Lives Matter, Russell Craig reimagined the allegory of liberty as a Black woman surrounded by Black Lives Matter iconography. Together, the figure of liberty supported by a crowd of masked protestors, comes together as a reminder of the plagues that still loom over us as we fight for justice.
Read More
September 1 –
Boat People
Boat People finds space between immigration, displacement, and colonization to honor those who have migrated to Philadelphia.
Read More
September 24 –
Points of Connection
This year saw the culmination of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Artist-in-Residence program. The first partnership of its kind in the nation brought in formerly incarcerated artist James “Yaya” Hough to humanize people living and working within systems of criminal justice by cultivating relationships and connections through his artmaking.
Read More
October 1 –
To the Polls & Voting Kits for the Disenfranchised
This year’s election may have been the most crucial turning point in our country’s history. To the Polls featured six large-scale temporary murals created by Philadelphia-based artists in LOVE Park to reinforce the importance of exercising your most basic civic duty as well the the need to preserve and expand voting rights.
Read More
October 1 –
#MaskUpPHL
COVID is still going strong so we teamed up with the city to turn some of our most iconic murals into public health messages by adding temporary masks to the beloved portraits.
Read More
October 22 –
No Such Thing as Free Bags: The True Cost of Plastic
Trash Academy uses art and creativity as a vehicle to change how individuals perceive of and manage trash. Using the ‘implosion’ to complicate the issue of trash, this workshop visualizes the way plastic bags live in the world around us.
Read More
October 28 –
Rendering Justice Exhibition @ AAMP
Curated by artist Jesse Krimes, Rendering Justice is an expansive examination of mass incarceration and an unflinching depiction of contemporary America. The artworks are part of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Reimagining Reentry program, which creates opportunities for formerly incarcerated artists to create public art.
Read More
October 28 –
Vote Murals
In the most important election many of us have seen in our lifetimes, we want to encourage as many people to vote as possible. These eye-catching temporary murals make that call to action hard to ignore.
Read More
November 3 –
The Election
Biden wins the popular vote.
Read More
November 13 –
Guild Graduation
Another talented cohort of Guild fellows graduates! Guild apprentices participated in the transformational work of returning home, reconnecting with the community, and developing new professional and interpersonal skills.
Read More
November 16 –
The Viaduct
The result of numerous community meetings in North Philadelphia neighborhoods over 2019-2020, The Viaduct was a monumental effort and collaboration between artists and community leaders to turn three heavily-traveled underpasses into safe and vibrant spaces for all with this series of murals.
Read More
November 16 –
Electric Philly
Inspired by the structures of the city - the highway above it and the iconic Ben Franklin bridge, Electric Philly brings light to our darkest spaces and reminds us that we all have the power to create beauty in a harsh world.
Read More
November 24 –
Light of the Northeast
Light of the Northeast is a design collaboration between Paul Santoleri and Abdul Karim Awad. The design, centered on the figure of the Statue of Liberty, pays tribute to the meaning of liberty: that we are free to love – each other, our ideas, ourselves, the place we live, and the place we came from.
Read More

Congratulations and thanks to all who put forward an immense effort to maintain programs and community engagement while managing the difficulties this year presented. You are incredible.

First case of COVID in Philadelphia
Mural Arts starts working from home
Homeschool with Mural Arts

For an organization that does most of its work on the ground and in the community, working from home was a radical shift in the ways we do things. Homeschool with Mural Arts rolled out within a few days of making the transition. With so much uncertainty and anxiety caused by the pandemic, we knew that access to art and developing a regular arts practice would be essential to helping people cope. 

With more than 40 videos (and counting!), Homeschool with Mural Arts features a wide range of skill sets and practices. These 10-30 minute videos offer kids and adults arts instruction to flex their creative brains and create some beauty from the comfort of their home.

Link
Artists
  • Various
Murals on the Fly

With everyone stuck at home or limiting their travels in the city to the bare essentials, we knew folks would be missing their regular arts fix. Soon after the stay-at-home orders arrived, Murals on the Fly took off! Since March, 30 of our most iconic murals have been brought right to your door, narrated by our experienced tour guides and local celebrities on never-before-seen drone footage.

Link
Artists
  • Various
Presented by
  • Chase
Handwashing Stations

While we were transitioning much of our work to a digital space, we knew there was still lots of work to do on the ground. Partnering with Broad Street Ministry, we collaborated with artists to install murals along with handwashing stations throughout the city. The murals offer guidelines from the Center for Disease Control for staying safe and healthy during the pandemic, as well as resources for those who may not have a home to stay safe within, and affirmations for Philadelphians who may need an extra boost.

This project highlights the larger, ongoing issues of homelessness and public health that many Philadelphians live with every day—and offered a place to keep clean and healthy as the pandemic tore through the city.

Link
Artists
  • Nile Livingston
  • Dora Cuenca
  • Symone Salib
  • NDA
Sponsors
  • Broad Street Ministry
  • Independence Foundation
Press
Space Pads

Seeming more like an existential crisis than a physical one (why not both?), we were, and still are forced into the reality that we cannot even pass near a stranger in the grocery store without worrying for our health and the health of our loved ones. The guidelines to remain six feet apart are simple to understand, but difficult to implement.

Space Pads, temporary vinyl floor tiles set at six foot intervals were designed by local Philadelphia artists. The brightly-colored tiles, designed in sets of five or ten, are a mix of abstract patterns, affirmations like “we got this,” and some proffer health guidelines like “wash your hands” and, the very literal, “stand six feet apart.”

Mural Arts has provided over 5,000 Space Pads for grocery stores, pharmacies, small markets, mini marts, small independent grocers, food distribution sites, food pantries, emergency meal service sites, and City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health sites.

Link
Sponsors
  • City of Philadelphia
  • Partnership for Healthy Cities
Partners
  • Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Press
First wave of peak Covid cases in Philly
Handmade Face Masks

Shortly after the pandemic began, community members began approaching us with ideas for how to contribute to COVID relief efforts. The Porch Light team worked with local women at the Southeast by Southeast program to make face masks for the Philadelphia community. Thanks to a partnership with the Nationalities Service Center, the project has grown to include 20 women.

Link
Partners
  • Nationalities Service Center
Press
Art Ignites Change Podcast

With everyone still stuck at home craving new content, we set forth to launch our very own podcast. The Art Ignites Change podcast, produced by Conrad Benner of Streets Dept, takes deep dives into the stories behind the projects, programs, and people of Mural Arts.

muraLAB: Art in Action Speaker Series

As COVID-19 set into sharp relief the inequalities in our communities, muraLAB: Art in Action examined how socially-engaged art can help us develop better strategies for dealing with broad systemic issues. Hosted by the Mural Arts Institute, the series gave artists the space to talk about how they use their artistic practice to create art that makes an impact amid COVID-19.

Link
Sponsors
  • The JPB Foundation
  • The Kresge Foundation
  • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Storefront Artwork Initiative

As storefronts shut down and our local hot spots took on a whole new meaning, we saw yet another opportunity to parse beauty from chaos. The plywood boards that protected Center City storefronts, painted black by the Center City District, become home to 28 art pieces by 12 different artists, bringing life back to underutilized and empty streets. Working with a wide range of artists, we commissioned the Center City Storefront Artwork Initiative, creating a miniature eye-level gallery to complement Mural Arts’ larger-than-life collection of permanent works.

Hope Medallions

These show-stopping pieces by Hagopian Arts featured inspiring florals and affirmations to empower the community to keep our chins up during these trying days.

Link
Sponsors
  • City of Philadelphia
Protests Erupt Across the Nation
Frank Rizzo Mural Painted Out

For years, Mural Arts engaged the community about the fate of this controversial mural. After the events of the summer and the rising racial tensions, we could no longer, in good conscience, be associated with the Frank Rizzo mural. The mural did not support healing, but had become a painful reminder of the former Mayor’s legacy.

Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists Announced

We knew painting out the Frank Rizzo mural wasn’t where our work ended. We’ve been working towards racial justice for years but we knew there was more to be done. As always, we asked “where does art play a role?”

The art world, particularly the fine art world, has been historically shut off to Black artists, suffering from the same systemic racism and inequity that much of our society trades in. That meant that as our communities shut down to protect themselves from COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter uprising roared on, Black artists needed more support than ever.

The Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists is designed to fund, foster and elevate the important work of Black artists. Launched as a new annual initiative, the 2020 Fellowship offered twenty artists $1,000 each to support their craft—or just buy some groceries.

Link
Curators
  • Ginger Rudolph, HAHA Magazine
  • Noah Smalls, Rush Arts Philadelphia
Media Partner
  • Conrad Benner
Funder
  • City of Philadelphia
Press
Emerge Campaign

The Emerge PSA campaign began as a project focused on resilience, public health, and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, and evolved along with the summer’s events to address the systemic racism plunging our country into continued uprisings. In 9 original PSAs, fellows from our Guild program explored the question “How will we emerge?”

Fostering inspiration and hope, the Emerge campaign shines a light on the innate strength and resilience of people of color as they are challenged by both pandemics: COVID-19 and police brutality.

Link
Videos
Artists
  • Various
Sponsors
  • City of Philadelphia
  • Hess Foundation
Partners
  • Fill the Walls with Hope
  • The Enterprise Center
  • DTLR VILLA
  • Tattooed Mom
  • South Street Headhouse District
  • WURD Radio
  • iHeartMedia
Philly Rising Virtual Mural

Throughout the month of June, as both the pandemic and the protests were at their summer peaks, Mural Arts collected photos from people throughout the city (and the world!) for a new, entirely digital mural Philly Rising. When the global pandemic and calls for racial justice catalyzed our communities to uplift each other, Philly rose.

Link
Partner
  • Wawa Welcome America
Press
Playstreets

As the summer months stretched ahead of us with continued social distancing, stay at home orders, and closed camps and public spaces, families were in desperate need of creative at-home programming. Murals on the Move, our mobile artmaking studio, brought high quality art education and community mural-making to Playstreets across the city.

Throughout July and August, Murals on the Move is offered fun and educational art activities to keep children engaged, thinking, and expressing their creativity during stressful times. Kids got the option to choose from three different activities: Mural Mobile Kit, Activity Books, and Ground Murals, any of which could be finished onsite or brought home to complete later.

Mural Mobile Kit provided participants with everything they need to create their own small-scale mural using the same tools as Mural Arts artists. Each kit included instructions (of course), paint supplies, and a square of parachute cloth pre-printed with designs inspired by Mural Arts’ Hope Medallions.

Activity Books were more than a standard coloring book and included drawing exercises to enhance arts skills and knowledge. These books came with a set of five colored pencils.

Ground Murals were socially-distanced mini-murals. The mural outlines were installed on the pavement and each family had the opportunity to color and embellish the designs to create a trail of community-driven beauty.

Link
Presented by
  • Chase
Additional Support Provided by
  • City of Philadelphia
  • Jane & Joe Goldblum
  • Dr. & Mrs G.S. Peter Gross
Partners
  • Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
  • Knight Foundation
  • The Partnership for Healthy Cities
  • Philadelphia Health Department
  • Resolve Philadelphia
  • Vital Strategies
Stay Golden

Stay Golden activates the community in Strawberry Mansion, harnessing the radical energy in the city and around the country by commemorating the powerful spirit of Black and Brown people. The phrase “stay golden” is reflective of the unifying usage of the color gold in African Diasporic communities.

Artists
  • Gerald A Brown
  • Roberto Lugo
  • Isaac Scott
Link
Funder
  • City of Philadelphia
Press
Tours for All

We launched our first-ever virtual tours as a way to enjoy our beautiful outdoor gallery from the comfort of your home! Video footage of our murals, artist and tour guide commentary coalesce for a seamless virtual experience. We also hit the streets again–socially distanced, of course–for our iconic walking tours of the Mural Mile in Center City.

Art & the Environment Capacity Building Initiative

For Mural Arts Institute’s new round of capacity-building funding, we chose three new regions that are developing community-based public art projects that tackle resilience as climate change continues to shift environment. Resilience isn’t simply about being able to “bounce back” after a challenge, but also about using adapting challenges as an opportunity to become stronger. The need for communities to adapt to the impact of climate change allows them to build on their strengths, improving their overall quality of life and creating a more sustainable future. Critical to this are social cohesion and trust, collaborative civic participation and leadership, equitable access to resources, strong formal and informal networks, cross-sector partnerships, and inclusive and diverse civic spaces. These are precisely the outcomes that Mural Arts has seen from its work with diverse communities throughout Philadelphia and is bringing to Austin, TX; Santa Fe, NM; and Kern County, CA.

Crown

In response to the ongoing protests supporting Black Lives Matter, Russell Craig reinvisioned Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix. In Craig’s version, the allegory of liberty is represented by a Black woman who is surrounded by Black Lives Matter iconography. Together, the figure of liberty supported by a crowd of masked protestors, comes together as a reminder of the plagues that still loom over us as we fight for justice.

Link
Artist
  • Russell Craig
Funder
  • City of Philadelphia
Press
Boat People

Boat People finds space between immigration, displacement, and colonization to honor those who have migrated to Philadelphia, whether voluntarily or not. This bright, geometric mural is a testament of human’s ability to persevere and adapt, and celebrates the diversity and culture brought to Philadelphia by immigrants and refugees.

Link
Artist
  • Claes Gabriel
Funder
  • City of Philadelphia
Points of Connection

This year saw the culmination of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Artist-in-Residence program. The first partnership of its kind in the nation brought in formerly incarcerated artist James “Yaya” Hough to humanize people living and working within systems of criminal justice by cultivating relationships and connections through his artmaking.

The final series, titled Points of Connection, is as meaningful for the process as it is for the resulting work. Despite COVID distances and shutdowns, Hough built meaningful relationships with people from several overlapping circles – formerly incarcerated people, victims’ advocates, and members of the District Attorney’s office – to paint them in portraits and discuss together what justice means to them. These portraits, and the conversations that spurred them, provided a window into the larger system, person by person, to approach criminal justice from perspectives of transformation, repair, and growth.

Link
Artist
  • James “Yaya” Hough
Funder
  • Art for Justice Fund
Partners
  • Fair and Just Prosecution
  • Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
Press
To the Polls & Voting Kits for the Disenfranchised

This year’s election may have been the most crucial turning point in our country’s history. To the Polls featured six large-scale temporary murals created by Philadelphia-based artists in LOVE Park to reinforce the importance of exercising your most basic civic duty–and right–to vote.

The installation also featured a Voting Station for the Disenfranchised, which collected ballots from those who can’t legally vote to highlight that more than 1/4 of the US population cannot vote – with the largest demographic of that population being young people. This installation amplified the voices of young people by collecting artwork from students in our Art Education classes and lifted the voices of others who are barred from voting like undocumented people, residents of US territories like Puerto Rico, and those currently and formerly incarcerated. 

In the weeks leading up to the election, Pennsylvania reported record-breaking voter registration numbers, with over 9 million Pennsylvanians registered to vote ahead of the deadline.

Link
Artists
  • Various
Curator
  • Conrad Benner
Press
#MaskUpPHL

COVID is still going strong so we teamed up with the city to turn some of our most iconic murals into public health messages by adding temporary masks to the beloved portraits.

Artists
  • Various
Press
No Such Thing as Free Bags: The True Cost of Plastic

Trash Academy, a project of Mural Arts’ Environmental Justice department, believes that those who are most impacted by environmental challenges are the ones who must be at the forefront of crafting solutions. We use art and creativity as a vehicle to change both our communities and how they are perceived, while complicating the issue of trash.

The ‘implosion’ is a unique and fascinating research method for exploring hidden connections and complexities, developing concrete, situated knowledge, and helping us to understand the world as it is rather than as it is perceived. Trash Academy’s plastic bag implosion visualizes the way in which plastic bags “live” in the world around us, and the world “lives” in plastic bags.

Sponsors
  • Surdna Foundation
  • PTS Foundation
  • FAO Schwarz Family Foundation
Rendering Justice Exhibition @ AAMP

Curated by artist Jesse Krimes, Rendering Justice is an expansive examination of mass incarceration and an unflinching depiction of contemporary America. The artworks are part of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Reimagining Reentry program, which creates opportunities for formerly incarcerated artists to create public art. Works included feature varied responses to the displacement of bodies and revocation of autonomy entailed in incarceration. The works affirm how artists maintain a sense of identity, regain their agency, and grapple with coercive forces until—and after—they reenter society. You can interact with all of the artworks and enjoy video interviews with the artists online.

Link
Video
Artists
  • Various
Funders
  • Art for Justice Fund
  • City of Philadelphia
  • National Endowment for the Arts
Partner
  • The African American Museum in Philadelphia
Press
Vote Murals

In the most important election many of us have seen in our lifetimes, we want to encourage as many people to vote as possible. These eye-catching temporary murals make that call to action hard to ignore.

Artists
  • Faust & Shepard Fairey
The Election

In the most important election many of us have seen in our lifetimes, we want to encourage as many people to vote as possible. These eye-catching temporary murals make that call to action hard to ignore.

Artists
  • Faust & Shepard Fairey
Guild Graduation
The Viaduct

The result of numerous community meetings in North Philadelphia neighborhoods over 2019-2020, The Viaduct was a monumental effort and collaboration between artists and community leaders to turn three heavily-traveled underpasses into safe and vibrant spaces for all. The designs are reflective of the strength and resilience of surrounding neighborhoods and pay homage to the complexity, history and beauty of the community, portrayed in bright, abundant colors to demonstrate the power of accomplishing together what we cannot do alone.

History In The Present Moment (I AM), Procession, Portals of Progress & Play designed by artists Patrick Dougher and Josh Sarantitis calls attention to the divine nobility, royalty and spirituality of the local community. 

Diamonds in the Rough designed by Andrea Legge of the design firm Legge Lewis Legge was directly inspired by themes and conversations with members of the community, in particular, two statements: “We are diamonds in the rough,” and “It takes pressure to make a diamond.” 

Our Neighborhood: Growth, Unity, Abundance, and Love by Priscilla Bell and Anthony Torcasio is focused on community, abundance and growth aimed to portray the pivotal strengths that exist with the community.

Electric Philly

Inspired by the structures of the city – the highway above it and the iconic Ben Franklin bridge, Electric Philly brings light to our darkest spaces and reminds us that we all have the power to create beauty in a harsh world. 

Between the larger colorful shapes and stripes that suggest the steel structures, one sees views of the city, including the center city skyline, Northern liberties, Old City, and St Augustine’s church. Running parallel to the ground, long horizontal stripes that slowly change color suggest the blur of traffic on 6th Street.

Light of the Northeast

Light of the Northeast is a design collaboration between Paul Santoleri and Abdul Karim Awad. The design, centered on the figure of the Statue of Liberty, pays tribute to the meaning of liberty: that we are free to love–each other, our ideas, ourselves, the place we live, and the place we came from. 

The band of the Statue’s crown features the word “love” translated into 25 languages and painted by Awad as a frieze tribute to the Freedom Monument, a prominent and beloved piece of public art in Baghdad by Jawad Saleem.

The building where the mural is installed is formerly a Singer factory, and has a tower on the left hand side. Paul Santoleri created a glass mosaic torch for this tower.