Staying in Place with Mei Lum, Shira Walinsky & Kathryn Pannepacker

Join us for a dynamic conversation among artists who are leading path-breaking projects.

Artist-inspired neighborhood change sometimes involves more than a single project—it can require a sustained effort by one or more artists, collaborating with a community over several years to develop enduring partnerships, promote stability, and lead to transformational change.

For nearly eight years, in neighborhoods as diverse as Belmont, Mantua, Kensington, Mifflin Square, Oxford Square, and Tacony, Mural Arts Philadelphia has been exploring the idea of community-based art studios and artist residencies as an approach to sustained, substantive community engagement. Other organizations in Philadelphia, and in cities as diverse as Kansas City, New York, Pittsburgh, and Vancouver are exploring similar models.

On May 14, artist Mei Lum will visit from the W.O.W. Project in New York’s Chinatown, promoting the preservation of cultural traditions in the face of gentrification. Artist Shira Walinsky will discuss Southeast by Southeast and Northeast Passage, both Mural Arts projects she helped spearhead in Philadelphia’s immigrant and refugee communities. Artist Kathryn Pannepacker will report on her activities within Mural Arts’ Kensington Storefront, working directly with a neighborhood grappling daily with Philadelphia’s opioid crisis.