The City of PhiladelphiaMural Arts Program is an anti-graffiti mural program in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the United States. The program was founded in 1986 under the direction of the local artist Jane Golden, as part of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, with the goal of facilitating collaboration between professional artists and prosecuted graffiti writers to create new murals in the city. It also works with community groups to educate and children in the arts and involve them in the creation of the murals. The program is currently one of the largest employers of artists in Philadelphia, employing more than 300 artists each year. In 2016 the organization was rebranded as Mural Arts Philadelphia.
History
In 1984, artist Jane Golden approached Tim Spencer, then head of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, in the hopes of creating a new program under the group name "Umbrella". Spencer had initially envisioned a program that would rehabilitate graffiti artists and lead them towards other art forms. In the end, Golden's proposal won, and the Mural Arts Program was created. The program works with community groups to educate and involve children in the arts and the creation of murals throughout the city. Two years later in 1986, the Mural Arts Project, led by Jane Golden, was founded as a division of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. In 1991, Philadelphia was awarded the Innovation in American Government Award for the success of the Mural Arts Project in and around Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network was absorbed by the Philadelphia Recreation Department and the Mural Arts Program, and was elevated to an independent entity under the Philadelphia Recreation Department. The Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates was founded as a nonprofit corporation to raise funds for the Mural Arts Program. Since 2001 the Mural Arts Program has been headquartered in the former home and studio of the painter Thomas Eakins at 1727-29 Mount Vernon Street in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia. In 2014 the Mural Arts Program celebrated its 30th anniversary with the book "Philadelphia Mural Arts @30" and an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 2016 the organization was renamed Mural Arts Philadelphia. In 2017 the program partnered with Monument Lab to produce several works of public art in Philadelphia.
Murals
In 1998, mural artistMeg Saligman created Common Threads at Broad and Spring Garden streets. The work comments on the shared history of humanity through the juxtaposition of classical sculptural forms with those of local high school students.
On a royal visit in 2007, the Prince of Wales, Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited the Donald Gensler mural Reading: A Journey, at 40th and Penns Grove Streets. The visit was intended to demonstrate how the murals have inspired regeneration in the West Philadelphia Neighborhood. Prince Charles was interested in the potential of creating a similar project in London.
In 1984, several graffiti taggers were given the option to either go to jail or take part in a new city beautification initiative. Since then, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has overseen the creation of more than 3,800 pieces of art painted on sides of buildings. Of these art pieces painted on buildings, 2,000 are still viewable by the public, making this collection the "World’s Largest Outdoor Art Gallery."
The Atlas of Tomorrow: A Device for Philosophical Reflection is a piece by Candy Chang, an artist who's pieces often have a participatory element to them. In this kinetic mural, viewers are invited to spin a numeric dial. Where the dial lands directs the viewer to read and reflect on one of 64 unique stories.
In 2018, artist Joshua Mays and DJ King Britt worked with Mural Arts Philadelphia to create Dreams, Diaspora and Destiny, an "augmented reality" mural that included music and a mobile app. The piece is at 5300 Landsdowne Ave.
Legacy
The Mural Arts Program is responsible for the creation of the largest mural in Philadelphia, at in length. Titled History of Immigration, it displays settlers of different ethnicities who settled in Philadelphia over time. The murals painted by the program are on average the height of a three-story row house and wide. The average cost of each mural was $10,000–$15,000, including artists' commissions and supplies. The program is currently one of Philadelphia's largest employers of artists, employing more than 300 artists annually. The program also hires more than 100 prosecuted graffiti writers every year and involves them in the creation of murals around Philadelphia. Currently, the program employs 36 former graffiti artists as staff members on permanent payroll, and involves more than 300 children a year in art programs. During the 2001–2004 Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, the Mural Arts Program painted more than 600 murals around Philadelphia. In February 2006, the city of Watertown, New York asked Jane Golden to speak in hopes of creating a similar program in their community.
