#mural arts program

Overlooking the Sartain Street Community Garden, David Guinn‘s mural Garden of Delight was created in 2010 for Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program.

About the mural from the Mural Arts Philadelphia website:

On the left side of the mural, rendered in line drawings, are three vignettes from the immediate neighborhood. Two trees in the center lean into each other, symbolic of an embrace. The garden spills out from the space between them. This is to symbolize the spirit of community gardens and the people who work together to nurture these gardens. Guinn created the mural with transparent colors, to simulate the feel of a watercolor painting. The bottom extends the actual garden’s space up onto the wall and vice versa.

Mural Arts, Independence National Historic Park, and the Friends of Independence National Historical Park invite you to consider a contemporary “Pursuit of Happiness” in the birthplace of American Democracy, a culminating event for our Art Education program’s Pursuit of Happiness project. Developed by artists Dave Kyu & Ilyssa Kyu of Campfire Stories Book with middle and high school classrooms of our Mural Arts Education program, “I Will Hold you in the Light” invites visitors to see, to acknowledge, and to hold in love, diverse performers as they share contemporary and historic interpretations on “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

Weckerly's Ice Cream's will also be serving up an exclusive "happiness" flavor! Performances start at 7 p.m. Rain date: Saturday, October 21

The Atlas of Tomorrow, 2016

Excited to have the opportunity to see this project with artist Candy Chang from beginning to end for the Mural Arts Program. It will be the first interactive mural of its kind for Mural Arts. Premieres in Philadelphia in April 2016!

The Atlas of Tomorrow: A Device for Philosophical Reflection is an interactive mural that helps people contemplate their lives. It is inspired by the I Ching, one of the oldest books in the world, which provides practical wisdom and insight that can be applied to any situation. For this participatory mural, passersby are invited to consider a situation in their lives where they seek clarity and then spin the dial to select one of 64 fable-like stories along the wall for poetic guidance. The stories and artwork evoke a surreal inner world, a “town in your head” full of archetypes that can help us examine our struggles, behaviors, motivations, and opportunities for growth. By injecting a collective device for personal reflection into the public realm, the project reimagines what a mural can do and promotes emotional wellness as a critical component of thriving communities.

Neighborhood Time Exchange, 2014-2015

Representing the Mural Arts Program, I worked with a team that included: the artist collective Broken City Lab in Vancouver, Canada, the People’s Emergency Center, the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, and a Community Advisory Committee to develop and implement the inaugural residency program in West Philadelphia.

I acted as the primary Artistic Advisor, Planner, and Project Manager for the Neighborhood Time Exchange: West Philadelphia Artist Residency. The program provided selected artists with free studio space, a monthly stipend, and basic tools and supplies in exchange for volunteer time in the neighborhood. For every hour artists spent working in their studio on their own projects, they in turn provided an hour of volunteer effort and service back to the community, directed by local residents’ needs and interests.

Namaste Grocery Mural, Shira Walinsky, 2014

Namaste Grocery Mural ©2014 City of Phiadelphia Mural Arts Program/ Shira Walinsky. Photo by Steve Weinik.

I served as the Project Manager for this mural, securing the wall, providing curatorial direction, and managing the budget and coordinating events & programs related to the painting and production of this mural.

This mural by Shira Walinsky marks the first Nepalese grocery store, and thus an important sign of progress in the refugee community of Philadelphia. The mural depicts the Paro Taktsang monastery in Bhutan. The eyes on the lower portion of the mural are Buddha’s eyes as seen on another temple in Nepal. The eyes symbolize peace.