Our Picks: Philadelphia Mural Arts Month
You can’t go very far without running into iconic murals on buildings across the city — there are more than 3,000 giant canvases in Philadelphia — and this month they’re being honored with 31 days of art activities and celebrations.
All month-long, visitors are encouraged to participate in exhibitions, mural dedications, tours, and artist talks hosted by the Mural Arts Program and sponsored by Bank of America.
The theme “Works of Progress” is explained on the organization’s website:
“Creating a work of progress does not mean making something incomplete. It means knowing that there is always room for improvement. It means making your mark again and again, and finding new ways to interact and inspire.
Through our work with mural painting, we transform the spaces around us to create continual progress. Progress is never over, and art ignites change at every step along the way.
Our communities are all works of progress. Everyone has something to contribute, and they continue to grow and change as we do. And as we affect change within our communities and within ourselves, each of us is a work of progress, too.”
We’ve compiled a list of just a few of the free events below.
The recently completed Aqui y Alla mural. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Aqui y Alla Opening Reception
When: Friday, October 5, 5:30pm
Where: Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House, 1727-29 Mt. Vernon Street
Aqui y Alla (“Here and There”) is a transnational public art project created and directed by visual artist Michelle Angela Ortiz. The project explores the impact of immigration in the lives of Mexican immigrant youth in South Philadelphia in connection with youth in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Four artists traveled to Philadelphia this summer to work in collaboration with Ortiz in conducting a series of writing, street art, and mural technique workshops with Mexican immigrant youth in South Philadelphia.
The crew behind Philly Painting's Favella project. Photo by Neal Santos.
Philly Painting Walking Tour & Artist Talk
When: Saturday, October 13, 1 to 3pm
Where: 2600 Germantown Avenue
The Mural Arts Program’s Philly Painting is a project with world-renowned Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, also known as Haas & Hahn. These works of art are installed between the 2500 and 2800 blocks of Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia, transforming the facades of a selection of buildings along the Avenue with assistance from a painting team hired from the surrounding neighborhood.
A trolley tour will take place on Wednesdays from October 3rd through the 24th from 10am to 12pm, departing from Mural Arts at The Gallery.
Peace as a Haiku bus shelters. Photo by Steve Weinik.
Peace is a Haiku Song: An Evening with Sonia Sanchez & Friends
When: Wednesday, October 17, 5:30 to 6:30pm
Where: City Hall Courtyard
Philadelphia’s poet laureate Sonia Sanchez is the artist behind Peace is a Haiku Song, a mural project that engages the Philadelphia community and beyond in an exploration of the haiku as a vehicle for peace and urban transformation. Famous Philadelphians, singers, musicians, and special literary guests will perform for and with Sanchez.
As part of this project, The Mural Arts Program initiated winter and spring workshops with art education students, which encouraged them to practice peace through art-making and civic engagement.
Damon Bryson, member of The Roots, paints a panel. Photo by Steve Weinik.
The Roots Mural Project Celebration
When: Saturday, October 27, 1 to 3pm
Where: World Communications Charter School, 512 S. Broad Street
The Roots Mural Project tells the story of The Roots – especially Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter’s founding of the band – from the genesis to the present day.
Artists, musicians, and citizens are invited to an afternoon of painting and live music with Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, in celebration of the new mural.
For a complete listing of events and more information on the Mural Arts Program, visit www.muralarts.org.
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