Off the Wall: Fall 2010 by Steve Weinik

Photo by Steve Weinik

fall 2010

environmental art pg.3 face lifts for iconic murals pg.5

October is Mural Arts Month â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Calendar of Events Inside

L E T T E R

F R O M

J A N E

ear friends, this fall, we are marking the colorful change of season with a theme of “Art Ignites Change” – within the lives of individuals, across communities, and throughout our wonderful city.

In 1985, we first witnessed art ignite change when graffiti writers put down their spray paint cans and graffiti-covered walls were transformed into pastoral scenes. Today we witness this change in the city’s shelters, in struggling neighborhoods, and in after-school programs. This is not to say our work is a panacea, but we do believe that art can be the catalyst for lasting city-wide improvements. Our decades of work are built on the foundation of this time-tested belief that art is the spark that can, and does, ignite change. This summer I had the great privilege to attend the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program. This program provided participants with a new framework through which to freshly view the nature of their work. What was most interesting and relevant to me was the examination of the nexus of value, capacity, and sustainability. I found that the most successful organizations are flexible, able to self-correct when needed, and can maintain a keen awareness of organizational structure without sacrificing the aspirations that drive them. Only recently has Mural Arts developed a culture of planning to match its culture of doing. With our completed strategic plan and the lessons from the Harvard program, we are nurturing both notions and having each inform the other – to be an integrated model of hard work, efficiency, and fearless creativity, but also develop a thoughtfulness and reflection that had often eluded us in the past. We strive to build a coherent vision of what we do, from selecting the projects and artists to the range of programs we offer. Photo by Shea Roggio courtesy of Philadelphia magazine

Recent years have brought us so many innovative projects – the lightboxes of Dread Scott and our Artworks! students; the one-of-a-kind Green Wall in West Philadelphia created by Jefre and our Mural Corps students; the wheatpaste projects that steer people to the Delaware riverfront; and the Outspoken project, which lends support to young people in the LGBT community. Now we are working with the Rockaway Armada, a great collective of artists in New York, creating a solar-powered sculpture with Torkowese Dyson, among so many others. These projects make me incredibly proud of the direction we are headed as we embrace muralism in the 21st century. I would also like to announce that Mural Arts and InterAct Theater have received a nomination for the Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations from the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s Barrymore Awards for CITY OF NUMBERS: mixtape of a city, a play by Sean Christopher Lewis that addresses inner-city violence based on interviews with prison inmates, victims’ families, and other Philadelphia residents affected by violent crimes. This wonderful partnership, a unique collaboration between our Restorative Justice Program and InterAct Theater was presented on InterAct’s main stage this past season and made possible thanks to funding from the Violette de Mazia Foundation. And I am excited to share the news that two of the beautiful lunch trucks wrapped by artist Shira Walinsky and our Artworks! students have been selected to represent Philadelphia lunch trucks at the Vendy Awards – a festival, cook-off, and benefit held in New York to recognize and honor the work of food truck operators nationwide. Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued support of this important work. We hope to see you soon at one of our many exciting Mural Arts Month events. Come join us to celebrate the power of art to ignite change for all of us.

GREAT NEWS! “I am thrilled to announce that the Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates, the nonprofit arm

of the Mural Arts Program, was awarded a $500,000 matching grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund a program called the Porch Light Initiative. Together with the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services (DBH/MRS), the Mural Arts Program will engage hundreds of individuals receiving treatment for behavioral health issues in the beautification of public spaces in their neighborhoods. Through this Initiative, the Mural Arts Program will partner with behavioral health agencies that are already deeply invested in each of the targeted communities, including Project H.O.M.E.’s Rowan Homes, Sobriety Through Out-Patient (STOP), and Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM). The Porch Light Initiative will make behavioral health services more accessible to the community, help empower people recovering from mental illness and/or drug and alcohol addiction, reduce stigma and isolation, and transform barren urban environments into healthy public spaces through public art and greenery.”

GreeningPhiladelphia Through Art

n keeping with the Mural Arts Program’s long-term commitment to preserving the beauty of the Philadelphia cityscape, students from the Mural Corps program are working on a number of projects to “paint the town green.” Mural Arts’ three-year Restored Spaces Initiative involves Mural Corps students transforming the Bodine High School for International Affairs in the Northen Liberties neighborhood into a bright, inviting, and green learning space. This summer Mural Corps students began creating and expanding green spaces within and around the school. The project will include the addition of “green”-themed mosaics and murals designed in collaboration with muralist Eurhi Jones, mosaic artists Beverly Fisher and Mike Reali, and architect Scott Shall. Additionally, students will work with the City of Philadelphia Water Department to improve storm water management through the creation of a rain garden. Once completed, the surrounding community will be invited to plant trees and assist with the greening of the block. Photo by Mural Corps youth

The magic of the Bodine project lies in the seamless integration of public art with environmental education. In utilizing the global language of art, Mural Arts is able to promote an affinity for nature that speaks to youth of all backgrounds – from those previously engaged in greening efforts to those unfamiliar with the various ways that environmentalism can be incorporated into our daily lives. Bodine will showcase an innovative artistic and environmental transformation that restores and renovates the space and sustains environmental awareness years into the future. Photo by Mural Corps youth

The aim of the Restored Spaces Initiative is to engage local government officials, community members, artists, educators, and youth in the production of public art projects that raise awareness and promote dialogue around environmental issues, increase access to green spaces, and encourage environmental stewardship. The Bodine project is made possible thanks to funding from the PTS Foundation, the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services, Philadelphia Water Department and Surdna Foundation.

Taking Out The Trash In Style

aking out the trash has never been so inspiring since artists Ben Woodward, Thom Lessner, and students from the Big Picture Art Education program got their hands on the City’s new BigBelly© solar powered compacting trash cans. In 2009, as part of a city-wide initiative to reduce litter, the City rolled out 500 of these efficient cans that double as solar powered compactors. The Big Picture program is taking this effort one step further by decorating 50 BigBellies with graphic vinyl wraps, turning them into playful “garbage monsters” and “litter bugs” that provide both kids and grownups with a fun incentive to properly dispose of their garbage. Lessner and Woodward visited students once a week to help them imagine their three-dimensional creatures through two-dimensional drawings. The final designs are almost entirely kid-created with each student contributing a piece of their art to the designs. The BigBelly project was made possible by the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services in partnership with the Department of Streets..

See the Mural Arts Month calendar for information about the BigBelly Scavenger Hunt in October

Speaking OUT

his year, Mural Arts launched its first initiative designed for youth in Philadelphia’s LGBT communities. OUTspoken utilizes poetry and art-making to generate awareness and conversation among LGBT teens who often feel isolated from their community and peers and deal with issues such as homophobia and transphobia, racism and poverty, homelessness, the foster care system, and school violence. Through discussion and art creation, OUTspoken connects youth throughout Philadelphia by acknowledging how much their personal struggles are catalysts for achieving community unity. Projects Photo by Darien Fripps from the OUTspoken students included a booklet filled with outreach materials, an online blog, and designs that were screen printed onto t-shirts at the June PhillyPride Festival. OUTspoken was made possible thanks to funding from the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services.

Restoring Spirit

Photo by Jack Ramsdale.

eparting from outdated notions of punishment and revenge, the concept of Restorative Justice takes a thoughtful approach to involving victims, offenders, and surrounding communities in a collective healing process of both forgiveness and reparation. At Mural Arts, our Restorative Justice Program harnesses the power of art to provide current inmates, ex-offenders, and at-risk youth with the skills and experience to aesthetically and culturally reinvigorate Philadelphia’s most damaged communities. Through this program, Mural Arts has reconnected hundreds of individuals with their communities, providing them opportunities to make positive contributions while breaking the cycle of crime and incarceration. In 2009, Mural Arts was the only arts organization to receive funding from the prestigious Byrne Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund a new program in partnership with the city’s Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. The Guild provides nine months of paid, part-time employment and job training to 40 young adults ages 19-24. These youth partners learn the valuable skills of mural-making, including basic painting, sealing, stucco, carpentry, landscaping, conservation, and many others – all skills that, in addition to providing for the creation of murals, are of great value within the greater job marketplace. This past summer, Guild workers embarked on woodworking, carpentry, gardening, metal, and masonry projects to facilitate the expansion and restoration of the Children’s Garden at Fourth and Somerset streets. The Children’s Garden received new raised beds, a tool shed, picnic tables, a sculptural fence, and a redesigned truck from the projects

completed by Guild workers. This October, the first graduating class of The Guild will unveil an ambitious new mural at the African Cultural Forum honoring families as well as African Photo by Robyn Buseman American heroes. This mural features African-American role models that continue to positively influence the families of our city The Fourth and Somerset project was made possible thanks to the Hummingbird Foundation. In another Restorative Justice project, artist Eric Okdeh worked with inmates at the State Correctional Institute at Graterford, participants in Murals Arts’ re-entry program, and youth from Saint Gabriel’s Hall to create a new mural that speaks to our responsibility as a community to protect and care for one another. Spanning two walls on Dickinson Street in South Philadelphia, Sacred Spaces celebrates the African-American tradition of “bottle trees” – covering trees with colorful bottles to catch negative spirits and protect communities from harm. Dedicated on June 2, the Sacred Spaces project was made possible thanks to funding from the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services, the Ford Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

This past year, Mural Arts has taken several steps to improve its capacity for mural maintenance. As a preventative measure, enhanced materials are being used to improve the durability and longevity of new mural projects. MuralFarm.org, a comprehensive online database of all murals, aids staff in tracking and reporting conditions on murals around the city. Plans are also in the works to create a formal de-commissioning plan to guide maintenance practices, using best practices from other cities as a model. When evaluating restoration projects, years of experience have shown that communities become deeply invested in the fate of their murals and want to be kept included in decisions that affect the murals. When a mural is restored or removed, it is not unusual for a bit of “buzz” to appear on blogs, message boards, and other social media. Last spring, the temporary

Photo by Jack Ramsdale.

removal of Frank Rizzo at the intersection of 9th and Montrose Streets prompted healthy online dialogue and stirred up a variety of sentiments about the piece. The removal of the mural was necessary in order to re-stucco the deteriorating wall. Artist Diane Keller, who created the original mural, agreed to re-create the piece on the new wall. The new rendition of the Rizzo mural will be dedicated on October 23. Another project on the horizon that is sure to attract attention is the restoration of Common Threads, the celebrated and iconic mural created by Meg Saligman 12 years ago at the intersection of Broad and Spring Garden Streets. Over the next year, Ms. Saligman and a team of artists will revive Common Threads to its original glory. Critical to our restoration efforts is the funding necessary to maintain and restore murals. Often it costs nearly as much to restore a mural as it does to create a new one. Mural Arts is seeking contributions to support our restoration efforts, especially in support of the Common Threads restoration project. For more information, please contact the Development Office at 215-685-0759.

See the Mural Arts Month calendar for details of the Frank Rizzo mural rededication and South Philly mural tour

Photo by Reggie Hall.

lookwhat’snew

challenge intrinsic to Mural Arts’ collection of over 2,000 existing works of public art is the ongoing demand of mural maintenance and restoration. Mural Arts’ dedication to creating new, quality, communitybased public art needs to be balanced by the responsibility of keeping murals in tip-top condition, out of respect to our artists, their surrounding communities, and the city as a whole. Restoration projects can include minor touch-ups, major face lifts, replacing the work with a new mural, or simply removing it entirely.

Extreme Makeovers – Mural Restorations

A collaboration between Phillip Adams and David Guinn, Fairmount (Bishop’s Collar, 2349 Fairmount Avenue) represents the cliffs, topped with two gazebos, behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The cliffs are drawn using an innovative charcoal method. Transparent washes of acrylic paint are layered on top of the charcoal drawing.

Photo by Reggie Hall.

Le Virtú, at 1927 East Passyunk Avenue, is a new mural by artist Brian Senft that depicts the landscape and culture of Abbruzzo, Italy. This project is part of a series of mural and mosaic projects along East Passyunk Avenue. Sponsored by the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce.

Sharing The Stories Behind The Murals

ince its official launch on June 16, 2010, The Mural Mile has made 17 Center City murals more accessible to the public in new ways. Described by the Philadelphia Daily News as “Philly’s edgier, substantially more contemporary answer to Boston’s Freedom Trail,” The Mural Mile serves as Mural Arts’ first effort to curate its most important works into a collection and to develop interpretive materials and activities for each of these vibrant landmarks. A downloadable podcast and cell phone tour now make it possible for any visitor to Center City to tune into the voices of artists, community members, and other stakeholders who contributed to making the mural a unique piece of Philadelphia’s urban fabric. Since its launch, residents and visitors have accessed more than 1,200 cell phone tours and more than 500 podcasts, not to mention the 700-plus Mural Mile walking tour customers. The Mural Mile was made possible through generous support from PNC Arts Alive, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. The success of The Mural Mile is generating great excitement for the 2011 debut of a second collection, The Albert M. Greenfield African American Heritage Collection. Developed, researched and curated through an innovative partnership with the African American Museum of Philadelphia (AAMP), the Albert M. Greenfield African American Heritage Collection will feature approximately 40 iconic and historically significant murals that depict figures, themes, and stories drawn from African American history here in Philadelphia. A research team managed by AAMP is delving into the stories behind each work in the collection, unearthing previously untold narratives from community members, reflections from artists, and insight into themes and context from historians. Interviews, transcripts, documents, and images will be made accessible to the public through an interactive virtual gallery and a downloadable audio tour, both set to launch in February 2011 to correspond with National Black History Month. In the months following the launch, Mural Arts will host a series of events where visitors can learn more about the murals. Additionally, lesson plans will be distributed to middle- and high- school teachers so that the African American Heritage Collection can complement classroom learning experiences for youth. The African American Heritage Collection was made possible by the gracious support of the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation; the Engage 2020 Innovation Grant Program sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Philadelphia Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

Mural Arts Advocates, the 501c3 non-profit organization of the Mural Arts Program, is proud to announce the addition of four new members of the Board of Directors, all of whom bring incredible expertise and experience to the organization. • Hilda Bacon is a creative civic advocate who has worked with various arts and non-profit organizations professionally and as a volunteer over the years. She is a Senior Project Manager at Dunleavy & Associates in Blue Bell, Pa. • Richard Binswanger is Managing Principal of the Clearview Group in Wayne, Pa., a consulting company that supports nonprofit governance. His experience spans education, technology, and developing nonprofit solutions. • Erik R. Hirsch is Chief Investment Officer for Hamilton Lane, one of the world’s largest private equity asset managers and consultants. • Rocco Albano is Director of Web Analytics at Razorfish specializing in digital marketing, search engine optimization and Web performance analysis. Rocco has been connected to Mural Arts since its inception as part of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network.

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The Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House 1727-29 Mt. Vernon Street Philadelphia, PA 19130

muralarts.org muralfarm.org Support the Mural Arts Program through the United Way! Donor Choice #12472

Click & Explore

check out the newly redesigned

muralarts.org • Mural Arts Program’s new interactive Web site • View online student artwork • Mural Galleries – follow new works in progress • Mural Explorer – dig deeper into the stories and process behind murals • The Mural Mile – download free Center City walking tour podcasts