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Street Art
Every week, City Paper staff photographer Neal Santos (@nealsantos) shares his week's Instagrams. To get started, here's a slideshow of his faves to date.
View galleryTired of the same-ol' mural walking tours? Take a gander at some of the work your neighbors and friends post daily all around the city. It's not sponsored, it usually doesn't have a signature and sometimes it's gone within days. Here's some I spotted this week in Kensington, Fishtown and NoLibs.
Cassie Owens covers Mural Arts Month in this space every Monday in October. Here are a few things you can delve into this week.
Common Threads Mural Re-dedication ➤ For the Mural Arts Program (MAP), Common Threads (pictured) was 
groundbreaking. Executive Director Jane Golden describes it as “moment of epiphany” in which people began to see murals in different light. Its size, style and drama inspired many viewers recognize that murals could be “museum quality.” After undergoing a scientific, three-month restoration process this year, the mural is ready to be rededicated. Muralist Meg Saligman will be present to celebrate the new look. Wed., Oct. 19, 3-4 p.m., free, Broad and Spring Garden streets.
Reading the Flow and chainlinkGREEN Dedications ➤ MAP's Restored Spaces Initiative brings muralists, architects, sculptors and more together to renovate civic spaces in environmentally conscious ways. This meeting of the minds resulted in the renovation of Bodine High School, which now features student-crafted murals, mosaics and gardens around its entire exterior. The plans don’t end there: Bodine’s new backyard will play host to an amphitheater, combining all of the elements to form an interactive classroom. School will be out, so the student artists will be in on the fun. Come see their new place. Thu., Oct. 20, 3-5 p.m., free, Bodine High School for International Affairs, 1101 N. Fourth St.
Taking over 11th street between Vine and Callowhill, last night’s DesignPhiladelphia kickoff party was abuzz with design-focused activity.
The first stop on the tour was an opening reception and award ceremony at the Liao Collection, a mass emporium of exquisite Asian antiques. This year marked the festival’s first award ceremony where a “design champion” was rewarded for his or her hard work creating space and resources for design in Philadelphia. This year’s award was given to Mayor Michael Nutter, who has given much support to Philly’s creative initiatives.
Across the street, Grizzly, Grizzly hosted the architectural works of Patrick Gaven (through Oct. 29), who created an aluminum table and aluminum/maple room divider along with several design sketches with minimalist style. Each piece is simple and engineering-oriented, leaving any superfluous ornamentation behind. Not far away, in one of Vox Populi’s open spaces, artist Piper Brett created a mass sacrificial piece in the spirit of “make-it-or-break-it” culture. Noting the need for celebrity and success, her works combine bling, pornography and ritual sacrifice.
Cassie Owens covers Mural Arts Month in this space every Monday in October. Here are a few things you can delve into this week.
How Philly Moves Dedication ➤ As we reported last week, How Philly Moves ranks as the second largest mural in the world, welcoming passengers to Philadelphia from the airport. The official unveiling will take off in style at a rooftop jamboree. HPM features Philadelphians dancing. You’re invited to the dedication, as long as you’re ready to dance, too. Wed., Oct. 12, 5-7 p.m., free, Philadelphia International Airport, Level 6 of Parking Garage F, RSVP at howphillymoves@muralarts.org.
Love Letter Subway Tour ➤ Love Letter is a series of 50 mural valentines in West Philadelphia, many written by neighborhood residents themselves. The project draws its inspiration from 1967’s “Cornbread Loves Cynthia,” messages that graffiti progenitor Darryl “Cornbread” McCray left along the bus route of his special someone. Love Letter was completed in 2009 as a grand gesture of love to West Philly. Each mural is viewable from the El, covering rooftops from 45th to 63rd along Market Street. Mural Arts teams up with SEPTA every weekend for the love train. Bank of America is covering the fare, so no tokens necessary. Do the O’Jays know about this? Sat., Oct. 15, 10 a.m-noon, free, Bank of America, 3925 Walnut St.
Finding the Light Within Paint Day ➤ Mural Arts teamed up with the Department of Behavioral Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Intellectual disAbility Services to reach out to those affected by suicide. The stories collected culminated in Finding the Light Within, a response to Philadelphia’s teenage suicide rate, which nearly doubles the national average. The public is invited to help paint this mural, with provided materials and equipment. Check out Mural Arts’ workspace as part of Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. Sat., Oct. 15, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., free, Mural Arts at The Gallery, Ninth and Market streets.
Phabergé Egg Hunt & Mural Walking Tour ➤ Sixteen local artists are taking a note from Imperial Russia in Phabergé, a collection of hand-painted papier-mâché eggs. This year, they’re not just painting the Kremlin, each egg will correspond with one of the city’s murals. Dozens will be scattered along the Mural Mile. Find eggs along the tour or on a scavenger hunt of your own design. Take the egg back to Mural Arts, and you’ll feel like a modern-day Tsarina. OK, maybe not a Tsarina, but you’ll definitely win a surprise gift. Sun., Oct. 16, 10 a.m.-noon, free, Mural Arts at The Gallery, Ninth and Market streets.
Tickets for all Mural Arts Month events can be purchased at muralarts.tix.com.
(cassie.owens@citypaper.net) (@cassieowens)
Photo 1 by Adam Wallacavage for the Mural Arts Program, mural by Steve Powers
Photo 2 courtesy of the Mural Arts Program
Cassie Owens covers Mural Arts Month in this space every Monday in October.
Public art in Philadelphia is changing. And the Mural Arts Program (MAP) is morphing right along with it. 
The program now plays curator to some 3,000 pieces scattered across the city, pushing MAP in a direction that’s stirring up more community involvement. This message is loud and clear in Mural Arts Month 2011, themed “31 Days, 31 Ways That Art Ignites Change.”
One of the most shining examples is their recent and largest project, How Philly Moves, which greets motorists driving by the Philadelphia International Airport on I-95. The 85,000-square-foot mural is a tribute to the local dance community, featuring 26 performers that represent a different facet of Philadelphia’s history and culture.
The project began in early 2010 when Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities Rina Cutler came to Mural Arts with an idea about how to expand the relationship between art and transportation. “I was stuck on I-95 — literally stopped in front of the airport and the parking garage. So I sort of sat there and I looked at them and said, ‘you know, that’s a lot of concrete. This is really a huge gateway into the city and we should try to do something that makes them more inviting.’” From there, the idea just clicked.
At that point, MAP launched a national search for someone to design the project. It was awarded 
unanimously to Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, who had already begun an exhaustive project photographing Philadelphians dancing. His job-getting idea was to incorporate the images onto the mural so that “all people of Philadelphia could look at it, and feel like they could be up there,” he says. “We wanted a broad range, sort of like looking through a kaleidoscope.”
The actual creation process was undertaken by a team of over 1000 people — everyone from workforce re-entry participants and students to local prisoners and the general public. To generate interest, MAP used social media to advertise How Philly Moves paint days, which were free and open to the public.
The mural — ranked the second largest in the world — represents the centerpiece of Mural Arts Month. It will get grand-opening treatment all month long in the form of parties, tours and spotlights. But there are a ton of separate activities that highlight other works that have been done in the city. Here are a few happening this week:
Mural Mile Walking Tour ➤ Bank of America is offering free Mural Arts Month tours for the third year 
running. The Mural Mile is actually 2.5 miles of 17 Center City murals that you may have overlooked. Taking flicks of the murals is encouraged. Dipping out at a stop along the way is a-ok. This tour will take place rain or shine, so be prepared. Sat., Oct. 8, 10 a.m.-noon, free, Bank of America, 923 Chestnut St., muralarts.tix.com.
Murals & Meals: Marathon Grill ➤ This past spring, Marathon Grill set off on a mission to transform vacant lots into blossoming plots in Brewerytown. The result was Marathon Farm, a non-profit that provides sustainable produce to Marathon’s restaurants and offers crash courses in DIY urban gardening. This edition will serve up Murals & Meals’ usual combo: a tour on an antique trolley and a special tasting at the restaurant for lunch. Only this tour will include a trip to Marathon Farm, presented by Marathon owner Cory Borish. See how flowerbeds and public art both serve to beautify — in time for harvest, of course. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty! Sat., Oct. 8, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., $50, Marathon Grill, 929 Walnut St., muralarts.tix.com.
A new 30-yard mural on Cecil B. Moore and 15th Street has blurred the line between graffiti and art. With its abstract buildings, breathe-taking skyline and dedication to a recently deceased student, the mural stays loyal to Philadelphians all over.
Tyler Teran, Eric Mozes and Donnell Powell, who make up Color My Sidewalk (CMS), spent 12 days transforming the once white wall into a vivid depiction of Philly living. “We thought, what’s the first thing people think of when they think of Philadelphia?" asks Mozes about the groups largest mural to date. "The skyline!”
However it was the Pop Art-like buildings leading up to the familiar skyline that became the main focus. “I’m not from Philadelphia, but I was intrigued by the aesthetics of the row houses,” comments Powell. “With all the colors, [the buildings] are an art piece in itself.” These additions brought together the neighborhoods, showing what we all see when sitting on our roofs. Other landmarks include the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Comcast Center.
While most of the mural represents Philly, a specific spot is dedicated to remember Temple graduate Roswell Friend, a track-and-field athlete who passed away last August. Although CMS didn’t know him, his recognition is a way to illustrate that a community lives on even after loss.
Be sure to check out CMS’s other murals in the area. This humble group of artists is working to collaborate with others and spread art and color around the city.
Photos: Mara Model
While strolling through Queen Village last weekend, I stumbled upon a group of artists creating a mural in the parking lot of Napoli Pizza (944 E. Passyunk Ave.). They must've been working with a quickness, because today I passed by the finished product. Apparently titled "2 Lives," the cubist, abstract figures and peeping deer heads remind me of Picasso and Frida Kahlo.
It seems like every home along Mount Vernon St. between 37th and 38th sts., is abandoned. With boarded up windows and doorways, and chipped paint covering the facades, this doesn't do much for the appearance of the neighborhood, which, across the street from a park, could otherwise be deemed prime locale. To make a statement — or so it seems — on the beautification of blighted properties, an artist has decorated the homes with Warhol-esque butterflies. Check out the photos below:
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Cool idea however it's not really cute. Try doing it all over the entire window or door to make a difference.
Looking for Street Art, huh? Well,I've been doing a lot of blogging lately on the local scene. Give it a look, will you? :) http://tagthisphilly.blogspot.com/
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