Philly Murals

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Brianna Fletcher

When many people think of the city of brotherly love, Philly cheese steaks, Cream
cheese, and the Rocky steps come to mind. However, being a city of murals often gets
overlooked and forgotten as one of the most significant aspects of Philadelphias culture.
With over 3000 community made murals throughout the city of brotherly love, the
community has been able to embrace public art in a way that uplifts the community
rather than tearing it down. Through the implementation of a mural based culture,
neighborhoods have gotten better, property values have increased, and kids are learning
how to use murals as a way of expression rather than writing graffiti on walls. Murals in
Philadelphia have more significance to modern day urban neighborhoods than any
other. They portray images that not only reinforce the black culture within Philadelphia
but also work to bring the essence of brotherly love of Philly back to the community.
In a city where thousands of murals
stretch across the walls of buildings in
community gardens, and on the walls of
parks and schools, Philadelphia has become
a public museum for art. Often times within
largely black populated communities in
Philadelphia, kids and adults were left
without hope for a better neighborhood and
rarely ever seen positive images of black people to reinforce their value to the
community. This was the moment in which the Philadelphia community took matters
into their own hands and used their agency to portray themselves as the model of black
excellence though the means public art.

Church Of The Advocate

Murals were not always a part of the Philadelphia community. They did not just pop up
overnight; it was a process, and over time they were used it to transform the idea of
street art in the community into a form of artistry that uplifts the community dynamic
as a whole. Wall murals initially started in the late 1970s through the efforts by The
Church of The Advocate on 18 and Diamond streets. The Church of The Advocate was
seen as a community haven for the black community of Philadelphia to come together
th

and feel safe in the walls of their church during times of injustice, discrimination and
segregation.
At this time, the black community was
dealing with the assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King who was a great
leader in civil rights. After his death, there
became a sense of not belonging and a
broken sense of identity in the community.
One of the biggest and most powerful black
image that represented who they were as a
people had disappeared; which is why the church decided it was time to make their own
images.
The Church of The Advocate decided it was their duty as the advocate of black identity
to create something public with the help of the community which would display the
images of prominent black leaders nationally and locally through the use of art. In the
span of 3 years the Church of The Advocate assisted in putting up 14 murals within the
church which continue to stand today (African American Experience Murals).

In 2003 a reporter from the

inquire, Walter F. Naedele, noted that the
murals portrayed hallucinatory imagery
that connects the Bible and the black experience of slavery and uprising flaming heads
and spurting blood, along with heroes ranging from Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman to
Malcolm X ( Naedele, 2011). The images were set to make a statement about the role
black lives had in the world and how they overcame them. Walter Edmonds, famous
African American artist stated that one cannot look at these paintings, and not be

passionate. Each person looks at them from his/her own perspective and each sees
different things. Whites have represented the master race; they have written the history
and rarely seen the darker side. Those who have been oppressed see a different reality
because their experience has been different (African American Experience Murals). At
this time murals became the images that reinforced and uplifted the black culture
throughout Philadelphia.
After seeing community response to the mural, local Philadelphia government decided
to follow in the steps of the church and created a program called the Philadelphia AntiGraffiti Network in an effort to combat the growing issue of graffiti in the community.
Many Businesses, and homes were beings vandalized through the means of street art.
Graffiti was looked down upon from the government of Philadelphia and they looked for
a way to stop graffiti rather than to continuously covering up the graffiti art with paint.

Mural Arts Program

As an extension of the Philadelphia Anti- Graffiti Network in 1984, a program arose
called the Mural Arts Program. This non-profit program which took on the role of PAGN
is taking the effort to continue the efforts being made writhing Philadelphia. Recently,
the mural Arts program took on the task of gaining the thrill and artistic love of graffiti
and incorporating it into the murals that they produce with inner city youth of
Philadelphia.
Instead of limiting the places for making
murals, the Mural Arts Program has begun
to work with Philadelphia officials to
expand mural space. Graffiti was an art
form that was expressed anywhere and
everywhere. It was a way for graffiti artist to
have their voices heard whether or not
people like it or not and stood as a form of
agency among the youth at the prime of graffiti writing.
The Mural Arts Program decided to take the idea of random self-expression that graffiti
writing had and expand murals onto trash trucks, and subway carts; they even began
utilizing spray can paint as well to embrace street art culture in a constructive way. The
Mural Arts Program not only brought back the love of street art it also aided in the
initial point of murals in Philadelphia. This program that is funded though the city of
Philadelphia has created a collection of mural arts set to pay tribute to black culture and

iconic black leaders within Philadelphia.

Specifically, The Albert M. Greenfield
African American Iconic Images Collection,
curated in partnership with the African
American Museum in Philadelphia,
showcases murals throughout the city that
uniquely capture the rich African American
experience in Philadelphia. The mural arts
[program] believes stories behind works of
art should be told (History and Overview) and they have made it a part of their mission
to do this.

Impact on Philadelphia
Philadelphia has transformed the idea of what people know as urban beauty across the
United States. It is impossible now in days to walk around Philly without seeing a mural
on every other corner; they make up the landscape of this amazing city.

Most people who have lived in Philadelphia

for more than 30 years understand and see
the drastic differences that have come to the
landscape of Philadelphia. These people
know that murals in Philadelphia didnt
start in the gentrified sections of
Philadelphia such as Downtown and
University City, but in the places of poverty
such as the heart of North Philly, parts of
West Philadelphia and the harshest places
around town. The Philadelphia Housing Authority which provide low income housing in
these areas ha h s even taken way to the changes it makes PHA is building more and
better quality affordable housing than anyone thought possible. Now we are enhancing
the image of our communities even further by joining with the Philadelphia Mural Arts
Program,( PHA Partners with Philadelphia Mural Arts Program at Wilson Park and
Beyond.). In these sections of Philadelphia there was a need for a change in the
environment and the government made it their duty to help the businesses in the areas
by changing the direction of graffiti into something better. Murals in these areas have
not only created a sense of community over the years they also work to beautify the
community and in return these works of art have raised property values, attracted
developers, and spectators to these places.

In essence, these works of art does so much more for all of the communities within the
boundaries of Philadelphia. Murals tell the stories of the people, bring communities
together, disperse knowledge and beautify neighborhoods. Art is a way of expression
and often times people take the power of art for granted, which is unfortunate. A city

with more murals than any other city in the nation has a story behind it and it is
imperative that people know why Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love and sisterly
affection is now being termed the city of murals.