If you’re at the AALL Conference in Philadelphia this week and want to get out of the convention center and explore, taking the self-guided tour (pdf) of the Philadelphia Mural Walk through “The Mural Mile” can be a great option.
Interactive Mural Walk
Not here? This tour includes interviews available via phone or download as “podcast” mp3s – I’ve included the phone numbers with images of each artwork below so you can follow along from any location.
You can also download the audio files directly from the Mural Mile website (zip file). Combining the audio tour with the murals will help you explore not only the creativity and local history of these works, but also learn about community programs:
Community Activities
In the murals I visited Saturday I learned about a project that collaborated with everyone from inmates to school children (#1), international scholarship programs (#3), homeless individuals trying to get back on their feet (#4), a community garden (#6) , historic organizations (#8 and #9) and even animals at a local animal shelter (#14).
Individual Murals
Click on the individual images in the galleries below to view them full screen.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 1# to hear about this mural.
The shackles in the far left portion take on additional meaning with this collaboration with inmates that painted the map of Africa onto fabric before it was installed here. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 1# to hear about this mural.
This section was made with the help of local schoolchildren: call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 1# to hear about thus mural
Coins representing Abraham Lincoln Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 1# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 1# to hear about this mural or 21# to learn more about related programs
Call 215-525-1577 and press 2# to hear about this mural.
A companion piece to Legacy, this takes a broader look at the African-American history, moving from images of slavery in the lowest level to the Civil War and moving up towards the Civil Rights movement and the goal of ultimate equality and freedom. Both murals were sponsored by the Lincoln Financial Foundation to honor its 100th anniversary. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 2# to hear about this mural.
Images from the Civil War int he center section. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 2# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 2# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 2# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 3# to hear about this mural.
This mural covers a portion of the parking lot you’ll pass walking down Market toward City Hall. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 3# to hear about this mural.
The Mural Arts Program head Jane Golden used her Eisenhower Fellowship to visit Ireland and the audio tour describes other opportunities international visitors have had to study the murals of Philadelphia as well.
This mural commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Fellowship Program and its goal of improving th exchange of knowledge internationally. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 3# to hear about this mural.
The bricks surrounding the pictorial portion are all also painted onto the building to help it blend into the surroundings
Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 3# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 4# to hear about this mural.
Themes of homelessness and finding home and support are literally woven into this complex mural that wraps around several structures next to St. John the Evangelist church. Call 215-525-1577 to hear the stories behind the murals. Press 4# to hear about this mural.
Photos of the homeless individuals who helped build the pieces of this mural. Call 215-525-1577 and press 3# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 3# to hear about this mural and the internship program at the Mural Arts Program that helped create this program.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 4# to hear the artists and participants talk about this mural.
Listen to the audio to learn how this collaboration included a skills training program for local homeless as well as internships with the Mural Arts Program directly. Call 215-525-1577 and press 3# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 5# to hear about this mural.
This mural was sponsored by a local lawyer in the early 90s rather than originating from the Mural Arts Program: images of significant sculptures around the city being created reflect the goal of the sponsor to preserve the city’s legacy in the building the mural is painted on. Call 215-525-1577 and press 5# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 6# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 6# to hear about this mural and the creation of this garden. The audio tour notes that the artist grew up playing in this abandoned lot and was delighted by the neighborhood’s interest in not only improving the space with a mural, but also in converting the lot in front of it into a community garden that would always include flowers to reflect the beautiful images in his work.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 6# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 6# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 7# to hear about this mural.
An allegorical work includes local arts professionals depicted as the 9 classical muses depicts the search perfect forms in performance, movement, words, spirit, and more. It is located a block away from the Avenue for the Arts along 13th Street. Call 215-525-1577 and press 7# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 7# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural.
Painted on the side of the New Century Trust – a women’s labor organization that has been active since 1882 in working towards new opportunities for women. Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural.
Historical Marker for New Century Guild
The founder of the New Century Guild. Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural and the individuals shown here.
This complex mural includes images of local and national leaders in the movement for womens’ rights. Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural.
These sparrows represent new life
In China the phoenix is a symobl of women.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 8# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 9# to hear about this mural.
The left side depicts the early activists who started protesting for LGBT civil rights in 1966 at Independence Hall. Call 215-525-1577 and press 9# to hear about this mural.
The central section depicts LGBT individuals celebrating at a public festival and includes portraits of local residents. Call 215-525-1577 and press 9# to hear about this mural.
Another mural painted on the side of an organization with a matching goal, this one depicts the progress of the local LGBT civil rights movement from protestors at Independence Hall in the mid 60s to the current participants in the LGBT community center. Call 215-525-1577 and press 9# to hear about this mural.
Another mural painted on the side of an organization with a matching goal, this one depicts the progress of the local LGBT civil rights movement from protestors at Independence Hall in the mid 60s to the current participants in the LGBT community center. Call 215-525-1577 and press 9# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
When the chef at Vetri wanted to spruce up the adjoining parking lot with a mural, the Mural Arts Program helped find funding and the artist began working to include local imagery, from landscapes combine Italian vistas with local Pennsylvania fields. Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
This includes images of locals from the neighborhood. Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
When the artist heard the parking lot attendant’s daughter speak about missing her father, she decided to include her on one side of the mural so she could look down on her dad this way every day. Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
This is an image of the chef himself working with polenta. Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 10# to hear about this mural.
[#11 Mural at Dirty Franks and #12 Spring not available – CALL Bulletin Editors]
Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Another work by Meg Saligman, this three dimensional mural reaches out in her exploration of identity and roles we play, especially for artists. The audio interview with the artist describes her materials and the contrasting images she chose to include. Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
A details of a figure of creativity, cutting the strings that control her. Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Creativity and Censorship represent two opposing roles. Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 13# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear about this mural.
The Morris Animal Refuge held a raffle to allow local residents to have their pets represented in this mural. Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear more details.
The Morris Animal Refuge held a raffle to allow local residents to have their pets represented in this mural. Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear more details.
The Morris Animal Refuge held a raffle to allow local residents to have their pets represented in this mural. Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear more details.
The Morris Animal Refuge held a raffle to allow local residents to have their pets represented in this mural. Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear more details.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear about this mural.
Call 215-525-1577 and press 14# to hear about this mural.
Philadelphia is one of the most mural-rich cities in America, mostly due to the Mural Arts Program, reorganized from a graffiti prevention program in 1996 under its leader, Jane Golden. The program provides a key connection between funding and sponsors, neighborhoods, and artists, though projects come together in many different ways.
Sometimes organizations come to the program with a desire to sponsor a mural and a theme in mind. Sometimes property owners or neighborhoods come to the program with locations they’d like to brighten up. Mural Arts Program artists work with all of these factors and more to create highly contextual works that bring a sense of pride and ownership to their local audience and others who visit them.
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