Tag Archive "philadelphia-mural-arts-program"

Paul Santoleri’s clubhouse for Mural Arts gets a party

Paul Santoleri strikes a pose atop his new installation at the Thomas Eakins House The installation of Paul Santoleri‘s fantasy surround-space mural, floor-al and ceiling-al at The Mural Arts Program HQ called for a celebration. And there was one, Wednesday evening. People filtered in and out of the first floor front of the Thomas Eakins House, examining what Santoleri hath wrought. Mural artist Delia King at the celebration. I talked briefly to Mural Arts leader Jane Golden while I was there. She was saying that she really wished Mural Arts had control over the way the city spends money on ... More » »

Art in public places, part 1

Post by Andrea Kirsh [This is part 1 of a two-part post.] Philadelphia past and present Mark di Suvero, Iroquois, recently installed on the Parkway in Philadelphia, photo by libby I’ve had lots of occasion to think about public art (however you want to define it) since moving to Philadelphia in 2003. Full disclosure demands that I acknowledge my own history in the field: from 1988-1990 I was Assistant Director of Miami Dade County Art in Public Places (at the time one of the country’s oldest percent for art programs), where my responsibilities included administration, designing a care and maintenance ... More » »

Dragon breath burns business?

mural Inheritors of the Dragon, mosaic, created by Mike Smash with DHS kids in 2002. The building owner has now covered the head of the dragon to prevent it from bringing bad luck to business. I don’t know when this picture was taken, but the dumpster in front of the mural is a sure sign of earlier disrespect. Maybe that’s why the dragon has brought bad luck! The mural is a project of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. A casual conversation with muralist Mike Smash at a party Saturday at the home of good friend Deborah Zuchman on the subject ... More » »

Whose school is it?

Students at the William Dick Elementary School paint a mural Walking into and around two of Philadelphia’s public schools recently, I got a sharp reminder of the barren oppressiveness communicated by bad, utilitarian architecture and unrelieved flat blacktop school yards. But help is here–murals, art, color, more–or at least was here for 20 schools a year for the past three years. Alas, the program has been cut!!!! In a school district that has been excising art from the curriculum, art teacher by art teacher, school by school, this would be a counter-intuitive decision. I stopped by a couple of school ... More » »

The secret behind the endangered school murals program

That’s Deborah Zuchman behind the podium speaking, in front of a mural created in 2005 by Eliseo Silva and the students at Spruance Elementary School in Northeast Philadelphia. Every time I read one of the articles about the school mural program, whether it be focused on the program itself or sadly, today and yesterday, the cutting of the program, I look for my friend Deborah Zuchman’s name. It’s usually not there. What the hell? Zuchman is the project coordinator for the collaboration between the School District and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. She basically works in the background behind all ... More » »