On Wednesday evening, the Mural Arts Project unveiled “The Evolving Face of Nursing” — a 6,500 square-foot mural of nurses illuminated with an LED lighting system created by artist Meg Saligman — on the corner of Broad and Vine streets.
The LED system will make the mural visible from major roadways and is the first of its kind, thanks to experimentation by Saligman and her team. Penn School of Nursing played a pivotal role in helping to fund the project and providing the muralist with archival information.
“The archives were very helpful to us, getting in there and getting us the information and some of the historical things,” Saligman said. “Their knowledge in making this more authentic was very helpful.”
The mural portrays nursing throughout history and depicts four Penn nurses, as well as historical images from Penn’s Nursing History Center. One nurse is Neville Strumpf, professor emeritus, whose face changes to show her at different ages with the LED lighting system.
President of Mural Arts and Penn Design professor Jane Golden explained how the mural encompasses the different aspects of nursing in today’s society.
“When you think about nurses and all they do, it’s very much tied into the contemporary notion of what is health care and how the citizens of this country are best served, and nurses play a big role in that,” Golden said.
Nursing sophomore Janan McCormick explained how the mural and the Nursing School’s principles are quite similar.
“Penn stresses that nursing is multidirectional and there are no limits to what you can do with it,” McCormick said.
This idea is seen throughout the mural as nurses are shown in scrubs and military uniforms, at homes and in hospitals. It is also echoed in Penn Nursing’s curriculum, which offers students the opportunity to practice abroad, in community care or in hospitals.
The dedication of the mural not only commemorates nursing but also marks the beginning of Mural Arts Month. Golden teaches a course called “The Big Picture” at Penn, in which students strive to develop an understanding of activism and leadership, two values of Mural Arts.
The class “is a way for students to not just learn how the city works, but also to make their imprint on the city,” Golden said.
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