When it comes to effecting social change in impoverished Philadelphia communities, the writing’s on the wall. Instead of cleaning up Philadelphia, Jane Golden decided to paint it.
Executive director of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and teacher in the Penn Fine Arts Department, Golden was at the Penn Bookstore on Wednesday to launch her new book, More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell.
The book shares the stories and images of some of the 2,600 murals that have appeared around Philadelphia over the past 25 years as part of the Mural Arts Program.
The Mural Arts Program began in 1984 as an anti-graffiti initiative of then Mayor Wilson Goode. The program aimed to turn the destructive energy of local graffiti artists into a creative outlet painting murals to enliven neighborhood spaces.
Golden said a respectful approach to graffiti artists was key to the program’s success. “Not only did they have talent but they had knowledge of art history. Many of them had been stealing the magazine Art in America.”
She also emphasized the need to build long-term relationships with neighborhood communities in developing their local art initiatives. “Great art is not just about the lone practitioner. The community can be involved,” she said.
Since its inception, the program has worked to enhance public spaces through art and has extended its art workshops into prisons, homeless shelters and local schools.
Golden spoke of what she sees as a “moral imperative” to work towards reversing the trend of disrepair some Philadelphia neighborhoods have fallen into. “There are too many schools in our city that look like prisons and I say change that.”
More than 2,000 children annually are involved in the program’s free after-school and weekend art workshops. The Mural Arts Program is also working on new initiatives involving mental health care and collaborations with local theater companies.
Ever expanding, Golden’s latest focus is building on the success the program has already had. “We’re all in this together. How you get people to envision a future is very much on our mind.”
