Philadelphia was named the “Best City for Street Art in America” by the 2025 USA Today 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards.
After winning the award in 2023 and losing to Cincinnati in 2024, Philadelphia returned for its title. Home to more than 4,000 murals — many of which can be credited to Mural Arts Philadelphia, the largest public art program in the nation — Philadelphia is often internationally recognized as the “Mural Capital of the World.”
“I like to respect those who create street art,” Priscilla Bell Lamberty, program manager of the Strength Through Solidarity initiative at Mural Arts Philadelphia, said. “I like to respect those definitions that they create for themselves as street artists. For me, the definition is defined by the artists who are creating the work.”
She added that people who visit Philadelphia for its street art are either familiar with the city’s “amazing” artists or end up “in awe” of all the pieces the city boasts.
On Oct. 23, the Penn Association of Senior & Emeritus Faculty will be hosting a Philadelphia Mural Arts trolley tour to allow people to “explore the world’s largest outdoor art gallery and get to know Philadelphia’s stunning mural collection.”
Lamberty explained that her organization has traveled around the country to help environmental justice organizations interact with their communities through the arts, which helped them realize that some cities “don’t have what Philadelphia has ... in terms of the structure where the community actually dictates what public art may look like.”
Rachel Zimmerman — the founder and executive director of InLiquid, an artist member base for Philadelphia artists — noted that other mediums of art are inspired by Philadelphia’s street art.
“You can’t help, as artists, to be influenced by what you see around you,” she said. “You have this really interesting, diverse group, and so, it’s really critical for people to get outside of their neighborhood and explore, and support the galleries, and learn about artists … [art] is interwoven all throughout the city.”
She shared her hope that the USA Today recognition will influence people to visit Philadelphia and learn about the city’s art and culture.
Penn students have the opportunity to dive deeper into mural arts through a course offered by the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, titled “Big Picture: Mural Arts.” The course is taught by both Jane Golden, the founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, and Shira Walinsky, the Porch Light program coordinator of Mural Arts Philadelphia.
