Caption: "This mural overlooking a playground honors Father Paul Washington, a beloved local religious leader and social activist."
(c) 1991 and 2006 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Walter Edmonds, Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: A Secret Book, by Josh Sarantitis, at 19th and Wood Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., 1999.
"The Power of reading to inspire a young person's imagination is expressed through images of flight and fantasy."
(c) 1999 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Josh Sarantitis, Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: Reach High and You Will Go Far, by Josh Sarantitis, 20th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., 2000.
"The transformative benefits of aspiration and achievement are symbolically portrayed in this mural. This mural was commissioned by a local business whose employees are active in literacy programs. The mural features an African American girl reaching for the sky, a towering tree sprouting from her up-stretched hands. The girl has roots instead of veins running through her arms. In the bottom left corner looms a small collection of more ominous images, including an abandoned car and boarded-up buildings. Symbolically the painting is a testament to the value of human aspiration, a visual homage to the notion of dreaming it and achieving it."
(c) 2000 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Josh Sarantitis, Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: Dreams, by Phillip Adams. Martin Luther King mural. Photograph shown depicts only one wall of this mural which stretches across three walls of the Martin Luther King High School. The outline facce of Martin Luther King Jr. is to the right and blackbirds fly across the canvas. Not shown here is a poem by Langston Hughes, entitled Dreams
Hold fast to your dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams die
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow
(c) 2007 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Phillip Adams, Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: Reaching for Your Star, by Donald Gensler, 37th and Mt. Vernon Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. This mural was created with the help of ArtWORKS! participants and students from nearby University of Pennsylvania.
(c)2003 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Donald Gensler
Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: Ridge on the Rise, by Eric Okdeh, 2125 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, Pa., 2004
"This story - telling mural - includes Cecil Moore, people at the wall of Girard college, Pearl theatre where jazz greats like John Coltrane performed. In the mural, the art deco façade of the long gone theatre contrasts with the forbidding ten foot stone wall that still encloses the grounds of Girard College, location of the landmark civil rights struggle."
(c) 2004 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Eric Okdeh / Josh Sarantitis
Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: This mural at 2985 Germantown Avenue in Philadephia, celebrates the courageous work of Harriet Tubman and Philadelphian-area abolitionists, including William Still, Lucretia Mott, Robert Purvis, and Jacob Blockson.
(c)2007 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Sam Donovan, Photo by Jack Ramsdale
Caption: Pride and Progress, by Ann Northrup, located at the William Way Community Center, Spruce and Juniper Streets, Philadelphia, 2003.
"History, celebration, community, and diversity are found here in Pride and Progress, the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender themed public art project.
(c)2003 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Ann Northrup Photo by Jack Rams
Caption: Common Threads, by Meg Saligman. Located at Broad and Spring Garden Streets. Towering eight stories high, this mural depicts a young girl in the center and the other figures in the composition are students from local Philadelphia high schools.
© 1998 Meg Saligman/PDR Mural Arts Program, Sponsored by the City of Philadelphia, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Photo by Jack Ramsdale, www.muralarts.org
Caption: Created to commemorate the 325th anniversary of the arrival of the first German-speaking settlers in America, this mural commemorates the immigration and contributions of German-Americans to the New World. On October 6, 1683, thirteen families from Krefeld, Germany arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Concord, considered the “Mayflower of German immigration,” and founded Germantown, the first permanent German settlement in America.
(c)2008 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Michael Webb
Photo(c)JackRamsdale.com
Caption: This mural was created as part of the Mural Arts Program's multi-year/multi-mural partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. The school requested a mural about the theme of immigration because the student population at Spruance is made up of many different ethnicities. The mural includes symbols from various cultures and religions, and some of the children from the mural class (a curriculum provided by the Mural Arts Program in concert with the project) actually modeled for the mural. The Statue of Liberty is depicted (corner, lower left side) with the chains around her foot broken symbolizing freedom. The houses in the background represent the neighborhood. There is also the "American Eagle" (you can find it if you see its eye in the middle of the mural and follow it around), and a family with suitcases and an airplane, representing opportunity, and traveling to a free land.
©2005 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program/Eliseo Silva, Photo © JackRamsdale.com
Caption: Born and raised in South Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo (1920-1991) served as Philadelphia Police Commissioner before winning election as the city's first Italian mayor in 1971. Rizzo's two terms as mayor were marked with controversy, but he was and remains deeply loved in South Philadelphia's Italian communities.
(c) 1995 and 2010 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Diane Keller
Photo by Steve Weinik
Caption: Peace Wall, by Jane Golden and Peter Pagast. 1308 South 29th Street (at Wharton St.)
© 1997 Jane Golden/Peter Pagast/PDR, Mural Arts Program, Sponsored by the William Penn Foundation. Photo by Jack Ramsdale, www.muralarts.org
Caption: This mural traces the history of immigration in the United States and includes important figures in the civil rights movement who worked to bring harmony amongst all the different races and ethnic backgrounds making up this country. This mural includes the faces of many different cultures. The project began under the auspices of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network (PAGN) and
it was also a "rep" wall, which meant it was a wall where every graffiti writer wrote their name.
This immigration mural depicts the history of immigration; especially since Philadelphia is such a racially and ethnically diverse city. Jane Goldman said, "We wanted a mural that would celebrate Philadelphia’s diverse communities and neighborhoods. We spent a lot of time doing research about immigration patterns in Philadelphia. In addition we interviewed a wide variety of community groups and cultural organizations. The best aspect of the project to me was that we worked with a racially diverse crew of kids from all over the city."
(c) 1993 and 2001 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Jane Golden/Simon Huelsbeck, Photo by Don Springer
Caption: Commissioned by the Lanza Institute in 1997, the Mario Lanza Mural spreads across two adjacent buildings at the corner of Broad and Reed streets in South Philadelphia. The mural depicts important moments in Lanza's life as a classical singer, recording star, and movie idol.
(c) 1997 Diane Keller / City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, photo by Jack Ramsdale.
Caption: This mural portrait of Paul Robeson is at 4502 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
Paul Robeson
(c) 1999 Peter Pagast / City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, photo by Jack Ramsdale