One morning in March I woke to find an email to my website, it was from a man named Kiriakos Iosifidis. Kiriakos is one of the creators of Carpe Diem, a magazine chronicling public art in Athens, Greece. Click here to view the website of the Magazine.
Kiriakos had put out a book on public art from all over the globe. He was looking to update and release a second edition and wanted me to be one of the many new artists that would appear. I submitted some hi-res photos and an artist bio, and waited to see the result.
I received word that the book came out in the beginning of December, and I purchased a number of copies in time for the holidays.
The book titled Mural Art #2: Murals on Huge Public Surfaces Around the World from Graffiti to Trompe L'Oeil(ISBN#: 3939566276) is an ambitious collection of artists, and its an honor to be a part of it. There are a great number of Philadelphia Muralists featured within. This book does a great job of portraying the Mural Arts Program and its Artists as a true movement in the arts, and its humbling and fascinating to see how we fit in with public art across the globe.
The Citywide Mural was taken down on October 11th from 30th Street, and a few weeks later was reinstalled in a new location at the Gallery just inside the 9th and Market St entrance.
As it turns out, the mural found a home on a wall that was big enough to accommodate all the sections in their proper order. Our thinking for months was that the mural would be divided into seven sections and distributed throughout the gallery, in fact the design itself was created around the fact that it would eventually be in seven equal parts. We're all thrilled that we can get one final look at the entire mural. Its going to be up for a long time as well. Last I heard it may still be there through the holidays and into January! Between The Gallery and 30th St, the mural has found an incomprehensibly vast audience.
There is going to be another event as well. On Wednesday December 9th at 11am there will be an event held on site at the Gallery to rededicate the mural and announce the list of permanent host sites for many of the mural's sections. With any luck the event will help find a permanent home for any final panels that remain.
Big thanks go out to Kathryn Ott Lovell, Deborah Zuchman, and Cheryl Durgans of the MAP Staff for finding the time to take on the unenviable task of managing the remainder of this project, and finding it various homes throughout the city.
Oh yeah, and before I forget, here is a link to a WHYY interview with Peter Crimmins that aired the day of the Dedication at 30th St.
The Citywide Mural was officially dedicated at 30th St Station on September 25th. The event was well attended, despite the early 2pm start time. The crowd was filled with familiar faces of the people who volunteered their time during the workshops and paint days.
I wish I could remember the names of all the people who got up to speak during the ceremony, and the specific name of the choir that performed, but almost two months have passed between the dedication and right now. I'm lucky I found some time to post.
What I can remember is that the event was overwhelming, but in a good way. We got a lot of positive vibes from the crowd, and a lot of praise for the job that we did. The music from the choir filled the entire building, everything seemed larger than life. The staff at Mural Arts really outdid themselves putting this event on, I can honestly say it was the best dedication I've ever had.
That night Michelle, Kien, Myself and a few friends went to Yakitori Boy, rented a karaoke room and celebrated. I'm going to miss working with those guys, we worked together well as a team. Hopefully this wont be the last time we collaborate.
Click any thumbnail to view slideshow all photographs by Mike Reali
The Citywide Mural is up and can be seen up close in the North Waiting Room of 30th St Station.
Kien and I set everything up for the Stagehands Union to hang, all in all the process took 3-4 hours. Peter Crimmins of WHYY was on hand to interview us for a segment that will air Friday morning. Ill post the audio when I get it.
Mural Dedication: This We Believe City-wide Mural Project
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 · 2:00 - 3:00 PM 30TH STREET STATION NORTH WAITING ROOM
Celebrate the Mural Arts Program's first Philadelphia-wide mural project, a cornerstone initiative of the 25th Anniversary Celebration! This We Believe was created by artists Eric Okdeh, Michelle Ortiz and Kien Nguyen through eight months of community forums, a public vote, and community paint days to create a collective work that expresses the beliefs of the city. This project was made possible by the support of: The Sunoco Founation, WHYY, LEADERSHIP Philadelphia, Penn Project for Civic Engagement, Philadelphia Daily News, 6abc, Philly.com, IATSE, Amtrak at 30th Street Station, PREIT and the Gallery at Market East.
Call 215.888.9166 or e-mail events@muralarts.org for more information.
The Citywide Mural titled Living in the Presence of History was completed in studio earlier this week, following an intense 6 weeks of painting and tying together all of the work from the 7 paint workshops and the men from my SCI Graterford Mural class. We've had well over 300 volunteers take part in the murals painting and it was up to my teammates Kien, Michelle and I to bring the work together and make it seamless.
We took a photo of our progress every 15 minutes and I created this video out of the shots.
The final remaining paint days open to the public took place over 3 days
North Philadelphia Saturday, July 11 · 10:00 am - 1:00 pm The ARC/PDDC, 2350 West Westmoreland Street
South Philadelphia Saturday, July 18 · 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Columbus Square, 12th and Wharton
Southwest Philadelphia Saturday, July 25 · 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Myers Recreation Center, 5800 Chester Avenue
The following thumbnails were from those dates. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and spent an afternoon with us painting this massive mural. Click any Thumbnail to begin the slideshow
