On the Road Looking for Murals

“To the Glory of G-d” Mural in Springfield, MO

Murals in Missouri and New Mexico

Over the past few weeks we have been in transit from Philadelphia, PA to Tucson, AZ. Along the way we have been visiting communities to try and get a feeling for the status of the arts in America. How are artists and community arts programs making their way in this new global economy?

One of our first stops was in Louisville KY. There is an active arts scene there with several community murals on underpasses and at least one "free" wall where aerosol artists work on ever changing images. There are several arts centers, galleries and performance centers. Its a beautiful town that seems to offer a full array of cultural activities.

We discovered several murals in Springfield and Joplin Missouri. The mural in Springfield was huge and located on an abandon grain silo. We met a few guys who maintained the property. They told us that Springfield was going through a revitalization of sorts. The old was being demolished for new upscale shops and apartment buildings. The mural was painted by local artists Obie Harrup III and Farley Lewis and sponsored by something called the Messiah Project. It was painted 10 years ago and is entitled “To the Glory of G-d”. Springfield MO is home to a number of religious collages, and felt like a deeply spiritual place. As we walked around the beautiful downtown I don’t think we saw one piece of trash. We noticed several other murals on businesses but no evidence of an organized program.

The next day we stumbled on a masterpiece in Joplin MO. “Joplin at the Turn of the Century 1896-1906” was painted by the great American artist Thomas Hart Benton in 1973 at the age of 82. The interior mural is located in the City Hall building. The 5 1/2’ x 14’ mural was the centerpiece of Joplin’s 100th Birthday. Benton began his career as an artist working as a cartoonist for the Joplin American newspaper in 1906. This mural was his last signed large scale work.

“Joplin at the Turn of the Century 1896-1906”

A few days later we found ourselves in Socorro, New Mexico. This small town is a beautiful piece of Southwestern culture and features many historical buildings including the San Miguel Mission, restored in the 1960’s. The original mission was burned during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. A second mission was built between 1819 and 1821. The center of town is the Kitrell Park Plaza. On one corner of the Plaza we discovered a mural painted on the side of the Manzanares Street Coffee House and bike shop.


The shop was closed and we didn't see an artists name on the mural. It’s a beautiful work of art with rich color and detail. We walked around the town enjoying the ambiance, imagining that many years ago this could be what Tucson or Santa Fe looked like.

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AGAPE Mural

AGAPE Mural ©2008 Philadelphia Mural Arts Program/ Michael B. Schwartz

I just finished this mural today. It’s located at the AGAPE African Senior Center 229 N. 63rd St. in Philadelphia and is a Philadelphia Mural Arts Program project.

The mural tells the story of a Liberian immigrant’s experience of coming to Philadelphia. From the mango tree filled streets of her hometown, to a pensive ride on the airplane, to arrival in Philadelphia. She experiences the cold hard realities of life in Philadelphia before finding her peace in the city. This project included several community input sessions where participants shared ideas through drawings and brainstorm sessions, food and story telling.

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National Artists Corp, Participatory murals, democracy and development. What the hell ya talking about kid?

This is a time of great transition and possibility. In this election year there is talk of a National Artists Corp and arts education was mentioned in nationally televised debates. Could it be that the movement for cultural democracy may finally have the momentum needed to take a quantum leap? Is this a sign that our collective years of hard work is paying off? Hmmm. Before you answer check out Arts Vote and see where the candidates stand.

If there is to be a National Arts Corp we all can help insure its success. This means that everyone involved in defining, advocating for and designing the program will have to fit a rather large spontaneous circle into a tiny static square.

Exactly what sort of social impact do we seek to have? What skills and histories will be taught? Will we allow for spontaneity and innovation? Will we connect the dots between culture, democracy, war and climate change? Are we talking about starting new programs or funding existing ones? Will rural and suburban communities be fully included? How will we network and dialogue among the programs? How will we insure that the program is authentic and rich? How will we mitigate the questions of community arts aesthetics? How will we insure that our process results in a product that participants are proud of? What training will these young teachers receive? What about all the older un- and underemployed cultural workers?

As our field becomes more institutionalized the contradictions we face are more severe. The positive is that with this institutionalization comes greater opportunity and a broader acceptance of participatory and interactive arts in general. None the less most of us who are working in this field lack job security, fair pay, health care or adequate housing and work space. These are nice problems to be having in one sense, but we have to be even more diligent in navigating the contradictions and black holes that litter the stage upon which we work. We have to do more than just have good intentions and ideas, we must begin to think of ourselves as a movement again. We have to organize to demand our rights, to advance our field and articulate why our work is so critical.

A fantastic resource and one I would encourage everyone to use as an organizing tool is Arts in the Public Interest. The site includes listings of opportunities, discussions, where people are meeting and weekly updates on what is happening in the field.

Also check out Just Seeds - a sizzling hot network of DIY artists and cultural workers. We saw Josh McPhee at the opening of a new show of posters at Space 1026 in Philadelphia. He mentioned that there may be a conference in Pittsburgh some time in early 2009, a possible mecca and time to organize?

As we further untangle the web of Art Corp programs check out Art Corp Seattle founded in 2000 . Also founded in 2000 is an academic consortium called Imagining America .
Then there is ArtCorps out of Beverly, Massachusetts a group that places emerging artists in host communities to facilitate community based cultural development projects.
I have to give props to the Tucson Arts Brigade, a group well ahead of its time that dared cross wild rivers long before funding bridges were built.

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Celebrating our Work

We had a great article in the Philadelphia Daily News on May 20, check it out.

On May 1 we had a great community celebration, with many people helping tell the story of this project. A film and slide show about the project was being projected on the wall as we listed to live music, ate and shared stories with new friends.

It was one of those special and authentic community arts events where you had to be there in person to fully appreciate the feelings of pride in our work. There have been a number of participants who wrote lengthy articles about their experience in Collective Imprints. This project really was a ground breaking experience, and something that I hope will live on not only on the walls of the Rotunda but in the hearts and minds of all who participated in the project in someway. Until the very end new people were coming to get involved. Clearly people in Philadelphia love community arts.



Rashida describing the mural.

Jodi leads a community movement response to the mural.












Ben describing the mural.

Lion of Jerusalem Project

The "Lion of Jerusalem" will be dedicated June 1 at Congregation Anshi Israel in Tucson, AZ. The life-size sculpture will welcome all who enter Congregation Anshei Israel.


This design is inspired by the tradition of Jewish Paper cut outs. These works often had a religious, ritual, or mystic purpose. This particular design has Sephardic and Northern African roots. If you look closely you will find similar patterns on buildings throughout the southwest. I selected two colors that flash or flicker like a candle, colors that speak to the Jewish American spiritual history and experience. You may notice slight color changes in various types of light. This vibrancy is achieved through the careful layering of paints. I knew that most people would be seeing the lion from a distance, so I enlarged the designs. The lion looks different from all angles, and the colors change throughout the day.

The earliest known reference to Jewish cut paper dates to 1345, when Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Yitzhak ben Ardutiel composed The War of the Pen Against the Scissors. He tells a story that when the his ink froze one winter night he started cutting the letters out of the paper.

This project was part of The Jewish Arts Alliance (JAA) , dedicated to supporting and inspiring Jewish artists and artistic Jews in Southern Arizona.


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RW Brown Community Center Murals

April 30 was a busy community paint day at the RW Brown Community Center where I am the lead artist on a project with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program . I had the privilege of working with Cathy Harris, Director of Community Murals at MAP, artists Josh Smith and Colleen Kane as well as a team of people from City Year and Aramark . Throughout the day about 45 people participated, painting in a good part of the mural. The mural is being painted on a cloth that will be adhered to the wall.



This was part of a day of service sponsored by Aramark as part of their 2008-9 Building Community North American Tour. As we painted the mural other teams were working on planting garden beds, creating benches and picnic tables, planting flowers, painting and much more.

The theme of the mural is strong families supporting community. We see a student writing some thoughts. His thoughts reflect his idealism, aspirations and daily life. We see a family walking in a commons field, kids planting community gardens that are harvested with produce being transported to local restaurants and stores. Also depicted are kids playing sports under the watchful eye of neighborhood elders. Implicit in this mural is the idea that it does take an entire city to raise a child, and that this community center is providing critical support to families.



An interesting aspect of this project is the collaboration of organizations who made this mural possible. Clearly the message is out that murals are one important ingredient to building community. People feel a real sense of accomplishment, and as we did today, the team is stronger through a shared experience.

As the day ended several people said - OK - so when is the next paint day? - that was fun!