The connections might not seem obvious. But seen together, these projects raise provocative questions about an art form that’s been the subject of equal parts adoration and contempt. They’re all part of "Wall Power," which is a good example of the kind of cultural partnerships fostered by the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative (PEI).

Wall Power is an innovative collaboration between three arts institutions: the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) and the Mural Arts Program (MAP). Conceived by Thora Jacobson, director of Fleisher, and MAP director Jane Golden, Wall Power was originally intended to focus on community murals in Philadelphia. Then Judith Tannenbaum and Alex Baker of the ICA got involved, bringing theoretical and edgy perspectives. Baker, a visual anthropology Ph.D. candidate at Temple, helped to shape the structure of Wall Power by drawing from his interest in street art. Together, the team took their project to PEI, whose support also helped to produce a five-part catalog that includes essays by the curators and City Paper art critic Robin Rice. The Wall Power exhibitions offer evidence of the vitality of both sanctioned and unsanctioned community-based art, purposely including work that is problematic or contradictory to show something of the full range of these modes of expression in our time.

Indelible Market, curated by Alex Baker of the ICA and featuring the work of Barry McGee (a.k.a. TWIST), Stephen Powers (ESPO) and Todd James (REAS), explores the use of graffiti as a contemporary art form. The show has two parts, indoor and outdoor; the outside part consists of three billboards around West Philadelphia, one painted by each of the three artists. The inside part, divided into two upper gallery spaces at the ICA, is made up of one room with San Francisco artist Barry McGee’s expressionist wall paintings on plywood panels. His characteristically squashed, depressed-looking faces swirl in torrid red color fields. McGee also constructed intimate arrangements of customized booze bottles and framed images. The second room contains Steve Powers’ and Todd James’ collaborative bodega installation, wall paintings, signs and paintings on paper. Powers, a former Philadelphian, now resides in New York, as does James. The bodega’s imaginative products have snappy labels designed by Powers and James, making a reference, on a grand scale, to Piero Manzoni’s Merde d’Artiste. The two artists seem to have created a shrine out of a rapidly disappearing urban icon — the corner store — and it’s not surprising that unbidden volunteers, mostly young wall writers and graffiti aficionados, showed up to label cans and stock shelves! Billboards by Powers and James advertise the goods that are "for sale" in this bodega.

Although each of these three artists clearly has developed his own style, the combined effect is extravagantly baroque. Indelible Market is a serious and witty visual overload and, although it draws ideas, imagery and techniques from macho graffiti culture, it transcends it as well, through sheer generosity of spirit. As an art form, graffiti is transgressive, and McGee, Powers and James effectively employ this frisson in their work. Indelible Market pointedly asks the viewer to consider the visual life of the city, the nature of commerce, and the role of the (sometimes disenfranchised) individual.

Forest, photographs by Joseph Bartscherer, is made up of huge photographs sandwiched in Plexiglas by the New York conceptual artist. Bartscherer was chosen for "Wall Power" by ICA curator Judith Tannenbaum because of the similarity between his and the other artists’ concerns — social history, physical environment, place, scale, advertising — and because his approach offers a counterpoint to the others’.

In his Forest project for the ICA, Bartscherer considered the city of Philadelphia and chose to document an old-growth forest similar to what used to be here — and that would inevitably return if nature were left to its own devices. The coolness of his approach, in contrast to McGee, Powers and James, shows the natural landscape just as it is without human intervention (except the intrusion of the camera and the photographer). Bartscherer’s photos don’t have the classic beauty of nature photographs or landscape painting; instead they show disorder, growth and decay. For example, one 20-foot-wide photo grouping shows the messy clutter of a leaf-covered pond in the woods with some leaves rendered crisply by the camera, others slightly blurred as if in movement. His work demands a heightened visual awareness from the viewer, but gives formal richness and a sense of timelessness.

Bartscherer’s Forest project also included a proposal for a large-scale work for 30th Street Station. His plan was to install four vinyl banners with photographs of mature trees in the windows of the station, referring to William Penn’s "Greene Countrie Towne" and Philadelphia’s tree-named streets, along with recreating a memory of the natural landscape of the region. Ironically, the project was put on hold at the last minute because of a Claritin ad scheduled to go up at the same time. The plans for the project can be seen in the ICA installation.

"Philadelphia Murals: 1970-2000" at the Fleisher is the long answer to my questions when I drive around the city: How did this or that mural get there, who made it, how did they do it? The exhibition is a great introduction to the recent history of mural art in Philadelphia. Curated by Thora Jacobson, the show highlights the work of 14 artists working in a wide range of styles over the past 30 years. The exhibition documents how the artists develop their ideas through sketches and translate them into a gargantuan scale. At its best, this show not only answered my questions about murals but also illustrated how imagery from a specific place can be used to create meaningful metaphors about urban life.

The exhibition design is appropriately contemporary, beginning with a wall-sized color photograph of a real mural, and with cyclone fencing and plywood panels for display of artwork. A photo of the Maxfield Parrish mosaic The Dream Garden (executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany) gives a historic point of reference, and reminds us that even one of the most beautiful murals in Philadelphia is fragile and perhaps temporary. Also, thematically, this mural must have provided inspiration for the idyllic landscapes and ever-popular escapist themes of the earlier years of the Philadelphia mural movement — for example, Cavin Jones’ Landscape with Waterfall done through the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network.

The community has always played a crucial role in the mural movement, especially in the earlier years. Don Kaiser and Clarence Wood’s projects through the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the 1970s tended to be true collaborations with the community in terms of process and themes. Many mural artists form lasting bonds with the neighborhoods they work in, and the residents in turn really do gain an emotional attachment to "their" murals. Lynn Denton has worked closely with communities in long-term residencies, and her tile flower garden, Mural for Center in the Park with 25 collaborators, is typical. Vernacular languages are often employed by mural artists. Dan Polanco (a.k.a. DAN ONE) has developed a unique graphic style of painting based in graffiti, but also intelligently informed by his studies of calligraphy and typography.

Local heroes and historic moments are popular themes for community murals. For instance, Jackie Robinson by David McShane shows the legend (rendered in black and white) sliding into home — breaking the color barrier — with one hand reaching outside the frame of the image. Many mural artists try to relate their subjects to the history of a specific place. One of Michael Webb’s murals in Center City reconstructed the shadow and reflection of a demolished church that used to be on the site, while Paul Santoleri’s Haverford Avenue (Mantua) Trolley Stop is a swirling bird’s-eye view of that neighborhood.

Several artists have created well-crafted murals, firmly rooted in community ideals that become metaphors of urban life. Meg Saligman’s Journey at the Children’s Crisis Center at Callowhill and 18th is suffused with golden light and symbolically represents the stages of healing of a traumatized child. One of Patricia Ingersoll’s Heritage Murals weaves together the inside and outside of the Wilde Yarns textile factory on which it’s located. Her corner caryatid figures are drawn from real factory workers, and this specificity gives the work depth and resonance.

Philadelphia Murals shows some highlights from the recent history of the mural art movement in Philadelphia, which may be a first step in getting a handle on this unwieldy and rapidly evolving art form.

Wall Power: Indelible Market and Forest at Institute for Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th St., through Aug. 5, 215-898-5911. "Philadelphia Murals: 1970-2000" at Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, 709-721 Catharine St., through Aug. 5, 215-922-3456.

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