Wall to Wall

by Lori Hill

art It's difficult to imagine what Philadelphia streets would look like if their abandoned lots and dilapidated walls were not adorned with larger-than-life paintings—of neighborhood heroes, of local cultural icons or simple nature scenes. Love them or hate them (and there are very vocal critics), murals have become evermore present on the city's landscape. Twenty years ago, a determined woman named Jane Golden took over the Anti-Graffiti Network, a well-intentioned but floundering city initiative to end the rampant wall writings that, to many concerned Philadelphians, seemed to only exacerbate the impression of blighted neighborhoods. Golden took the best part of the program—involving local communities in the cleanup of the walls and lots—and ran with it, so that we now have more than 2,400 murals across the city. Through the Mural Arts Program (MAP), professional artists work with community leaders to coordinate paint days with kids, bus tours of the murals and educational opportunities that have expanded to almost every corner of the city. How'd they do it?

That story will be told through a multimedia exhibit at Nexus called "MAP: 20 Years in the Community." MAP's Brian Campbell says the show will be a retrospective of the program's two decades of community beautification and activism, using archival photographs and textual collaboration between MAP staff and curator Mary Salvante. Fittingly, there will be a work in progress in the gallery's back room by prolific muralist David McShane. It'll be a tribute to a much-loved mural in North Philly, Portrait of an Anonymous Young Man, that was lost to a fire. This exhibit marks the kickoff of Mural Arts Month, and in its 20th year, MAP's got more programming than you can shake a paintbrush at—from mural dedications to lectures to film screenings and tours. Visit www.muralarts.org/events for a full schedule of events.

"MAP: 20 Years in the Community," opens Fri., Oct. 1, 6 p.m., Nexus Gallery, 137 N. Second St., 215-629-1103.