On my latest trip there,
Philadelphia again stole my heart. But this time, instead of falling for Philly's red-bricked history, I fell for its outside art. Nicknamed the City of Murals, Philadelphia has more than 3,000 outdoor murals. The nonprofit City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (MAP) collection includes 1,700 painted walls.
Although founded to help eradicate graffiti in 1984, under Executive Director Jane Golden, MAP now connects artists with communities by creating art in public spaces. When travelers pay for a guided tour from MAP, it helps support Mural Arts' education and youth development, including the Restorative Justice Program, which teaches inmates, ex-offenders and juvenile delinquents how to paint murals.
Here's a look at two tours.
Love Letter Train Tour — Philadelphia native, New York-based artist Stephen Powers (aka ESPO), collaborated with MAP to create a Love Letter series of 50 rooftop murals from 45th to 63rd streets along the Market Street corridor in west Philadelphia.
MAP tour manager Ryan Derfler, who led my tour, said: "We've had at least two unplanned proposals, and half a dozen couples have had wedding pictures done in front of the murals." MAP estimates that the average mural measures 30 by 35 feet and costs about $20,000.
Offered 1–2:30 p.m. Saturdays, 10–11:30 a.m. Sundays year-round
Cost: $17 (includes SEPTA train token)
Mural Mile Walking Tour — Derfler gave me an abbreviated version of this 90-minute walking tour after our Love Letter train ride. The full tour visits 17 murals in Center City plus murals in Old City, Avenue of the Arts, South Street and midtown Village.
Offered 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. daily April through November
Cost: $17
Information: muralarts.org
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