Mural arts tour

Philadelpha is known for its murals. The building-sized pieces of art are all over the city, transforming neighborhoods, discouraging grafitti, and raising the quality of living for nearby inhabitants. It's a beautiful way to celebrate each community within the city and its heritage. (article here) There are more than 2700 murals that were officially commissioned by the city Mural Arts program, with hundreds more done as side jobs. What's even crazier is that there are currently over 3500 people on the waiting list for a mural! Each one takes between two weeks and six months to make, costing up to $90,000. The paint has sunscreen in it and is only made by manufacturing facilities in California and Germany. Depending on the color, the paint costs between $25 and $125 a gallon (yellow pigment is the cheapest; blues and purples are the more costly kinds).

I've been wanting to go on a mural tour since I moved here this fall. This past Thursday, I got my chance. My schools participated in a the comic book project through St. Joseph University.
As a celebration of the students' work, the students and a few teachers got to tour West Philly's murals. Normally the tour costs $24/person, so it was a great deal. Unfortunately, the adults liked it more than the kids...for some reason, driving around for over two hours and looking at the neighborhood you've lived in your whole life doesn't always appeal to middle schoolers! I had a great time though; here are some pictures from the event:






This picture below is a memorial to some people who were shot in West Philadelphia. One of my student had an uncle was shot and honored through the mural. Here are two 6th graders standing next to the picture.


Will Smith? Heard the Fresh Prince theme song? "West Philadelphia, born and raised..." Well, this is the playgound where Will Smith spent most of his days.