PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mural Arts Philadelphia and the city unveiled a massive mural on Friday, just in time for the city's Fourth of July celebrations. City leaders say the art carries a message of resilience — and it's only the first of many such murals to come.
The 33,000 square-foot work of art was painted this week on the parking lot space at Eakins Oval across from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Mural artist Felix St. Fort says he used large geometric shapes to create the image.
"What it shows is a cityscape that is the dawn of a new day," St. Fort said. "It features a bunch of people doing outdoor activities, so it’s about just welcoming people back to normal life — not post-COVID, but as close as we can get so far."
Mayor Jim Kenney says this mural is just part of their Vax Up Philly campaign, using art as advocacy.
"The mural not only represents our city’s recovery and rebirth, it also makes me reflect on the challenges that we’ve had over the past year and a half," Kenney said.
"I know that it’s tempting to think that the risks of the pandemic are behind us, except we need to get vaccinated," Mural Arts' Jane Golden said.
And that’s why, Kenney says, 40 additional, smaller murals will be painted this summer in neighborhoods where vaccination rates are low.
Patrick Morgan with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation says park usage was at an all-time high this year, so those mural will be placed in parks around the city, "to get the message out that the best thing people can do to return to some normalcy is to get vaccinated."
Kenney says more than 71% of Philadelphians have already been vaccinated, which is the most of any city in the country.
"We do something right now and then," he said.
And that’s good news for Welcome America CEO Michael DelBene. He says high vaccination rates makes it safer to gather again, which is why fireworks will be returning to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway this weekend.
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