The Mural Arts Program’s Restored Spaces Initiative: Engaging Philadelphia Youth in Multi-Faceted Community Enrichment

Abstract

Like residents of any urban environment, we in Philadelphia learn to expect and accept some grit and decay, and a lack of green, natural spaces as we traverse both the busy thoroughfares and most distant corners of the city. We encounter trash-strewn public spaces, bear witness to graffiti-covered walls, and feel boxed in by building after building. But in our most sacred spaces—our schools, recreation centers and other youth-oriented public spaces—these bleak and uninspiring conditions are the most difficult to accept, and the hardest to ignore.

As the Mural Arts Program has grown over the years, we have become increasingly aware of the needs within our most vulnerable neighborhoods and the need to reclaim and redefine public space. All too often, these neighborhoods and civic spaces preclude human encounters, and leave people feeling disconnected and powerless. At the Mural Arts Program, we have tried hard to be deliberate in our effort to identify and respond to the needs that we see, the need to transform and build spaces where people create something together that captures the collective talents, aspirations and imagination of a community.