L IFESTYLE /C ULTURE
Mural Arts Program Finds News Ways to Support
Struggling Artists During Pandemic
ARTS SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
IT’S BEEN AN eventful 11
months for Jane Golden.

While the pandemic has
brought the operations of many
arts organizations grinding to
a halt, the executive director of
Mural Arts Philadelphia has
been hard at work transferring
regularly scheduled educational
programming online and devel-
oping new projects in response
to national crises.

“I would say we’ve been
very busy,” said Golden, who is
Jewish. W hen t he pa ndemic
began in March, Mural Arts
partnered with the Philadelphia
Department of Public Health to
22 JANUARY 28, 2021
“To the Polls 2020” mural
Photo by Steve Weinik
design “space pads,” or signs that
contain messages about public
health measures like social
distancing and wearing masks.

Th e space pads were distributed
throughout the city, and there are
now 5,200 installed. Th e organi-
zation also partnered with Broad
Street Ministry to create murals
at hand-washing stations.

“Th at means that hundreds of
artists actually had opportunities
to design the space pads and had
money in their pockets at the
time when the ecosystem that is
the arts sector in our city, which
is fragile under good times, was
really struggling” Golden said.

“We were able to provide support
for about 350 artists.”
When the George Floyd
protests erupted nationally over
the summer, the organization
decided to create a fellowship
for Black artists in support of
marginalized voices. It will fund
two fellows this year.

During the presidential
election, Mural Arts partnered
with StreetsDept.com founder
and curator Conrad Benner for
“To the Polls 2020,” a nonpar-
tisan initiative aimed to rally the
Philadelphia community around
civic participation through the act
of voting. Six local artists displayed
JEWISH EXPONENT
their democracy-themed work in
Love Park in October.

Mural Arts also recently
announced several projects with
Jewish businesses and artists.

On Jan. 12, event planning
company Catering By Design
opened DOHO Taqueria, a
Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant
in Mt. Airy with a logo designed
by high school students enrolled
in the Artrepreneur program.

“I said I would never own a
restaurant, but I’ve never lived
through a pandemic either
that canceled over 700 events,”
said Peter Loevy, president of
Catering By Design, in a state-
ment. The Jewish business
owner was excited by the talent
of the students and how well the
logo turned out.

Golden said the Artrepreneur
program is designed to give high
school students a tangible way
to use their skills in the real
world and learn how creativity
manifests in business.

“We feel it’s really important
for young kids to learn about
applying their learning to the
city. Th at is in part creating large
scale or small scale works of
public art, about doing their own
work, but it’s also about being a
creative thinker so as they move
on in their life, they realize that
they can have an idea, and have
the confi dence to bring it to
fruition,” she said.

Mural Arts announced another
new project on Jan. 8. “Floating
Dogwood,” a brightly colored
mural that will be installed outside
the oncology wing of Th omas
Jeff erson University Hospital.

When artist Michele Tremblay
was diagnosed with leukemia, she
was hospitalized at Jeff erson and
her only view during her treat-
ments was a window overlooking
a blank wall. Her friend Christina
Morin Graham oft en visited, and
she suggested that Michele create
a mural on that wall once she
was out of the hospital. When
Tremblay recovered and took
up the project, Graham and her
husband donated and raised
money. Tremblay partnered with Polly
Apfelbaum, a Jewish artist and
friend from art school, to create
the mural, which will contain
fl owers and hidden ladybugs to
visually engage viewers.

“It was an honor to make
something beautiful for the
community in collaboration
with Michele, and there is, in the
largest sense, something spiri-
tual in the generosity and joy of
the piece,” Apfelbaum said.

Mural Arts also is planning
a late spring or early summer
screening for “Making Home
Movies,” a project created by
Jewish artists Shira Walinsky
and Paul Farber and fi lmmaker
Corin Wilson.

“It is a way of using video,
poetry and ESL classes to
provide a format for people in
new immigrant communities to
tell the stories of their lives,”
Golden said. “Th ey’ve been able
to bring together communi-
ties in Southeast Philadelphia,
Northeast Philadelphia and
West Philadelphia to tell
remarkable stories.”
While the value of the arts can
oft en be overlooked in times of
crisis, Golden said their healing
and therapeutic qualities, as well
as their ability to teach resilience,
are not to be dismissed.

“We see art being put to work
all the time on behalf of people
who have been struggling with
trauma, or dealing with PTSD,
or facing housing insecurity or
addiction,” she said. “When you
think about the complexity of
not just our city, but all cities,
and the complexity of our world,
the truth is that our solutions are
probably going to come about
because of non-traditional inter-
vention. And that’s where the
role of the arts really steps in.” ●
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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