
But I was particularly struck by the city's Mural Arts Program. Just Since 1985 the city has commissioned over 3,000+ murals, many of which involve community collaborations. according to the site's history :
The Mural Arts Program began in 1984 as a component of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, an effort spearheaded by then Mayor Wilson Goode to eradicate the graffiti crisis plaguing the city. The Anti-Graffiti Network hired muralist Jane Golden to reach out to graffiti writers and to redirect their energies from destructive graffiti writing to constructive mural painting.
Jane Golden quickly befriended the graffiti writers and was impressed by their raw artistic talent and their self-taught knowledge of art history. She recognized the amazing creative force they represented, and she began to provide opportunities for them to channel their creative talent into mural-making. Mural painting also provided a support structure for these young men and women to refine their artistic skills, empowering them to take an active role in beautifying their own neighborhoods. The murals they created instantly added color, beauty, and life to an old, industrial city struggling with decades of economic distress and population loss. The results of the program were nothing less than magical. From the beginning, Golden witnessed how mural-making changed lives and how the murals themselves began to mend the aesthetic fabric of the city.
Since 1984 - over 3000 murals have been made and 10's of thousands of under-served youth and adults engaged with art education. You have to love a program whose mission includes a list of rationales, including my favorite -the last one:
I am so FOR Philly.Yo, This is Fun!We're from Philly. We're for Philly. And we're having a hell of a good time.

The program is based on a network of professional artists, community organizations and public and private funding partnerships. It was one of the best examples of public engagement with visual arts I have ever experienced.

I've also been listening to ?uestlove's (of the Roots) audio tour of the African American murals throughout the city. Well worth turning on and checking out. I've listened to a ton of audio guides in my day, and this one is really great.
If you haven't been to Philadelphia yet - GO. Plus it's about a month ahead of Ottawa in terms of weather, so while it's still grey and cold here - 8 hours away it's lush, hot and green.
