Mural Arts Program
Graffiti. How do we perceive artistic talent splayed upon city walls and bus stops? Is it graffiti or art and messages in time?
The Mural Arts Program reaches out to graffiti artists to redirect their artistic energies from destructive energy to making constructive or artistic mural painting. Founded in 1984 as a component of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, the organization hired Jane Golden to help them move the program forward.
Ms. Golden was excited by the project and quickly discovered the great talent that graffitis artists had. What Ms. Golden created was a way to take that raw artistic energy and use it for mural-making. Murals can add color and beauty to inner-cities and build self-esteem among the community and certainly within the artists themselves.