((PKG)) PHILADELPHIA MURALS
((Banner: Art Ignites Change))
((Reporter: Maria Morton))
((Camera: David Gogokhia))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
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((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
((Banner: Mural Arts Philadelphia is the largest public art program in America.
Its motto is “Art Ignites Change” and includes programs for drug addicts and prison inmates))
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((Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
Who amongst us has not had a dark time in our lives? We all have. And how do we use art to engage people and connect people,
((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
and connect them often to themselves and their family and their community? We see people go from saying, ‘I’m an addict,’ to saying, ‘I’m an artist. I can hold my head up. I can consider going into recovery.’ And I think that’s where art comes in. People see themselves doing something tangible.
It finds a home somewhere where people are acknowledging your self-worth, saying this is beautiful, we have gratitude, you did this.
Art reflects back our lives in some way, and art can be like the work behind me. This piece is about the impact of prison on families. And there are QR codes built into this, so you can actually hear peoples’ voices. And this was created by men in a maximum security prison, some of whom are from this neighborhood. There is genius and power and magic everywhere, in every neighborhood, and it’s our job to try to mine it, and work with people, with people to create beauty.
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((James Burns, Staff Artist, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
My name is James Burns, and I’m a staff artist with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. As a child growing up here in Philadelphia, I had a chance to see the murals, and my father would take me to see, like, the Dr. J mural,
((Courtesy: Dr J © 1990 KentTwitchell and Mural Arts Philadelphia, Photo © Jack Ramsdale))
which is, like, one of the more iconic ones. And you know, when new murals would go up, he would take me out to see them. And I think if you’re moved by art, it doesn’t matter if it’s a painting in a gallery or a painting on the street. I think it’s less about the form at the end of the day and more about the idea or the impetus.
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((Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change. You see change happen,
((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
and it just, over time, has given me extraordinary hope because I see it giving hope to so many people in this city.
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