More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell

More than twenty years ago, a New Jersey artist started a project for the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network that encouraged young people to paint murals on a few buildings around the city. Jane Golden could not have known that the Mural Arts Program (MAP) would become the nation's largest public art program and a model for programs throughout the country. With more than 2600 murals throughout Philadelphia, the program has brightened the lives of countless residents and tourists while providing a creative outlet for an astounding array of artists. MAP now works with more than 3000 students around the city, engaging them in a curriculum that teaches not only artistic skills but civic engagement and personal responsibility. In this sequel to the bestselling "Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell", published in 2002, "More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell" shares with the earlier work its beautiful color photography, along with profiles of the artists. Featured here is the remarkable story of an unlikely artistic collaboration - between boys who live in a residential facility, a community in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, and men who are incarcerated in a maximum-security state correctional facility. The 1/8 of a mile long mural they created, about balanced and restorative justice, was intended to help the young men give something back to a community they had harmed and help the community wrestle with issues around crime and violence. In the process of creating the mural, it became a life-changing experience for all involved. By recounting this story and the many others behind the works of art, "More Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell" is as inspirational as it is beautiful.