Webquest- Discover Your Neighborhood Through Mural Arts

Philadelphia Skyline.

Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, each with it’s own unique character and flavor. Although sometimes it seems like an entirely different city from one neighborhood to the next, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program touches every one of them. Since it’s inception, MAP has contributed over 2,800 public art projects. Each piece is thoughtfully designed considering not only the physical space it will occupy, but the culture and values of the surrounding community as well. They often include portraits of residents of the neighborhood, or other images that are meaningful to them.
Visit MuralFarm.org to find out about the murals that already exist in your neighborhood. How many murals are there within 10 blocks of your house? Pick one that you think best represents your neighborhood.

Italian Market, BellaItaliana Photography.

What’s special about your neighborhood?

Every neighborhood has something good about it, and something else that needs improving. A piece of public art will be seen by everyone who lives around it every single day, so the message that it sends them should be carefully considered. Images are a very powerful way to communicate messages. Here are some examples of murals located in the Italian Market section. What do these murals communicate about the culture of this neighborhood?

A Tribute to Frank Rizzo, Mural Arts Program,1995.

The Procession of Mary Magdalen di Pazzi, Diane Keller for Mural Arts Program, 2000.

Flag Day Mural, Eric Okdeh and Jason Slowik for Mural Arts Program, 1999.

Today you are going to design a new mural for your neighborhood.

First, think of the best location for your new mural. The placement of the mural should reflect its surroundings. How big is the wall, and what shape? Is it on the side of a building? What goes on inside this building? Who will see this mural and what do you want to say to them and about them?

When you’re designing your mural, keep the following questions in mind.

What is the best thing about your neighborhood, and what would you change?
What do you want the people in the neighborhood to think about your mural?
Will your mural attempt to bring attention to a certain issue?

Find at least 3 images from the web that you will incorporate into your mural. You may use these images in any way you wish. Print them out or import them into Photoshop to compose your final image.
Scan your final image or save as a jpeg and post to your blog. Underneath your final image, write at least 2 paragraphs describing your piece and why you think it would be the perfect mural for your neighborhood.