Demolition completed

1200 Ridge Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022

Murals and Development Part 3: Tapestries, Memorials, and Puerto Rican Heritage

By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Earlier this month, Philadelphia YIMBY published two write-ups revisiting various street murals that we noted in our work over the years; today we share a third installment in the series. The City of Brotherly love is notable for its astounding amount of mural artwork, which number in the thousands. As such, it is only expected that such artwork regularly surfaces in our coverage of the city’s construction and real estate development, whether they are situated adjacent to planned projects, endangered by obstruction or demolition from new development, or proposed to beautify new buildings. Today we look at three very distinct murals, one representing an abstraction of the city’s textile industry, another memorializing a local community member, and a third celebrating the city’s Puerto Rican heritage.

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Mural: A People’s Progression Toward Equality, facing toward 19-27 South 8th Street. Credit: Mural Arts Philadelphia

Murals and Development Part 2: YIMBY Looks Back at More Street Murals in Philadelphia

By Vitali Ogorodnikov

In the 1980s, faced with mass demolitions and urban blight marring its storied streetscape, the city of Philadelphia responded with a sustained campaign of mural-painting. Over the course of the next half-century or son, the community, both mobilized into organizations such as Mural Arts Philadelphia and with the help of independent local artists, many of whom were virtuosos that sharpened their skills in the city’s budding graffiti scene, has wrought thousands of pieces of street art, earning the city the moniker of the “Mural Capital of the World.” Such works range from dazzling tour-de-force masterpieces stretching many stories high to humble art pieces that may be easy to overlook at first glance yet were nevertheless crafted with just as much love and care. Over the years of Philly YIMBY’s coverage of urban development, we have come upon many murals large and small. Below we have collected a few mural exemplars as part of our second installment of our ongoing retrospective series.

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Mural West site looking east. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Murals and Development: YIMBY Tracks Street Mural Art in Philadelphia

By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Philadelphia has been known as the “Mural Capital of the World” since Mural Arts Philadelphia, an anti-graffiti program started in the 1980s (combined with works by unaffiliated artists), produced upwards of 6,000 murals throughout the city. In great part, the mural-painting endeavor was an organic response to the city’s predominance of blank walls that became exposed after the lamentable postwar advent of disinvestment, depopulation, and mass demolitions. As the city’s population is finally reviving, having seen an increase of more than five percent in its population over the past decade (the largest growth percentage in 70 years), Philly YIMBY has covered ample new development rising upon numerous long-neglected properties. We make an effort to note local murals whenever they surface during our development coverage, particularly when they are in peril of being demolished to make way for new development or obstructed by new buildings. Today we look back at some of the murals that we have come across over the years.

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1513 West Stiles Street prior to demolition. Looking northeast. Credit: Google Maps

Demolition Complete at 1513 West Stiles Street in Cecil B. Moore, Lower North Philadelphia

By Vitali Ogorodnikov

In November 2020, Philly YIMBY reported that demolition permits have been filed for a three-story prewar rowhouse at 1513 West Stiles Street in Cecil B. Moore, Lower North Philadelphia. The single-family dwelling was situated on the north side of the block between North 15th Street and North 16th Street, just to the southwest of Temple University. A year and a half later, our recent site visit has revealed that the structure has since been torn down.

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