People often ask me, “How do you stay endlessly passionate about community murals in Philadelphia?” Especially now, during Mural Arts Month in our 40th year, they want to know how I sustain my enthusiasm and sense of urgency.

I say that my determination grows daily, thanks to people like David Luis ‘Suave’ Gonzalez, who was sentenced to life without parole at age 17. Unable to read or write, he was sent to SCI Graterford. During seven years in solitary confinement, Suave scraped colored ink from magazines and mixed it with water to make paint as he had seen street artists do, so that he could create instead of wasting away. Wanting text in his images, he taught himself to read and write. Ultimately, Suave became one of the original students in my first Graterford class, when an art therapist invited me to come teach mural-making.

Suave and 16 other “lifers” helped create Healing Walls, two murals now at Germantown Avenue and Indiana Street that they painted inside the prison and gave back to the community, in a collaboration with victims’ advocates. Initially, the two groups debated fiercely. By making art together, they eventually came to understand each other’s pain and offered mutual respect.

At 48, Suave was released from prison. Today, he is a coach in the I Am More Reentry Engagement program at Philadelphia Community College and a successful artist. In 2022 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his podcast with Maria Hinajosa called Suave.

For us, the value of public art isn’t just the final product. The process of people creating together while expressing their unique voices is equally vital.

“Art saved my life,” Suave says fervently. “Art is a powerful tool for conversation and healing. It’s not about how well you paint; it’s about expressing what comes from your soul and heart. When you bring art into spaces where people don’t want to listen to each other, breakthroughs happen. I’ve seen it firsthand.”

So have I, and Suave’s story is just one example. We’ve witnessed countless transformations through our Art Education program in Philadelphia’s public schools, where 2,500 young people participate in collaborative, hands-on projects each year. For us, the value of public art isn’t just the final product. The process of people creating together while expressing their unique voices is equally vital.

Students channel difficult emotions into meaningful art, developing pride and deepening their connection to their communities. When young artists stand next to a mural at its dedication or beside their work in our gallery, they proudly say, “I made that!” They know that they matter.

I also find urgency in the Porch Light program, our longstanding partnership with the City’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services. Through large, multi-year projects and programs for people facing trauma, we inspire participants to discover their talents and believe in themselves, often despite unfair stigmas. Refugees fleeing violence, people trapped in substance abuse, individuals with untreated mental illness — all are welcomed and respected.

Porch Light is just one part of our Kensington Wellness Initiative, where we’ve made an ongoing commitment to resilience in a struggling community. And we’re seeing transformative results. To a neighborhood that was largely neglected or demeaned, we brought Poet Laureate Trapeta B. Mayson, renowned artists like Roberto Luogo and José Ortiz-Pagán, and scores of mentors and mental health professionals. When community members wrote poetry, we put their words of hope in neon on building tops, lighting up the darkness.

“When you bring art into spaces where people don’t want to listen to each other, breakthroughs happen.” — David Luis ‘Suave’ Gonzalez

From Kensington to Southwest Philadelphia, I have watched art turn the ordinary into something extraordinary for over four decades. As author and LaSalle theology professor Maureen O’Connell says, Mural Arts “breathes transcendence into the heart and soul of communities, lifting them through art.”

There is also a significant financial impact. Mural Arts employs 200 artists and teachers annually. We contribute nearly $2 million to Philadelphia’s creative economy. Once-barren places are now vibrant communal spaces. From my earliest collaborations with young graffiti writers in 1984, to iconic projects like Kent Twitchell’s Dr. J, Meg Saligman’s Common Threads, and our collaboration with Steve Powers on A Love Letter for You, Mural Arts has left an indelible mark on Philadelphia’s civic and physical landscape. There is much more to come, which is why our theme this October is “Roots & Reimagination.” We invite Philadelphians to reflect on the past while reimagining what the future of public art and civic engagement can be.

Art is generative; it does not stop at the edge of the paper or wall but ripples outward. Our programs have provided critical health information during crises, encouraged civic engagement and voting, provided job skills and internships for justice-involved youth, and helped communities reclaim their streets.

Clearly, public art is the beginning, not the endpoint. It ignites change. Our work and creative processes are making a powerful statement on behalf of possibility, amplifying whatever is most resilient and healing in individuals’ lives and the life of our city. I believe that’s worth celebrating.

Jane Golden is Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this month.

The Citizen welcomes guest commentary from community members who represent that it is their own work and their own opinion based on true facts that they know firsthand.

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