Citizens have until the May 18 to vote for which design should be the centerpiece of this summer’s “This We Believe” city-wide mural arts painting.

The winning mural will become the canvas for a series of community paint days throughout June and July.

The finished mural, painted on over 2500 sq. feet of cloth, will be temporarily installed in 30th Street Station and then at the Gallery at Market East.

You can vote at the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program website.

Here are the designs. Click image to enlarge.

Team 1: Kien Nguyen, Eric Okdeh & Michelle Ortiz

Team 2: Phillip Adams, David Guinn & Damon Reaves

The winning mural will be announced the week of May 18th.

Paint Days
Beginning in June and continuing into the summer, we will be holding paint days for people of all ages to come and join us in painting the winning design!

Dedication and Celebration
The dedication of the mural is planned for September 2009, as part of our 25th Anniversary. More details to follow.

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The inspiration for both designs came from a series of neighborhood forums held in February and March. Citizens gathered and shared their reflections on what it meant to live in Philadelphia.

WHYY’s Peter Crimmins attended nearly all of the This We Believe community workshops and gathered stories from dozens of Philadelphians. You can read his story by clicking on this link or listen to the story by clicking on the play button below:

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Also we’ve gathered the recordings from a few of those forums.

South Philly

(Listen in on the small groups at the South Philly 2/24/09 meeting as they talk about their neighborhoods and what they learned from this process)

Northeast Philly

(Listen to stories) from people who attended this meeting in Northeast Philadelphia. 2/25/09)

See our earlier coverage

Sponsors and Partners

The Mural Arts Program is very grateful to the following sponsors and partners:

Facilitators:
Chris Satullo
Executive Director of News and Civic Dialogue, WHYY
Harris Sokoloff
Director of the Penn Project for Civil Engagement

Daily News

In-kind donations:

IATSE
Amtrak at 30th Street Station
PREIT & the Gallery at Market East