Portrait of former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter wins national award

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A painting commissioned to commemorate the eight years Michael Nutter served as mayor of Philadelphia has been awarded first place in the Portrait Society of America’s 2025 international portrait competition.

Artist Joseph Daily’s painting that depicts Nutter standing in Dilworth Park is based on a picture taken during Daily’s photo session with the mayor on a hot summer day a few years ago. Daily said one shot stood out from the hundreds of pictures he took that day.

“The light, the sun came around just enough that it was starting to illuminate the columns of City Hall, but not completely wash the building with sunlight, and I immediately thought, ‘This is it,’” he said.

Nutter was often interrupted by people who were walking around City Hall that summer day.

“We were surrounded by people and every 30 seconds, someone’s coming up like, ‘Hey, Mayor Nutter,’ and people wanted selfies with him,” Daily said. “There were families that came up. People asked him a few times for directions and he was just really gracious and helpful and a nice presence for everybody.”

Despite the heat and numerous poses as part of the shoot, he said Nutter was very cooperative.

“I had a wonderful time with Mayor Nutter personally. It was really fun for me,” he said. “Essentially every portrait is a collaboration and kind of a blind date because I don’t know who I’ll get thrown together with.”

The Portrait Society’s competition begins using digital photos to evaluate the artwork up for consideration, but the final evaluation requires the art to be transported for judging. In this case, the portrait had to be removed from City Hall to be taken to Virginia for the competition.

Daily said he really appreciated the cooperation of city officials for allowing him to remove the portrait for judging.

“The painting did get a tremendous response from people who are there, so it was really gratifying,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Daily has been a finalist for the competition. He’s been a finalist four of the past five years, an experience he called “really gratifying.”

The painting is back on display alongside artwork depicting other former Philadelphia leaders in the mayor’s reception room in City Hall. Visitors can see the painting as part of the daily tours of City Hall that pass through the reception room.