Mural Arts Philadelphia’s new leader is Emily Mello, succeeding Jane Golden

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Mural Arts Philadelphia has a new leader.

Emily Mello will take over as executive director on Sept. 1, replacing founding director Jane Golden, who launched the public art organization 42 years ago.

Mello has a long list of credentials in the museum world, spanning two decades. She held leadership roles in education and public engagement departments at institutions such as the New Museum in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Mello studied English and art history at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and earned a master’s degree in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Mural Arts will be her first job as leader of an entire organization and her first time working in Philadelphia.

“It’s an incredible city with incredible arts organizations,” Mello said in an interview with WHYY. “Mural Arts has really been a leader in community-engaged art, which is something I’ve been committed to for over 20 years in the arts.”

Mello said her professional values align with those of Mural Arts, “particularly a focus on education and youth, restorative justice and art as a source of healing.”

Every year, Mural Arts employs over 250 artists, completes about 80 projects annually and stewards over 4,500 existing murals in the city. It has an annual budget of around $15 million, roughly 20% to 30% of which comes from the city of Philadelphia.

The organization’s pillars have been its work in restorative justice, behavioral health through its Porchlight projects, education and community engagement.

Through Mello’s work at the New Museum, she partnered with New York’s district attorney and the Center for Innovative Justice to leverage art in Project Reset, a diversion program that keeps people who commit minor crimes out of punitive court proceedings and possible jail time. She also created the New Museum’s Art and Social Justice residency and exhibition.

In 2013, Mello was in Miami as part of the Pérez Art Museum Miami’s capital campaign to build and open a new building. As deputy director of education and public programs, Mello said she oversaw the largest arts education program in Florida’s Miami-Dade County.

Hope Comisky, board chair at Mural Arts, said Mello is expected to maintain the continuity of the current programs and “honor Jane Golden’s legacy.”

“We’re looking for Emily to provide new ideas to help Mural Arts to continue evolving while staying true to its community-centered mission,” Comisky said. “When Mural Arts started, it was the Anti-Graffiti Network, and these additional programs that are so key to it, like Restorative Justice, like our Porchlight program, evolved through the years. We look to Emily to tell us what else we should be doing.”

When Golden announced her retirement in August 2025, one of her former employees, Kathryn Ott Lovell, now the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center, was concerned about the organization’s future.

“I don’t know what Mural Arts is without Jane,” Lovell said in 2025. “It is Jane and Jane is it.”

Mello said she is aware of Golden’s personal impact on Mural Arts and on the artist community surrounding the organization.

“Jane is a force and I think it really is a testament to her leadership that when we think about Mural Arts, we think about Jane. But we also think about hundreds of artists who have been involved,” Mello said. “When I think about the organization, it’s about continuing to make sure that everyone feels ownership over the work that it does.”

Golden will remain involved with Mural Arts as a consultant until at least the end of the year.

Mello said she does not have plans to make major changes to Mural Arts right away. When she starts Sept. 1, she said she will talk with staff and stakeholders to see what has been working well and how the organization can adapt to public needs.

“Just taking a temperature check on the concerns and values and aligning where Mural Arts can play a role,” she said. “Where art in general can play a role in continuing to transform and support visible histories and pride in the city.”