Philly work of art designed to spur workforce development
A new mural in Philadelphia will do more than just brighten a wall.
The “How We Fish” mural at Eighth and Cherry streets is part of a bigger effort on workforce development.
Citizens Bank CEO Dan Fitzpatrick says the bank is donating $200,000 for the project. “Our goal is a new mural arts project that will engage Philadelphia residents, governmental and community leaders in discussions about work and its role in our lives,” Fitzpatrick said.
In addition to the art, the money will fund a workforce-development summit featuring business and labor leaders.
Jane Golden of the Mural Arts Program said the mural replaces one from the mid-’90s that has deteriorated.
“We work now on something called parachute cloth, which is a lightweight, very durable material so everybody can work on it,” said Golden. “We digitize the image, then we project it on sheets of parachute cloth so people all over the city can help us paint. It goes up on the wall. The artists embellish it and make it look beautiful.”
Golden says she’s working to hire as many artists as possible to paint the mural.
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