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The Rocky statue at the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is now flanked by large-scale portraits of “Real Life Rockys”: actual Philadelphians who have lived heroic lives in the real world.

The temporary murals depict Chantay Love, who started an organization to support families of people killed by gun violence; Michelle Konkoly, who became a Paralympian swimmer after a spinal cord injury and now is a resident physician at a pediatric rehabilitation center; and Joshua Santiago, who travels the country giving haircuts to people experiencing homelessness.

And an actual, real-life Philly boxer is depicted among the honored: heavyweight Jimmy Young, who lost to Muhammad Ali but later beat George Foreman in 1977.

The murals are part of RockyFest, a weeklong festival celebrating the anniversary of Sylvester Stallone’s hit movie about the underdog boxer from Philly. It was released Nov. 21, 1976.

An estimated 4 million people pass Rocky each year. During December, when Love’s portrait is downstage from the statue, about 330,000 people will see her enlarged face.

“To be out there in front of everybody, it’s startling. But I’m honored somebody thinks of me that way,” Love said. “Me and my other honorees, we do have grit. We do have fight power. We are the underdogs that’s gonna keep pushing and pushing and pushing. That’s who we are.”

Love and the other subjects were selected through a public nomination and voting process put in place by Mural Arts Philadelphia, and then painted by muralist Ash Ryan. The concept was devised by the Philadelphia street art connoisseur Conrad Benner.

“I’m one of those annoying, lifelong Philadelphians that don’t really get the Rocky thing. I’ve never seen the movies,” Benner said. “But it’s impossible to ignore. It’s such a part of this city: Rocky’s determination, grit and ultimate hopefulness.”

The idea was to augment the statue of a fictitious boxer — just as a second, identical statue has been temporarily mounted at the top of the Art Museum steps — with people who truly embody the city’s bootstrap spirit.

“This gives us a chance to identify and lift up these incredible heroes right here in our community who are doing extraordinary work,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president of the Philadelphia Visitor’s Center, which coordinated RockyFest.

“They have really made great strides in their own personal lives. They are heroes to us. They are heroes to their families, and they are heroes to their communities,” she said.

The mural subjects each overcame serious setbacks toward their achievements. Love’s brother Emir was killed by gun violence in 1997. She named her anti-violence organization after him: Every Murder Is Real (EMIR). Santiago had been in the criminal justice system since he was 12. He recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has been on parole for more than 20 years.

Konkoly had been a Division I swimmer at Georgetown University with aspirations to break competition records. But that dream shattered in an instant when she suffered a traumatic accident that caused a spinal cord injury.

“It was clear that that was not going to happen. I have permanent weakness in my legs,” she said. “I was not going to win that fight, so I had to find a different fight.”

Konkoly is now a physician working in pediatric rehabilitation, helping children literally get back on their feet.

Until now, she’s never thought of herself as a real-life Rocky.

“No, I have to say I have not,” she said. “But that Rocky spirit of getting knocked down and getting back up has been infused throughout all the journeys of my life.”

The “Real Life Rocky” portrait murals will remain up beyond RockyFest week, for about a month. They will likely be reinstalled somewhere else, in a place not yet determined.