Symone Salib

[STREET SOUNDS]

SYMONE SALIB: I’m holding a Tupperware container. It’s like what you would get wonton soup from the Chinese store. Inside of it there is wheatpaste…

CONRAD BENNER, HOST: Today, we’re out with Philly street artist, Symone Salib.

She’s installing a brand new portrait that she made, and she’s using a tried-and-tested method called wheatpasting.

SS: Wheatpaste is a glue that’s made of flour, water, and a little bit of sugar. You know, ‘cause I’m a little sweet. [Laughter]

CB: This mixture of common ingredients you find in your kitchen can successfully stick art to outside walls — and last through the elements, sometimes for years. How does it work?

SS: Women in STEM. This is science. [Laughter] I’m just kidding, no. I don’t know how, honestly. I am not a… There is, like, a lot of science behind, like, art and materials. I certainly don’t know the exact reason why, but it works.

[MUSIC]

CB: There’s not a lot of empty space in Philly’s Old City neighborhood for this kind of work. This is the big tourist hub for the city, and it’s full of protected historical sites. So first, Symone has to search for the right spot.

SS: How do I choose a wall? OK, for me, my number one thing is I would like to choose a wall that is potentially a construction material. So something that’s, like, not on the actual building. Because I’m trying to, like, first and foremost, for me, like, care for the community and, like, the people who own spaces and own buildings. I’m not going to mess with your stuff. I don’t want that. But if there’s, like, a boarded up window or a boarded up, like, side of a wall, you better believe that is prime real estate, my dude. Fair game for Symone Salib.

CB: Eventually we found some of that prime real estate for ourselves.

There’s an empty lot where a building burned down a few years ago. As construction crews rebuild it, they put up a temporary plywood wall around the perimeter. Walls like this exist all over the city to protect people from accidentally stumbling into work zones.

But for street artists, they serve as a blank canvas.

SS: This wall that we’re going to put the piece up on is, like, a construction area. And in front of it, there is a bunch of construction board. Right now there’s like some pretty cool stuff on it. There’s some graffiti. There’s, like, a mural that used to be up there, I think, that, like, over time has just kind of deteriorated. I like to call it a street art skeleton. [Laughter] And then there’s an empty spot that’s right there, just for us.

CB: Time is of the essence.

SS: I usually try to make this pretty quick. I’m not really trying to stay at a site for, like, longer than like five minutes unless I have, like, permission. If I don’t have permission, we’re trying to be in, we’re trying to be out. Because technically what we’re doing is maybe not allowed. I’m a big ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’ kind of girl.

[THEME MUSIC]

CB: From WHYY, this is Art Outside, a podcast about the art in our public spaces — and the people who create it. I’m your host, Conrad Benner.

In this episode, we’ll hear how Symone has built and nurtured her practice as a way to heal herself — and invite others to do the same.

Symone Salib got started in street art by creating wheatpastes. Over the last six years, she’s turned her practice into a full-time career.

CB: What is your art? What does it look like? What kind of materials do you use, scale? All of that.

SS: OK. So, primarily I make work that goes in the public space. That’s stuff that makes me really happy. So with that being said, I started for a long time doing things that were wheatpaste, and wheatpaste is pretty ephemeral. So then I kind of transitioned into doing more permanent things, being murals. But yeah, I honestly, I just like work that brings people together, and I feel like public art is a really great way to do that.

[MUSIC]

CB: Symone is one of the most well-known street artists in the city right now. Her work is easily recognizable.

How do you describe your style?

SS: Oh my gosh! So I would say a lot of it is portrait driven. It’s, like, really bold, like, lines. I would say it almost looks kind of like a marker. If it’s, like, digital, like, imagine, like, a Sharpie, like, drew, all of it, right? And it’s usually very colorful. There’s a lot of bold colors. I feel like I’m a super colorful person, as, like, a human. And yeah, I feel like it’s like very concise and to the point.

CB: Beyond wheatpastes, she’s led commissioned mural projects and worked with big brands like Skittles, General Motors and Universal Music Group.

But interestingly, she discovered painting pretty recently — about seven years ago…

I’m just curious, like, how does your mind even go there, like, let me pick up a paintbrush? Just because, I think when people are bored or needing creativity, maybe they go to the gym, maybe they take a long walk, maybe they go to the movies. But how do you go from, like, ‘I’m bored,’ or ‘I want to be creative,’ to, like, ‘I’m going to go buy a paintbrush’?

SS: So honestly, for me, I was, like, really going through it. I had been, like, just, like, through some life stuff. And I was actually pretty depressed. I was having a really bad time. And that day, I had, like, went out to, like, lunch with my friend Sammy. And while we were there, I was just, like, trying to find ways to cope through what I was going through. And Sammy was like, ‘Dude, like, you should go paint when you get home.’ And I was like, ‘Maybe.’

And honestly, that was, like, some of the best advice that someone could have given me, because I feel like I really… I feel like when I’m having a bad time, I could, like, really just, like, be in my head a lot and, like, really just be staring at the wall. Like, I’m just having a bad moment. But I think, like, painting is so beautiful because you can kind of, like, do that same thing where you can actually just, like, be staring, and almost feel like you’re doing nothing, but at the same time, like, you’re moving, your mind is moving, your hand is moving. You’re also creating. And I think that honestly, there’s, like, this feeling when you finish a painting, and it comes out, like, the way you wanted it to. And it feels like maybe it’s, like, completing something or, I don’t know what, but it feels so good. And I feel like being able to make something, move through what I was feeling, and then also, like, have a finished product that I, like, loved, I was freaking out. I was having a great time.

CB: So, do you remember what you painted that day?

SS: I do.

CB: What did you paint?

[SOUND UP FROM “LOST” BY FRANK OCEAN]

SS: I really love Frank Ocean. This is just a thing about me as a person. I just, like, love his music. I think it’s the best. And I had painted a portrait of him that was, like, the Blonde album cover. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, where it’s, like, a photo of him and he’s got his hand in front of his face. And I was so excited with how it came out that I literally ran outside of my house, and one of my neighbors was out there, and I was like, ‘You need to come to my house. I just made this thing and it looks so good.’ He’s like, ‘What is it?’ I was like, ‘It’s a painting.’ He comes in and he was like, ‘Holy [bleep], that’s, like, really good.’ And I was like, ‘I know.’ And I’m like, freaking out. I’m like, ‘Am I crazy right now?’ And then after that, like, something inside of me was set on fire. And like, in a month, I, like, had painted like 10 paintings, and I had my first art show, like, later that month, which is also a crazy feat to, like, make just, like, casually 10 giant paintings in, like, a month. And, mind you, I’m working like two jobs, running around. I would come home and paint from like 10 p.m. when I got off of work, until, like, 3 a.m. And then I would go to sleep like a mad man. [Laughter]

[MUSIC]

CB: That’s Symone in a nutshell, passionate and full of a focused energy.

Once she fell in love with painting, it became her whole life. That first gallery show was a series of paintings featuring her favorite artists and musicians — including that original Frank Ocean piece.

But then, she started to think more deeply about who she was painting.

SS: I, like, really sat down and I was like, ‘Why am I painting all these famous people? These people don’t even know me. I’m never going to meet them. Like, they influenced my life, but, like, do I influence theirs? No.’ That’s when I, like, really started making more work that was, like, community-based because like, why are we not putting these people who are so incredible in our actual lives on the same pedestals that we put these famous people?

CB: That question kicked off her career.

Probably the first time I think I saw your work was when you did the street art series
where you were doing portraits of people in Philadelphia that you really admired, and I believe there were quotes with those people next to them. What inspired that?

SS: That’s when I taught myself how to do wheatpaste, and I was like, ‘All right, what is something that you, like, want to put into the universe?’ And I really had, like, a moment and, like, a question in my brain of, like, I don’t know, OK. So I came from this background of, like, my parents growing up. They were, like, the kind of people that if you didn’t have, like, a job, like a lawyer, a doctor, a pharmacist, like it’s not like, not like a not a real job, but, like, those are respectable jobs, right?

CB: OK.

SS: And I, like, never in my life thought like an artist was like, quote-unquote a respectable job that I could, like, even have or, like, that was a job, right? And then I really sat with myself and I was like, ‘No, it is a job. It’s actually really important. Like the arts are the things that enrich our lives and then, like, inspire us and are ways to express ourselves, right?’

So I was asking people who were artists of all kinds — photographers, poets, dancers, like, ‘How has art enriched your life or changed your life?’ And like, ‘What do you think that we bring to the community as people?’ Right? And it was kind of an open ended question. And people came with, like, these, like, vastly different responses that were so beautiful. And a lot of it kind of, like, re-centered back into this, like, moment of connection.

CB: In many ways, creating came naturally for Symone. But the actual logistics of being a street artist are tough for anyone to figure out, especially at the beginning.

Was it hard to install around the city? Was it weird? What do you remember from those first couple of wheatpastes?

SS: I think about like the first wheatpaste I ever put up, it was actually, like, late at night. Like, I feel like I was like, ‘Oh, I got to go in the nighttime when no one’s looking.’

CB: Yeah.

SS: ‘And I gotta wear all black.’ and I’m like, ‘No! Why are you being a sketch ball, bro? Like, don’t do that.’ So I feel like there was, like, a learning curve a little bit. But I definitely, like, feel like I got my technique down after, like, a few tries.

CB: Symone basically built her style off this project. Now, she’s almost always making portraits of people in her own community — and pairing them with an inspiring message.

She’s painted students, queer couples in love, activists who’ve since passed on, and plenty more.

[MUSIC]

We wanted to see her process up close.

[STREET SOUNDS]

SS: OK, so the piece is probably about, like, three feet, maybe by four feet, or something like that. Something in that realm. It’s a portrait of a woman. It was, like, a previous student of mine from a school I worked with. There is some words that say, ‘It’s not always about what you make, but the fact that you’re creating.’

[SOUND OF PAINTING WITH WHEATPASTE]

What I did when I first got here was, I took my paste and I put it on the wall first. Like, I put the wheatpaste on the wall. Then I took the piece out, I rolled it out, and then I put the wheatpaste also on the back. And then I took it and put it on the wall with the wet sides to each other, and then, like, it stays. What I want is for it to kind of, like, meld to the wall, and then I do, like, one more, like, coat all over the top of wheatpaste. I also brought some, like, pretty heavy duty mural gel with me, because it’ll make it stay on for a really long time. Like, this kind of like rubber cement. This is no joke.

CB: Even after years of putting up street art, wheatpaste is still exciting to Symone — in part because it gives everyone the chance to participate.

SS: Oh my gosh. I think it’s, like, such a cool and accessible material. I think a lot of art supplies is super expensive, and it’s not accessible, to be honest. And I, like, first started doing wheatpaste when I was broke as [bleep]. I was so broke, and, like, wheatpaste is literally flour, water, and a little bit of sugar. I tell my students all the time, I’m like, ‘Bro, you have these things in your kitchen usually. Look around.’

[MUSIC]

Cb: After the break, we’ll talk about how Symone grew her passion into a career, creating murals and working with big name brands. And, how she continues to use her art to heal from hard times.

That’s coming up, on Art Outside.

[MIDROLL BREAK]

CB: This is Art Outside, I’m Conrad Benner.

Even in her biggest projects with national brands, Symone maintains her style and focus on her community.

Let’s talk about the Skittles thing, though, because people saw your face across this world! World or country?

SS: Country, I think.

CB: Country, OK.

SS: Maybe across the world, I don’t know.

CB: People are going into the Rite Aid, people are going into their corner stores, and your face is on the dang skittles.

SS: That’s so crazy, I know.

CB: What was that project about?

[MUSIC]

SS: So, the Skittles project that I did was for their Pride campaign this year. Their whole thing was to, like, give their rainbow to the queer community. So the Skittles were literally gray, which was so funny to me.

CB: Oh, I didn’t know that.

SS: Yeah, like you didn’t know what flavor you were eating. And then you’re like, kind of tripped up. You’re like, ‘Was that a yellow or was that a red?’

CB: Whoa, the colors really denote a lot to you.

SS: Yeah. And so, like, their whole thing when they had first hit me up to work with them, they were like, ‘We want you to like tell your story a little bit, or tell your story of what it means to be, like, a queer person where you live.’

And so I went with a few directions. But the one that ended up being chosen was, I wanted it to feel like South Philly. Like, Philly is gay as [bleep]. [Laughter] I love that so much, and I feel like it’s such a blessing to live in a space like that, where you can just, like, be whoever you are unapologetically.

So the imagery on the Skittles bag that I designed was, like, literally of, like, a bunch of rowhomes in South Philly. And then it was just, like, two queer folks, like, standing on their stoop, like, just being in love. And the words on the bag, I, like did them in the same font that I would usually do my street art. And it said, I think it said, ‘Be generous with your love.’ And I think in, like, a time when things can feel scarce, at the end of the day, love is free, baby. And like we can be generous with our love in all capacities, whether it’s, like, with our relationships we invest in, or like our community, or our friendships and our chosen family. And like this design also kind of, like, spoke to the everyday moments of queer love.

Yeah, I could not believe that I got to make something that was on a Skittles bag, like across the country. That feels nuts. I had, like, my aunts in, like, other states, like in Arizona, being like, ‘I’m at the Walmart right now, and look what I found.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, that’s crazy.’ [Laughter]

CB: Her work has a deeper meaning.

Creating art is just as powerful for her today as it was the day she started painting, because it helps her heal from some of her hardest moments.

SS: We can make things that can be a container for our experience, like literally. Like, we can be creating a piece of art and processing these things that we’ve gone through in our lives. And like, it’s like the piece that we make is, like, a container or a vessel to, like, these things that we’ve been through. And we don’t have to be, like, maybe talking about these things always.

Or like, I’m not a clinician by any means, but, like, I can be a person that can facilitate space for people to, like, work through things that they’ve been through. And I think that, like, honestly so much of my art has been that for me, and has been such a huge tool to my own healing, which I am, like, forever grateful for, you know? And I think to have people understand that they can also do that is so powerful.

CB: Yeah. It seems like you’re tearing up right now. What is that about?

SS: It’s heavy stuff. Like, art is vulnerable, my dude. Like, it’s a lot. Especially, like, when it’s about yourself, which is, like, really scary. Like, being able to tell your own story and have your own autonomy is, like, really important. But, like, that’s hard.

CB: This was plain to see at one of her most recent exhibits, an art show that highlighted the experience of first-generation Americans.

[MUSIC]

SS: It had five different artists from Philly, and we all spoke to our experience as being kids from the diaspora. I think we all, like, spoke to what it meant to us to be, like, people who are first-gen, and how that’s influenced our lives. And the pieces I made were these, like, really big vessels, these vases, right? And they had, like, different words on them.

CB: Symone usually creates two-dimensional art, like portraits and murals. This was one of her first tries at sculpture.

SS: And, like, it was kind of like that idea I was speaking to before, this container to, like, my trauma, right? So one was for me, one container, one vessel was for me, one was for my family, and for the way that they, like, guide me in my life, right? And the other one was, like, a community vessel that was like a sculpture that I made out of papier maché. It was my first tiny sculpture. I was really excited about it.

CB: It’s so good.

SS: ‘Cause for me, I was like, ‘All right, I can make these things for myself, but also I want there to be an interactive element.’ That feels, like, so inherent throughout all of my art, right? And I wanted people in this vessel to be able to drop, like, write down something that they were holding on to that was heavy and drop it into the vessel.

CB: This paper mache vase she made was open at the top. There was a pad of paper and a pen next to it, so people could write down something heavy on their heart, and let it go into her artwork.

SS: So it was like it went to the abyss. I still have all these secrets. I’ve never left them.

CB: That’s so smart. I love that.

SS: Yeah. I wanted it to be a way that, like, because I’m not the only one that holds onto things and can’t let them go, you know? And, like, that I carry with me. Like, we all have things we carry with us.

CB: It’s so beautiful how earlier in this conversation, we talked about art as a metaphorical vessel, and then you just talked about…

SS: A literal one.

CB: Literally creating a vessel.

As you’ve gotten more and more into art over the last several years, what, almost six years now, right? Seven years?

SS: Mm hmm.

CB: How do you think becoming an artist, being an artist, has shaped your vision of the world?

SS: Hmm. It’s honestly, I feel like it’s made me more hopeful. Like, a lot of bad stuff happens, like, all the time, you know? And like, honestly, there’s people who have it much worse than me, and, like, I really have to understand my role in bringing about things that can create joy and create hope. And, like, I can hold both. Like, I think I can only hold the truth of so much hope because of, like, how hard the opposite end is, you know? And, like, I don’t know, I think that art has really, like, just changed like my life in that way. Like, I feel, like, naturally pretty optimistic, but because I feel like I’ve also seen so much darkness. And I feel like I want my art to kind of do that for other people as well.

[MUSIC]

CB: Next time, on Art Outside…

NILÉ LIVINGSTON: It’s a mural about pride. And I feel a strong sense of pride, I feel really good.

CB: We’ll meet a prolific muralist who developed their craft through Philly’s famous Mural Arts program.

NL: This girl came out of school covered from head to toe in paint. And I was asking her, you know, ‘What do you do that you have so much paint all over your clothes?’ And she was like, ‘I’m in the Mural Arts program.’

CB: They’ll show us that it takes a lot to make a mural. First and foremost, a commitment to the community.

NL: It’s about going into the community, learning what will resonate with the folks that live there, and designing something that will be impactful for that particular space.

CB: And also a love for the work itself.

NL: It’s life affirming for me, and it doesn’t always feel like work. It feels meditative.

CB: That’s next time, on Art Outside.

[THEME MUSIC]

This is Art Outside. I’m your host, Conrad Benner.

Our producers are Michael Olcott and Michaela Winberg. Our engineer is Charlie Kaier, with engineering help from Al Banks, Tina Kalakay, and Adam Staniszewski. Our executive producer is Tom Grahsler.

Our theme song is SNACKMFTIME by SNACKTIME. Our tile art was created by El Toro, aka Justin Nagtalon.

Special thanks to Louisa Boyle, Naomi Brito, Aubrie Costello, Grant Hill, Mike Mehalick, Alejandro Miyashiro, Sarah Moses, Maiken Scott, Jason Andrew Turner, and Kayla Watkins.

Art Outside is a production of WHYY. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Executive Producers: Tom Grahsler
Producers: Michael Olcott, Michaela Winberg
Engineers: Charlie Kaier, Al Banks, Tina Kalikay, Adam Staniszewski
Mixing: Charlie Kaier
Tile Art: Justin Nagtalon
Theme Song: SNACKMFTIME by SNACKTIME

Special thanks to Louisa Boyle, Naomi Brito, Aubrie Costello, Grant Hill, Mike Mehalick, Alejandro Miyashiro, Sarah Moses, Maiken Scott, Jason Andrew Turner, and Kayla Watkins.

Art Outside is a production of WHYY.