URBAN ART AS A SOCIAL CATALYST

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AN ARTISTIC JOURNEY

How did you become an artist and when did you start creating murals, before or when you arrived in Philadelphia?

I've always loved art since I was very young. My mother was a very talented watercolorist, and I started taking art classes at ten with the same teacher as her. I fell in love with watercolor. In high school, I attended the children's programs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In college, I double-majored in political science and fine arts, torn between law and art. My paintings were quite large, and I was very interested in social realist painters, German Expressionism, and I had read extensively about American mural painting of the 1930s. At Stanford, I studied Mexican muralists, which fascinated me. After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles, which was then the center of the muralist world. I was amazed by what I saw everywhere. I applied for a grant to create a mural, I got it, and I just went for it without really knowing how. That's where I fell in love with mural art.

How did you come up with the idea for this mural program when you moved to Philadelphia?

My first job in Philadelphia was with the Anti-Graffiti Network. I worked with graffiti artists for ten years. My mission was to transform the negative energy of graffiti into something positive. I was struck by the fact that the kids I worked with loved art, that they were true "wall hunters," and that they loved painting large and outdoors. I asked my boss if we could start creating murals in addition to the other art programs. He agreed. At first, it was modest: the city gave us poor-quality paint and large brushes. But the kids loved it, and the neighbors responded with unexpected enthusiasm. These murals became a focal point, a sign that people cared and that things could change. It was a catalyst. When the network closed, I went to the mayor to ask him to create a proper public art program.

It is quite surprising that the Mural Arts Program was born out of an anti-graffiti program.

It's true, it's quite funny. The program wasn't very punitive; it was primarily about providing opportunities for young people. It taught me how to work with communities and allowed me to meet incredible talent across the city.

RETHINKING PUBLIC SPACE

How did you manage to change the mentality of street artists who were creating illegal works?

It wasn't easy. Some were already passionate about art, with an impressive knowledge of art history, often without having attended art school. I was struck by the connection between their practices and abstraction. We offered them jobs, first part-time and then full-time. Being able to get paid to make art in Philadelphia was very appealing. I wasn't asking them to give up spray painting, but I was encouraging them to diversify their skills and understand the professional world so they wouldn't be exploited by the art market. I felt a real obligation to support them.

At what point did you realize you were transitioning from artist to project manager?

I continued to paint and create murals throughout my work for the anti-graffiti network. It was around 2004, when the Mural Arts Program began to grow so significantly, that I realized I could no longer do both. Supporting artists and designing the organization itself as a creative endeavor became my priority.

How do you think about the role of walls and their place in the city, beyond the artistic aspect?

The role of our murals is to identify areas of difficulty or tension in the city and to use art to address them. I firmly believe that art reveals hidden stories and gives a voice to people who feel marginalized or unheard. Public art is a way of saying, "Your life matters." The Philadelphia mural collection is, in a way, the city's autobiography. It's a social contract between the artist and the community to create something meaningful for everyone.

Faced with market forces and gentrification, how does the program adapt?

Cities are constantly evolving, sometimes at breakneck speed. We must remain very open and flexible. We try to tell the city's story while being aware that not everything can be frozen in time. We sometimes create more temporary works, but the essential thing is to remain curious, to work with the citizens, and to continue creating, despite the fact that neighborhoods change and some walls disappear. The artwork must continue to resonate with the residents.

URBAN ART TODAY

How do you perceive the current evolution of urban art and the cooperation between institutional projects and illegal practices?

In the 1980s, the scene was extremely compartmentalized: graffiti, public art, and sculpture were separate worlds. Today, those lines have blurred. Artists use both brushes and spray cans, and genres influence each other. Graffiti, street art, and muralism are now interconnected. The rise of social practices, where the process is as important as the finished product, has also changed everything. We are experiencing a true paradigm shift: the scene is less hierarchical and less divided, and that's a great thing for everyone.

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