(Photograph by Steve Weinik)
This striking mural, titled “You Go Girl,” is a portrait of the Philadelphia-born poet and spoken word recording artist Ursula Rucker, adorned with excerpts from her poem “l.o.v.e.” The mural is the result of collaboration between Rucker and Jetsonorama, an African-American man who works as an artist and a physician in the Navajo Nation. The two were brought together by the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which has produced more than 3,600 murals throughout the city. The program began in 1984, when artist Jane Golden was hired by the city to lead the Mural Arts Project, a part of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. Golden worked with neighbors and graffiti artists to jointly create murals, rather than graffiti, on the sides of buildings. It has since grown into a much larger effort, employing more than 50 people who work with artists, young people, convicts, funders, property holders, and local residents throughout Philadelphia. The program, still led by executive director Golden, is now the largest public arts program in the United States.
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