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Shepard Fairey Leaves Mark on Fishtown With New Mural on Frankford Ave


Public art, noun: Art in any capacity that has been planned and executed with the intention of being placed in a public space, usually outside and accessible to all. Often associated with murals, sculptures and fountains.

Street art, noun: An umbrella term defining forms of visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned and executed outside of traditional art venues. Often associated with graffiti, wheat pasting, sticker art and stencils.

Like paint on canvas, these two creative ideas blended together when world-renowned artist Shepard Fairey joined forces with Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program to create a stunning new piece of public art at 1228 Frankford Ave. The mural, titled Lotus Diamond, is the artist’s first large-scale piece in Philadelphia.

“It’s amazing [to be part of Philadelphia’s Public art collection],” Fairey said. “I think this is the best place for public art on a large scale in the country. I spent a lot of time all over the country— LA, New York, Chicago, San Francisco—and I think that the mural program here is extraordinary… I’ve done a lot of illegal art but this is my first big mural here and hopefully it’s just the beginning.”

Fairey is best known for his HOPE portrait of President Obama that circulated thought the 2008 campaign and his OBEY stickers featuring Andre the Giant’s visage. He is often characterized as a street artist whose name first popped on the radar for wheat pasting, a way of adorning public spaces with posters, signs and other elements by adding water and a wheat mixture to create a wallpaper paste, and for sticker tagging. The guerilla nature of his art has led to several run-ins with the law with numerous arrests now comprising his official criminal record.

“For me, street art has been everything— empowerment, therapy,” Fairey said. “I’ve frequently had the police on my back so it’s great to have the powers backing me here. That’s amazing after 16 arrests but I really believe in the power of art to inspire people in so many different ways.”

The partnership that Fairey has fostered with Philadelphia’s Mural Arts makes sense. The program was set up in 1984 as part of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network to eliminate the graffiti crawling along the city’s walls. Then-Mayor Wilson Goode hired muralist Jane Golden to reach out to graffiti writers and encourage them to dedicate their energies to constructive mural painting instead of gang-fueled vandalism. Since then, the Mural Arts Program has painted over 3600 murals onto Philadelphia’s walls and employs over 200 artists and teaching artists every year with a commitment of about $3.3 million to the creative economy. In turn, Mural Arts has both beautified the city as well as given hope to young artists looking to make a name and a living for themselves.

Aside from his most famous poster, Fairey parallels this idea of hope—he was a street artist who found inventive, legal and profitable ways to change the world with his art. Aside from his artistic ability, he has also been an entrepreneur and an example of someone who found a way to capitalize on his talents. Fairey has developed two marketing and design agencies, BLK/MRKT Inc. and Studio Number One, which have had corporate clients such as Pepsi, Hasbro on top of album art design for The Black Eyed Peas and the movie poster for Walk the Line. His OBEY stickers have also spun off into a popular clothing line.

“[Fairey] is just an interesting model of an artist who is highly innovative and entrepreneurial,” Golden, Mural Arts Executive Director, said. “He’s also tremendously generous and I think those are all qualities we want to embrace in our artists. He’s a great role model to our young artists and our art education program— that you can take that talent and creativity that sometimes goes unrecognized and we say, ‘Recognize it, Recognize it!’ We want kids to have access to art education programs and then you can take it and follow that lead, and it can lead to fabulous things.”

The always-exuberant Golden was pleased to dedicate the finished mural on Fri., August 8th along with Fairey, City Council President Darrell Clarke, Philadelphia developer Roland Kassis and Josh Goldblum from Bluecadet design studio.

“I think it’s hugely exciting, the fact that Shepard is here doing a major piece of art, not something small but major, and will be coming back and doing several other things with us over the next few years. It’s extraordinary,” Golden said. “People all over the world are talking about our city and it’s collection of public art. To me it’s thrilling and says that this is a city that cares not just about arts and culture but also about community, young people and the community of artists who live here. To me, this is a resounding message of optimism and hope.”

According to Golden, Fairey will be putting up two more major pieces in Philadelphia. She couldn’t specially comment on them other than the fact that they are going to be part of an international street art and contemporary art exhibit that’s happening in the fall of 2015, with a lineup of “fantastic” artists coming to Philadelphia. Golden said these artists will be connecting with different parts of Mural Arts, the community and younger artists in a way that Golden says will be “generative, profound, educational and inspiring,”

Northern Liberties resident and street art enthusiast Max Cohen was observing the dedication. Cohen is a fan of Fairey’s work and was seated in the front row of the ceremony.

“Shepard Fairey is a perfect example of what the Mural Arts Program represents, taking graffiti writers and showing them how to paint with brushes. OBEY parallels this perfectly,” Cohen said. “Starting off in the illegal sphere and being able to transcend into the legal realm, all while maintaining his integrity and vision is a great achievement. I love that he’s true to his roots and still shares his art with the world.”

When asked what it was like to be a few short feet away from Fairey, Cohen simply said, “Inspiring.”

“Public art is democratic—you don’t have to go to a museum or anywhere that’s intimidating to experience it. I just think that it enriches lives and I’d like to see more of it,” Fairey said. “Philadelphia has such an amazing mural culture I’m just thrilled to be part of it and the thousands of murals here. I think it’s so unique that the Mural Arts Program working with the government has been facilitating all these things… it really shows what is possible when people think about how creative energy can be channeled and supported. I am humbled and grateful that I could be a very small part of it and I hope that you guys like what’s going on here.”

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