Old City
Philadelphia invented the American mural arts program, and Old City is where that history is most densely felt. Steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the neighborhood's walls carry large-scale works commissioned through the Mural Arts Program — formal, civic, and monumental in scale, in a neighborhood that helped invent the idea of civic art in America.
Featured Artists
All artists →Meg Saligman
One of the most acclaimed muralists in Philadelphia's Mural Arts history, Saligman is known for monumental figurative works that often incorporate photographic reference and classical composition. "Common Threads" at Broad and Spring Garden has been named one of the most important public artworks in the United States by the Americans for the Arts organization.
David McShane
Philadelphia native and longtime Mural Arts Program collaborator. McShane's work engages directly with American civic history — not as celebration but as honest reckoning. "Liberty Rising" depicts Lady Liberty in the style of WPA-era poster art, her torch casting light on faces that the original documents of liberty excluded.
Cesar Viveros-Herrera
Mexican-American muralist and educator based in Philadelphia. "First City" was commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of European contact with the site that became Philadelphia — Viveros-Herrera chose to center the Lenape people and their unbroken connection to the land rather than the colonial founding narrative.