Community Empowerment: Mural Arts Philadelphia's Community Muralism Process and Product

Abstract

This paper examines community muralism as an instance of community empowerment, specifically through a case study of Philadelphia's mural program. The program is called Mural Arts Philadelphia (MAP) and was founded in 1984 as a graffiti abatement program. It is now the largest public art program in the nation, and over the past three decades, public mural programs have been established in many cities across the United States and the world. Informed in part by my first-hand experience with muralism at Jubilee Arts, a mural program in Baltimore, I am curious about community muralism's impacts, both real and perceived.