Murals and Civic Media

Civic Media is a new idea that is still trying to be defined these days. One person can define it as a new way for that can create civic engagement. Another person can say it is media playing a role in different conversations throughout the country. These different way can be determined as blogs, social media with their posts, tweets, hashtags etc., trying to get their message across. Instead of using typical TV news, people are now instantly getting their news as soon as it breaks, thanks to the technology world we are living in these days. As soon as a news story breaks, you can immediately go onto Twitter and search what you are trying to find and there in a second, you have the story you are looking for.

But there is another form of civic media that you would not think immediately of. Murals are a type of civic media. Lucky, living in Philadelphia, capital of mural nation, there are over 100’s in the area. There is not a time that goes by that I do not see a mural on the street corner. Though it was not till recently that I actually thought about what murals can do, what kind of purpose they serve for the community, and how they are another example of civic media.

Philadelphia been plagued with the unfortunate title of having a bad name for themselves. From homelessness, gun violence, poverty, and others, you would not think of beautiful masterpieces as murals to be located in this area. They are actually praised and called internationally as the “City of Murals”. According to the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program their goal is to “create art with others to transform places, individuals, communities and institutions.” They try to start a conversation with each their murals they create, as well as change the stigma throughout. A lot of people who create the murals in Philadelphia are people who are in jail and who have lost their way. These are people who never realized the skills they had until unfortunate circumstances occurred.

Murals did not just star because they wanted to create a picture, but actually because of Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network’s (1984) effort to get rid the city’s graffiti crisis. It was not until 1996 that the Mural Arts was truly recognized and honored. The programs targets each neighborhood in Philadelphia that enrolls 2,000 people and engage additional 18,000’s. Different programs they have are Art education for youth, people who are struggling with mental illness, trauma and addiction, and inmates, those in prison and returning to society, as well as victims of violence. They also have a community mural department and a special projects department that works with large scale art that are supposed “to push the boundaries of public art.”

Just recently I was able to actually take a tour of the different murals throughout Philadelphia. I focused on the West Philadelphia area. A couple murals that I saw were Our City, Our Vets, Peace Wall, Building Brotherhood: Engaging Males of Color, and Fathers And Children Together. The Our City, Our Vets was created to support the vets who were returning. They wanted help bring vets together who are struggling to PPSD to come together and to share their struggles and build a stronger support system for when troops returning home. The Peace Wall was created after different violence made national headlines back in 1997. Differents people from the community and creator of the Mural Philadelphia went to each door in the Grays Ferry neighborhood area to pitch their idea of a mural. Some didn’t agree to his but others decided on the designed they came up with. The mural is supposed to “symbolize the community’s commitment to ending racial division.”

The Building Brotherhood: Engaging Males of Color was inspired by President Obama idea of My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge. They wanted to create a conversation between men and boys of color. Different issues they face are gaining access in education and jobs, their access to health services and building motivation towards community and individual wellness for them in Philadelphia. A Father’s Love is a Child’s Treasure was created in part with Fathers And Children Together (FACT) to help fathers who are in prison to connect with their children. Also they hope they can talk their children in choosing education over prison.

With murals becoming a new type of civic media, it is only time to see what else will become a different type a civic media. Though it is still trying to truly be defined, I have no doubt that it will be a thing that is popular in about a couple of years. It is a new type of news and media that everyone should go out and support.