Chicago vs Philadelphia Cultural Amenities

[ThinkPositiveRespect]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Can you, for once, use the proper name for a city you write about almost, ad infinitum? Hint. It's real name Is not, Philly.

I use both as most do. Change the city titles that use -- Philly in billing the city in many ways and advertising it. It's not meant to offend you.

As we get told. "Lighten Up". I know it isn't seen officially as offensive. I see it as using the term Chicagoland. Some don't care for Chi-town used. But few get angry over it.

Now - Chiraq, I hate.. because there is nothing kind or good in that term.

[ThinkPositiveRespect]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

This is a great point, Duderino. We have some absolutely beautiful and eclectic murals in Philadelphia.

Of course at an institutional level, Chicago is a true heavy-hitter.

From last year on youtube. A women made of -- Some of the best city murals on the Northside she chose to highlight here.

https://youtu.be/uspqau41j0Y


Nice vidio of Chicago murals called -- Chicago graffiti here. Many very elaborate.

https://youtu.be/2Gv_ahKYh2I

More murals in South Chicago. Link begins -- Chicago is often concidered - The BIRTHPLACE of street murals by a place mentioned from 1967.
Video gives many elaborate murals here.

https://youtu.be/caVlvJLWZ90


More Chicago murals - The Histiric Graffiti Wall. North of Milwaukee Ave Chicago with artist in progress Northside.

https://youtu.be/WooQeVoSFhs


New Chicago city registry started last year, is calling on people to register - street-art murals with the city. That protects then from tag-cleaning.

https://youtu.be/YRg8zKsZLK4

Plenty in Latino neighborhoods too.

Youtube had videos from many cities on these murals. Philly does bill itself as. MURAL GRAFFITI CITY. I Know this us true.

**** PLENTY IF PHILLY MURALS ON YOUTUBE TOO. Here highlighing the Mural Mile in CC.

https://youtu.be/Y8WF6BZBrLM

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by ThinkPositiveRespect

Youtube had videos from many cities on these murals. Philly does bill itself as. MURAL GRAFFITI CITY. I Know this us true.

**** PLENTY IF PHILLY MURALS ON YOUTUBE TOO. Here highlighing the Mural Mile in CC.

https://youtu.be/Y8WF6BZBrLM

Actually, the term is "city of murals." The Mural Arts Program (nee Anti-Graffiti Network) is a civic institution, and as that YouTube video should make clear, what it does now is commission original works of art to commemorate people, organizations, historical events and the like in neighborhoods all over the city.

There was one mural in that video that I think was not created by the Mural Arts Program because it actually advertises a commercial business in a very clever manner.

You may not have peeped all the faces and images on it, but the mural includes:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
A hot dog
A one-franc coin
St. Francis of Assissi
Frank Sinatra
Frankie Valli
Frank Perdue
Benjamin Franklin
Frank Zappa
Frankenstein
Pope Francis (the most recent addition to the mural)

This mural covers the exterior wall of a legendary Center City dive bar called Dirty Frank's.

In this case, the Mural Arts program works are more "highbrow" than those Chicago street-art murals in that YouTube video, but those murals show why many people celebrate "graffiti" art. They're as well-executed and symbolically rich as the murals in Philadelphia.

To find a celebration of Philadelphia's non-publicly-sponsored street art, look here:

Streets Dept

Since 2011, photographer Conrad Benner has been documenting and celebrating the city's informal street art on this blog. (The city agency responsible for public works, road maintenance and trash pickup is the Streets Department.)

And there are some impressive works of graffiti art here and there. The wall at 5th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in South Kensington, for instance, features a gallery of rotating works by local taggers. What's on this Google Street View image taken last August isn't what was on this wall when I covered the groundbreaking for a new townhouse development cater-corner from it two years before. It looks like one of the works there now memorializes the artist's young son (memorializes because the stuffed dinosaur on the left side is shedding a tear):

1701 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia

The owner of the commercial business behind the wall gave the local artists/taggers permission to paint on the wall. The designs that were there when I visited had a copyright notice down in the bottom left corner of the one facing Cecil B. Moore. I asked the developer about that and he replied that the notice was there to keep others from taking photos of it and putting it on T-shirts for sale. There's supposed to be another housing development going in behind the walls, which are being preserved.