Personal Renaissance Portraits by Mustafah Abdulaziz

Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 5-7 pm
Dilworth Plaza
West side of City Hall
15th & Market Streets

As part of The Porch Light Initiative, a partnership between the Mural Arts Program and the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, participants in an addiction and recovery program at the ACT II Center in Kensington have been exploring both the personal and communal processes of recovery through the creation of a new mural. Photographer Mustafah Abdulaziz's portrait series offers insight into the lives of these participants, documenting moments of reflection along their journey. Exhibited in Dilworth Plaza at City Hall, an active transit hub where people from all walks of life share their daily commute, these portraits invite people to share in the journey of those working toward self-renewal, providing a new perspective on the nature of human dignity and the paths we all travel in pursuit of understanding our own.

Curated by Jordan Rockford, the Personal Renaissance portrait series will be on view from May 19 through June 29, 2010, with a public opening on Wednesday, May 19, at 5:00pm.

Mustafah Abdulaziz is a Brooklyn-based photographer and member of the photo collective MJR. His client list includes The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek.

A concurrent exhibition celebrating the entire Porch Light Initiative will be on view at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia from May 6 through July 29, 2010, with a public reception on June 28.

For more information, please contact Netanel Eliezer, Exhibition Project Manager, at 215-685-0755 or netanel.eliezer@muralarts.org.