Above and Beyond

Above and Beyond honors the work of social workers and their involvement in child welfare. The project was funded by the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services.

Artist Eric Okdeh interviewed social workers, social media, and staff organizations for project input and final design. Reoccurring words spoken throughout the sessions were incorporated into the mural: empathy, advocacy, resilience. The general design encompasses circular layouts of systems in place for each child highlighted within these circles. The vignettes illustrate: Advocacy in the courts; time pressures working on cases; outreach; overburdened paperwork to process caseloads. The design also depicts positive relationships between the social worker and youth, illustrated by light rays emerging from the circles.

Portraits of prominent social workers and their families are featured and some are painstakingly fabricated with stained glass and colored mirror within the arched windows. The right window features a portrait of “Julian”, who was a success story in the foster care system. He later trained and became a professional boxer, a coincidence, as the mural faces the former site of Joe Frazier’s famous gym.

Four paint days were held at different social service agencies that included over 100 volunteers participating in the project.

The credits section of the mural includes 10 scannable QR codes, which can be read using a QR scanner or smartphone ap. The historic 100+ year old firehouse was previously the site of Reverend Hester and the Fire Department by Parris Stancell until 2012.