Finally on 13th! Philadelphia Ballroom

Finally on 13th by artist Nilé Livingston is located in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood. A dreamchild of applicant Jacen Bowman and the many members of Philly’s Ballroom scene, Finally on 13th celebrates the 30th anniversary of Philadelphia ballroom culture. This mural is the Gayborhood’s first honoring this rich practice of Ballroom that has recently become mainstream. The mural is also the first in Philadelphia to celebrate black queer culture in a neighborhood steeped with that history which is fast impacted by gentrification.

With deliberate input from the community through discovery and documentation, Livingston painstakingly created a mural that incorporates and celebrates Philadelphia icons of ballroom dance, including Michael Gaston, Tiny Cartier, Kerri Mizahri, Renee Karan, Kelly Harper, Alverian Prestige, Jay Blahnik, Meechie Lavin, Jacen Bowman, and Mann Prodigy. This project is intimately intertwined with the black/brown/queer/lgbtqia+ community. It has been handled with care and treated as incredibly special, magical, and culturally unique. This project is culturally and historically directly linked to Philadelphia and marries both the past and present in a joyful, celebratory union.

“I want this mural to offer a face to a particular local history that may be largely unknown or obscured by Ballroom’s recent mainstream posture,” said Livingston. “The mural honors cultural forbearers who established Philly’s scene with little external fanfare and plenty of local need from a community countering numerous oppressive attacks.”

As part of the process for the mural making, Mural Arts Philadelphia held a Panel Discussion at the Barnes on November 3, 2022, about Philadelphia Ballroom culture. Participants included Jacen Bowman, Meechie Lanvin, Mann Prodigy, and Alverian Prestige.

Finally on 13th is a declaration, a marker, and a call to action to honor the history, the people, the art, and the icons, those who are here and those who have transitioned. It is a neighborhood-defining mural. It is an opportunity to preserve history and to give flowers to those who have influenced so many.

“This colorful collage method will communicate the vastness of the scene as a living space,” explained Livingston. “We chose the wall in the gayborhood to ensure that the mural’s vibrance matches the lives of persons coming into their being in that small section of the city.”

On July 22, 2023, there was also a Collage Workshop with artist Doriana Diaz at Vox Populi Gallery. The workshop provided a unique opportunity to engage with the community and celebrate iconic Ballroom figures through collage art. The collages created as part of the workshop will become part of the project’s archive.

This project was made possible in part with support from the National Academy of Design/Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Trust Fund for Mural Painting.