Healthy Rhythm

Artists Katie Yamasaki and Kien Nguyen created Healthy Rhythm to represent health and wellness, and promote active, joyful living. This project was done as a part of a massive renovation to the Smith Recreation Center and was designed to be a backdrop to a new outdoor fitness area. “Heavy Blanket,” a 2014 Mural Arts Philadelphia project created by the same artists, is on the other side of this concrete backdrop.

The concept was developed to both reference and contrast this project with the Heavy Blanket mural. Where Heavy Blanket is pensive, Healthy Rhythm is light and active. In Heavy Blanket, weighty textiles from cultures that suffered great discrimination lay upon a reflective young man. In Healthy Rhythm, design motifs from diverse textiles float dynamically around people in motion.

In Heavy Blanket, the background text reflects identity, how young men in the community identify themselves despite stereotypes telling them differently. A thoughtful reflective component of an emotionally healthy person who examines the world. In Healthy Rhythm, similarly styled text reflects an uplifting community identity at Smith Rec Center. It is a light, active, and healthy image for the community.