Picture Windows

Picture Windows by David Guinn comprises two murals located at the corner of 12th and Federal Streets in South Philadelphia. The murals are installed on a building in which the windows that have been stuccoed over. The imagery in the murals is based on the South Philly tradition of expressive window displays. In each mural, curtains flank a collection of objects, house plants, and shelves, drawn from Guinn’s research of current window displays in the surrounding neighborhood.
The mural facing 12th Street includes shelving with books and plants, a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap, and a representation of Michaelangelo’s Pieta, copies of which are frequently found in the windows of older Italian-Americans.
The mural facing Federal Street includes a Philadelphia Eagles football helmet, again evoking the enthusiasm for local sports teams. Striped curtains are reminiscent of an American flag, representing the service and patriotism of our veterans. The cat pictured is named Jojo who lives in the building and is widely known to the neighbors for roaming the neighborhood.
Picture Windows are part of David Guinn’s series A Dream For a Better World, which also includes the Brewerytown project Future Valley (31st and Master Streets) and the Passyunk Avenue project Rainbow Gate (near Passyunk and Mifflin Streets).
This mural replaces one at the site that was David Guinn’s first mural for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.