Spring Garden Neighborhood Mural

Spring Garden Neighborhood Mural by artist Hawk Krall was installed as part of the annual Spring Arts outdoor exhibition in the Callowhill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The goal was to illustrate the Spring Garden / Callowhill neighborhood, calling out landmarks both known and lesser known, current and in the past, in the artist’s signature, energetic cityscape style. The mural attempts to bridge the gap between the semi-dystopian “Eraserhood” of the last 40 years and the “Spring Arts District” of the now-and-future, with equal appreciation given to cultural elements of the neighborhood both high and low ( fancy restaurants / graffiti / halal carts / abandoned buildings / old “ghost signs” / lofts / etc ) with some nods to recent / current events (the Democratic National Convention, Truth To Power show, Night Market) done in a fun style.

To create the mural, Krall created a pencil sketch that was scanned and loaded onto a digital camera. The lower half was projected onto the wall and traced in china marker, while the second half was drawn using a grid due space constraints. The pencil drawing was then painted in black, after which two days of touch ups and corrections took place with white paint to clean up stray marks and drips and forgotten details.

Since 2016, Spring Arts is an annual installation of temporary and permanent artworks in collaboration with Arts + Crafts Holdings. Artists are invited annually to experiment, create, and innovate old building walls between 10th and 11th, Spring Garden and Hamilton Streets to rebrand the neighborhood. Artworks are exhibited on a revolving basis, providing a diverse range of artists with the opportunity to create engaging public art.