Daffodils Blossom in Our Future Dreamscape (2025 Philadelphia Flower Show Installation)
Each artist described their mural in an artist statement:
Caitlyn Augustyn, aka Bloomsy’s Blooming Beyond Your Wildest Dreams (with Allie Rainey and Blur)
Artist Statement: Blooming Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is a celebration of community, growth, and the transformative power of art. Drawing inspiration from the vibrant spirit of Philadelphia and its iconic row homes, this mural is an invitation for viewers to pause, reflect, and contribute to a living narrative of hope and renewal. At the heart of the piece is a playful reimagining of urban architecture, where each house becomes a canvas for nature’s exuberance. The left house bursts forth with 3D flowers, a tactile reminder of the beauty that emerges when creativity takes root. The middle house, my own, opens its door and stoop to welcome passersby to “have a minute to be rooted”—a moment to set intentions and dream aloud. Here, a live-action mailbox stands ready, inviting visitors to share their dreams and aspirations, merging personal reflection with collective storytelling. The right house, adorned with moss, ivy, and succulents, symbolizes nature’s persistent reclaiming of space, a gentle nod to the resilience inherent in all of us. I was fortunate to work with magnificent artists, Allie Rainey and Blur, whose collaboration helped bring this vision and mural to life. I loved how our collective energy and creativity merged to make this idea a reality. I have infused elements of street art into this piece, drawing on the raw, spontaneous energy of my own artistic roots. Incorporating a pay phone, stoop, and bus sign—each reimagined with a floral twist—serves as a playful dialogue between the urban landscape and the organic world. These installations not only enhance the visual narrative but also encourage active participation, transforming viewers into contributors who help to animate the mural with their own stories and dreams. Blooming Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is more than just a mural; it is an evolving community artwork that invites everyone to plant a seed of intention for the future. It is my hope that this piece will inspire a sense of wonder, connection, and empowerment, reminding us that even amidst the concrete jungle, beauty and growth can flourish when we come together.
Ethan Carroll, aka Nahcroll Illustration’s In Budding Company (painted with assisting artist Cody Stuhltrager)
Artist Statement: Coming up with the composition, I faced some resistance and wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about this piece. This last year has been hard on me personally, and I know it hasn’t been easy for anyone. However, I have found that it is easy to isolate and lose motivation, but when I’m surrounded by like-minded people, I feel so hopeful and inspired. Asking for help from others, getting feedback, and sparking ideas with one another are how we grow and change for the better. In Budding Company is about the beauty and love I’ve experienced in the people and places in this city.
Jaime Kahng Wiesner’s Companions
Artist Statement: The Flower Show this year is all about looking forward and envisioning a future full of abundance. What gives me hope for that vision is the wealth of knowledge we already have at our disposal. I wanted to make a piece highlighting the specific practice of companion planting as an example of a technique with a long history and many current applications. Companion planting is a technique of growing different kinds of plants together for the mutual benefit of the different plants. You may be familiar with the very famous example of the Three Sisters, a combination of beans, squash, and corn developed and used by indigenous communities across North America and Mesoamerica. The beans absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it into nitrates in the soil, the squash provides ground cover, and the corn stalk makes a pole for the beans to climb. This kind of planting is in opposition to a monoculture, where you might see an entire field of just one crop. In this piece, you’ll see nasturtiums, purple aster, basil, tomatoes, and carrots. Carrots’ long taproots help aerate the soil and combat compaction. Basil deters many common garden pests and also helps intensify the flavor of nightshades like tomatoes. Purple asters attract pollinators, and nasturtiums draw pests like aphids to themselves over the delicate tomatoes, leaving the fruit protected and the pests much easier to deal with on the heartier flowers. All this to say, companion planting makes it possible to set up your garden, be it in a window box, a backyard, or a community, to prioritize diversity, protect our vulnerable members, and cultivate beauty. This rug was made using a hand-held tufting machine, which punches yarn through an open-weave fabric stretched on a frame. The yarn is secured with glue on the back and then sheared to create an even texture across the surface.
Marigold Murals’ Mama Fire, Baby Seed
Artist Statement: Mama Fire, Baby Seed displays the inevitability and necessity of destruction within creation, drawing on the renewal of self as a liberatory practice. In this mural, a mother plants a seed inside of herself as she comes home to her body, land, and spirit. The mother holds the legacy of her ancestors inside her, and she continues the renewal of life as she becomes fire. Birthed through the dismantling of their mother’s world, a baby seed emerges from the fire and transforms into the beginning stages of a marigold. Grief waters our dreams to fruition; without it, there is no seed to plant. In this image, we honor the cycle of the deconstruction of worlds bringing us into new ones. The Marigold Child is the creation of a revolution: a liberatory force continuing the freeing of the colonized bodies and lands. Planted in faith, the Marigold Child is one of many seeds of rebirth.
Location Note: Murals no longer on view at this location (temporary project).
