A Place to Call Home (Community Mural)

While housing is globally recognized as a human right, for many Philadelphia residents it remains a dream. A Place to Call Home sheds a light on the unique housing challenges facing urban children and youth while embarking on a significant effort to equip them with the skills and resources necessary to ensure they remain healthy and housed.

Inspired by voices of unhoused youth, this series included three projects. Shown here is the painting of over 30 facades of homes on the 3800 block of Melon Street, led by muralist Ernel Martinez. Using geometric color-blocking, the block became a “community mural” whose painted facades created a unifying identity.

Combined with the mixed-media animation created with artist Damon Reaves, a mural and installation of youth stories cast into a paper dining room by muralist Ernel Martinez, a series of site-specific small murals designed by Shira Walinsky (produced in collaboration with her University of Pennsylvania class called Big Picture: Mural Art), led to the Art House (/em> at 3828 Melon Street, where the installation was sited.

Location Note: Work no longer on view at this location. While the facades of some homes are still painted, the Art House and Pathway to Art House were temporary projects.