Cloud in Your Teacup

Cloud in Your Tea Cup by artists Adriana Amador-Chacon, Daniel Lipschutz, Monica Mathieu, Joshua Sarantitis is located in Center City Philadelphia. The mural reflects on the teaching philosophy that all sentient beings are interrelated. That the cloud in the sky is no different from the tea in your cup. The design takes viewers through a visual metamorphosis from DNA, cells, leaves, and trees to our solar system and back. From hexagonal beehive shapes to the organic and free flowing branches in our depiction of the cosmic tree, each of the 17 panels (there are 17 letters that make up Cloud in Your Tea Cup) can stand on its own as a chapter in this circular narrative. By the end of the mural, reading left to right one finds a tea cup with clouds emerging.

The artists facilitated eight weeks of workshops with participants in the Color Me Back dame-day work and pay program where they gathered input for the mural’s design.

From the artists’ statement:
“As artists, we draw from the age we are in, with our ability to see from the tiniest atom to the larger universe. And as we are all stardust, there is nothing separating us from the elements depicted in the mural, except perception of self. In effect the participants in Color Me Back are represented by the hand holding the tea cup – though many are considered “other” by the fact of being houseless, this mural acts as a metaphor for this non-separation, this interbeing. Finally the mural is an extension of the mural, Reach High, that Josh Sarantitis completed 22 years ago, diagonal to this location on 20th and Arch. The girl in that mural has a tree growing from her hands. In Cloud In Your Tea Cup this same idea is iterated to a greater level of complexity and the tree is now full grown as the center of our universe and the life-force we need to protect for the survivability of sentient life as we know it.”

The Color Me Back program was designed in partnership with the Scattergood Foundation, SEPTA, and Mental Health Partnerships. The initiative is managed by Mural Arts’ Porch Light department in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. Funding has been provided by the City of Philadelphia, the Barra Foundation, the Sheller Family Foundation, the Legacy Foundation, the Union Benevolent Association, and many others.

Color Me Back is an innovative program that combines participatory art-making and access to social services in a unique model offering individuals who are experiencing economic insecurity an opportunity to earn wages. Participants have the opportunity to connect, contribute, and engage with peer specialists who can link them with support services, including social and/or behavioral health services and potential opportunities for longer-term employment while working in the program.

Location Note: Mural is visible along Cuthbert Street between 20th and 20st Streets.