Eagles Diamond Street Dream Playground, Murals, and Mosaics

Eagles Diamond Street Dream Playgound, Murals, and Mosaics by artists David McShane, Paul Downie, Desiree Bender, David Woods is a series of murals, and mosaics wrapping both interior and exterior walls of the William Dick School in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Featuring large images in pinks, purples, reds, and blues these murals create a colorful oasis within the concrete and blacktop that surrounds the school. The interior murals, which show portraits of students, teachers, and literary figures ties together with the exterior murals forming a cohesive whole that brings together not just fun and learning, but community and individuality.

Since 1999, the Philadelphia Eagles (as the Philadelphia Eagles Youth Partnership from 1999-2015) has funded an annual Playground Build that includes the entire Philadelphia Eagles organization, including players, coaches, and staff members, with a Philadelphia school community to transform asphalt school yards into beautiful, imaginative and safe spaces for play and recreation. Mural Arts Philadelphia joined this partnership between the Eagles and the School District of Philadelphia in 2002. Mural Arts leads the development and production of the murals and mosaic tables that are part of these projects. Once a school is selected, Mural Arts leads an introductory pep rally at the school, as well as drawing workshops and after-school art programs with students to involve the school community in developing a theme for the project. Murals are then designed around the theme, often incorporating student drawings and artwork. The projects also include installations of play structures and a mini Eagles turf field in addition to the colorful murals and mosaic tables.

Location Note: Interior portions of this project are located inside a school building and are therefore not available for public viewing.