Farrell: A Place That’s Alive “Literacy Loop”

About the Project 

The Literacy Loop mural is a collaboration between Mural Arts Philadelphia and the youth, families, teachers, and staff of Farrell Elementary School and designed to increase literacy skills through playful learning.

This 10,000 square foot ground mural designed and produced by Philadelphia-based artists Jason Killinger and Jenna Robb is intended to support guided play, storytelling, and conversation focused on the development of the Playful Learning Schoolyard’s 6C learning goals for children — communication, collaboration, creative innovation, critical thinking, and confidence building.

In addition, the Literacy Loop highlights the local ecology of Northeast Philadelphia, featuring a large redbud tree, baby sparrows being fed, birds and squirrels spreading seeds, dancing bees looking for pollen, and a beehive that incorporates drawings by Farrell’s students. The mural’s “You Belong Here” map illustrates the migration route of the European bumblebee to Pennsylvania and references many of the more than 30 languages that represent Farrell’s student population.

The Literacy Loop ground mural is just one component of Farrell: A Place That’s Alive, a community gameplaying, storytelling, and design initiative that since 2019 has resulted in the overall transformation of Farrell’s schoolyard, including the introduction of greening, landscaping, new play equipment, and additional gathering spaces for the school’s students and the neighboring community’s youth.

Farrell: A Place That’s Alive participants include Mural Arts Project Managers Emma Wu and Shari Hersh; Design Strategists Gamar Markarian and Mateo Fernandez; Farrell Community Design Leaders Negma Ali and Suhad Manna; storyteller Ujjwala Maharjan; SALT Design Studio; School District of Philadelphia; and the youth, families, faculty and staff of Farrell Elementary School.

Literacy Loop artists and installation team include: Lead Artists Jason Killinger and Jenna Robb; Artist Assistants Malachi Floyd, Dan Murphy, Patric Dempsey, Jayna Kirk, Jaq Masters, Kiera Vaughn Evangelist; Interns Nina Tan, Kalindra Tran, Tajah Spencer, and Connie Pan; and Mural Arts Project Manager Sahiti Bonam.