Industrious Light: Wilde Mill Yarns

Industrious Light: Wilde Mill Yarns is located in the Wissahickon neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Artist Phillip Adams worked closely with the new developer of the historic Wilde Yarn Mill, and connected this painting style to four other of his works related to the Industrious Light series. The mural was created using washes of applied acrylic paint to parachute cloth. The cloth was then sealed and installed over Alumalite panels installed over the foundation stone in each archway. The mural panels are on an eastern extension of the building which sits back and up a grade, not easily seen from the street. The artist kept the scale of the imagery large for the impact to be seen from Main Street and I-76. Notice graffiti was not removed from the pillars or concrete below the installation.

Established in 1884, Wilde Mill was the oldest and last completely intact American carpet and yarn mill in Philadelphia until it closed in 2008. The mural panels showcase some of the original machinery used during its height of production (the one predominantly featured was to separate the wool). As the view moves from left to right, red yarn is seen coming out from the machine and spreading through the interior of the mill. The yarn wraps around pillars, creating a space resembling a loom that feeds to a creation of a historic Navajo rug pattern. One of the company’s major, and last, customers keeping the Mill running were the Navajo rug weavers from the Four Corners area of the Southwest. The yarn produced at the mill was one of few yarns suitable in quality and texture for traditional Navajo rugs. This connects the history of Manayunk and the greater Philadelphia area to other parts of the world, highlighting Philadelphia’s title as “Workshop of the World.”

The color red connects developer Alon Barzilay’s Red Door Residential brand for the mill’s future redevelopment.