Learners and Leaders: The Prince Hall Eagles Playground Murals

Learners and Leaders: The Prince Hall Eagles Playground Murals are a series of outdoor and indoor murals and mosaic benches & tables at the Prince Hall School in the Ogontz neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The exterior murals feature a series of portraits of inspiring notable figures, including Black, African American leaders, beginning with the school’s namesake, Prince Hall, founder of the branch of North American Freemasonry for African Americans. Also pictured are: Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday, Frida Khalo, Frederick Douglass, and Mahatma Gandhi. Interspersed with the portraits are motifs from drawings made by children at the school. One wall includes a larger-than-life football player. Images of birds, and butterflies set against a backdrop of colorful geometric patterns are another theme, including one wall depicts a variety of birds in flight (including an eagle) children wearing wings who soar alongside the birds, inspiring students to dream big and fly high in their aspirations.

The project is sponsored by The Philadelphia Eagles Youth Partnership.

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.