Moonlit Landscape

Moonlit Landscapeby artist Diane Keller is located in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Created in1997, the original parking lot was an unclean area where children would play after school. The artist wanted to orchestrate an activity where children could work and play together. The community came up with an idea of a moonlit landscape because the light in the parking lot that shines on the wall at night is very powerful and reminded them of the moon.

Throughout the summer of 1997, Keller worked with the children and other neighbors to decorate the wall, a reason to bring people together. Each participant was given a paintbrush to outline their body on the wall and then they would paint their own expressive portrait. The project ended with 59 colorful portraits done by people of different ages, races and ethnicities. A huge block party was held to celebrate the mural’s completion and it made the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. The mural is a point of pride for the local community.

After a few years the wall’s condition began to deteriorate. In summer 2000, over two weekends, the neighbors gathered together with the artist and repainted all but the first section of wall that was still in good condition. The first section was also kept, not only as a memorial to the first project, but as a memorial to a Bob Rucci and 2 dogs portrayed in the original mural who had passed away since its completion. However, the section with portraits has since been painted out. Keller’s main mural was restored again in 2005 and 2016.

Location Note: Adjacent shorter wall with neighborhood portraits has been painted out and is no longer visible at the site.