Natural Learning

Natural Learning by Pedro Ospina is located on the front of the Kensington branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. This final design of this painted metal installation was created from a series of workshops with children who visited local gardens in Norris Square as part of the Semilla Arts Initiative.

At the center of the mural is a large stylized tree. Some of the tree’s leaves are natural and others are formed by open books, whose pages list subject areas represented within the library. To each side of the tree are disproportionately large, stylized insects (a bee and a dragonfly). Sitting above the row of glass block windows that run across the center of the building’s facade, an oversized hummingbird sips from a flower whose elongated stem weaves through the library’s name signage “Biblioteca Kensington Library,” connecting to other flowers. A similarly large lady bug sits to the left of the library’s name. More of the tree leaves float around the design, enlivening some of the empty spaces. This inspirational mural foregrounds the goals of learning and literacy supported by the library.