Prevention Point Painter’s Wall III

This mural, the third in an annual series called the Prevention Point Painter’s Wall, is by artist Paula Rivera Calderón and is located at The Love Lot in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The artist designed the mural of brown hands holding a butterfly in front of a backdrop of Kensington townhomes featuring native plants such as chicory. The Love Lot is a multi-use outdoor space operated by Prevention Point, where many kinds of harm reduction services are administered including food, clothing, medical aid, syringe services, art workshops, community events, and drug treatment. In 2023, Mural Arts worked with artist Jacob C. Hammes to design and fabricate art and infrastructure for the Love Lot as a useful, beautiful, and welcoming place for healing. As part of the project, Hammes incorporated a section of the space called The Kensington Painter’s Wall, an annually-rotating mural wall dedicated to promoting the creativity of artists connected to this community.

Artist Statement:
In my current work the focus is the ordinary, day to day scenes of places, objects, and sometimes people. It’s important to me to create a sense of movement to express the vitality in what can be quiet and unnoticed. I often create vignettes that are a blend of these subjects with my personal memories. They are visceral and I try to depict them in a way that can be accessible and relatable to others. I tend to repeat certain images that become symbolic, such as outstretched hands, shadows, the sun and moon, windows, and plants.