Promised Land

Promised Land by artist by Josh Sarantitis was located in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The mural was inspired by the concept of ‘pay it forward’ – the idea that they way to repay kindness is to be kind to others.

The artist described the mural in an artist statement:

“The Pay It Forward Foundation was established to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world… All Pay It Forward Foundation grants encourage and empower our youth to believe in themselves and their individual and collective abilities to shape the future.

“This mural entitled Promised Land is about recognizing the historic figures who have paid it forward in the truest sense of the word. In this case we have a young girl who is looking back to the Moses’ that preceded her. She is remembering the original Moses prophet who led the slaves out of bondage in Egypt. He parted the waves of the red sea and gave the ultimate gift to thousands of people. Well, some of these people have given down generation to generation.

“There was then a second Moses. Grandma Moses, Harriet Tubman who again gave freedom to hundreds of slaves (as perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad’s “conductors” who, during a ten-year span, made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom). Naturally some of those people who received later paid it forward, enabling our current-day Moses to have the opportunity to give back and free her people. In her hand she holds an ivory trumpet with which she announces the gift of empowerment. Behind her, in the feathers that make up her wings is a portrait of Grandma Moses. On her shirt is a label in the form of the ‘monkey wrench’ quilt pattern (during slavery, the Monkey Wrench quilt pattern signaled that it was time to prepare for the journey to freedom, time to gather the tools [real and symbolic] they would need for their journey).

“In front of her is the Big Dipper pointing to the North Star. The very stars used by Grandma Moses to gain her freedom. Finally, in the foreground looms the sea, representing all of the obstacles that stand in the way of personal freedom today. Once again the sea is parted and our contemporary Moses is able to ‘pay it forward.’

“The imagery draws on inspiration from some of the comments given to MAP from the community such as what makes a person an inspiration to others? What makes an angel an angel? Or what is truly an inspiration to others?”

Location Note: Mural no longer on view at this location (covered by construction on adjacent lot ca. 2021).