Richard R. Wright Eagles Park

Richard R. Wright Eagles Park by artist Donald Gensler is painted around the entire exterior, and much of the interior of the Richard R. Wright School located in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In this large scale mural project and playground build, Mural Arts Philadelphia and Eagles Youth Partnership teamed up with the School District of Philadelphia to transform Richard R. Wright elementary school into a virtual fantasy land of fun. With brightly painted murals adorning the interior and exterior surfaces of the school and beautiful newly installed tile mosaic benches, utterly transformed by collaborative process, teamwork and Mural Arts workmanship at its best. Together, the artistically revamped school walls and state-of-the-art play center have created a vibrant and inspiring environment for learning and a dynamic, safe new place to play and have fun.

For the outside portion of this project, muralist Donald Gensler worked closely with groups of student to incorporate the children’s voices into the mural design. Working with themes like “Let me hear your voice,” “My community is…” and “What’s important to me…”, the students were encouraged to work through their own ideas of community, values and self-expression. For the final mural product, Gensler beautifully intertwined images of the abstract artwork done by the students with inspirational messages from their responses and striking digital portraits of the students themselves. With a sense of power, style and grace, the mural shows how art can poignantly transcend the boundaries between artist, student, school, and community, by bringing all different groups together in a positive and productive manner.

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.

Location Note: Interior portions of this project are located inside a school building and are therefore not available for public viewing.