Ridge on the Rise

Ridge on the Rise by artists Eric Okdeh and Josh Sarantitis is located in the Sharswood neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This collaboration between Okdeh and Sarantitis began with interviewing local residents, asking questions concerning the important people, places, and events that built neighborhood around Ridge Avenue. The story begins with Ridge Avenue existing as a small city unto itself. Ridge Avenue had everything one needed in it, there was no need to go downtown. It was an Arts and Cultural epicenter in and of itself, as well as a major market district. A noticeable rift in the neighborhood occurred after the 1964 riots. The riots, a result of Girard College’s segregationist laws, saw many stores and shops on Ridge Avenue burglarized and ruined. Fear began to permeate in the consciousness of its residents from that moment forward; people seemed to question the safety of their own neighborhood. The businesses closed up shop and left the area, and the very vitality that was Ridge Avenue seemingly went along with it. The mural was designed with the specific intention of bridging the gap between past and future. We recognize the figures that were the creative soul of the area. Pearl Bailey exists as a symbol of strength of a North Philly renaissance. John Coltrane plays on her shoulder as his music and her hands intertwine to give us the essence of the creativity that once was. The Pearl Theater exists as a recognizable housing for that creativity and soul. Cecil B. Moore and Cesar Nelson appear as the giving local heroes a community must aspire towards emulating, in order to thrive. The unequivocal center of the Philadelphia Civil Rights movement was the desegregation of Girard College. The protesters march in front of the symbol of inequality- the Girard College Wall, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached for equality. The Girl on the far right of the design is presenting flowers in homage to her past mentors. She is bridging the gap from the past and embracing their energy and remembering her heritage. She is the example of the future growth and development of the neighborhood, the physical embodiment of a Ridge Avenue on the Rise.