SAFER

In Summer 2024, painter and Mural Arts Philadelphia Art Education Lead Teaching Artist Nazeer Sabree, together with students in the Career Connected Learning program, created SAFER — a mural inspired by Mayor Cherelle Parker’s “One Philly: A United City! Safer, Cleaner, Greener” initiative. The project encouraged participants to reflect on their lived experiences as young Philadelphians and to envision a city that protects and uplifts its youth.

Located in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, the mural features the portrait of a Black teenage boy, a student in the program. His face is composed of layered photographic fragments of community protests, anti-violence marches, and memorials. Through Sabree’s distinctive “false face” technique—a fusion of painted portraiture and collage—the sitter’s features become a vessel for collective memory and civic struggle. His calm yet resolute expression conveys both vulnerability and strength, embodying the tension between adolescence and activism. Against a muted beige background, his red-striped rugby shirt and youthful details remind viewers that he is still just a teenager navigating a world shadowed by violence.

This design symbolizes how today’s youth carry the emotional and political weight of their surroundings. The photographic textures within his skin represent both exposure and resilience: the faces, signs, and stories of those fighting for peace form the foundation of his identity.

The project was realized through close collaboration between Sabree and a cohort of Career Connected Learning students, who selected the images integrated into the collage and participated in discussions about safety, community, and hope. The process included workshops on visual storytelling, digital composition, and the power of public art to inspire change.