untitled [K-Town Lab mural by Ru8icon1, Simon Vasquez, and Juanjo Suarce]

These untitled murals by Ru8icon1, Simon Vasquez, and Juanjo Suarce are part of KTown Lab, a multisited project in North Philadelphia that grew out of an idea by artists Claudio Ethos and Ru8icon1. In 2017, the artists met in North Philadelphia to create a plan to come back to Philadelphia and paint. A fortuitous encounter with Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Executive Director Jane Golden came a few weeks later. When Ru8icon1 mentioned the free wall painting idea to her, she also felt something resonate; they were clearly onto something. With the support of the Mural Arts team, they created the Ktown Laboratory in North Philadelphia during three summer months in 2018. After the project was completed, they returned to the lives they were living before, but were not the same. It was time to reflect, contemplate and discuss the lessons learned. The experience exceeded their expectations; they created several murals and achieved deep cultural exchanges with local residents. They were convinced there was something deeply meaningful in what they started but they had only scratched the surface.

The following elements guided the project:
• Must be residential, in the neighborhoods, and on site. Corporate entities already have a loud voice.
• Core group of street painters must be small (4-5 max).
• Timeframe: three months is best.
• Murals should be cool, and small in scale, to allow completing work quickly along with incorporating new ideas into each piece.
• Simplify collaboration to experiment.
• Choose future visiting artists carefully; a special skills set is required to be accepted by the locals.
• Always represent neighborhood interests within the pieces; be cautious to avoid perceptions of gentrification. This helps create realistic narratives for the contemporary art to be produced.
• Observe, respond, be realistic. Paintings should give pride to the neighborhood.
• No R.I.P paintings or business names are to be included on murals.
• Understand paintings in this laboratory will be tagged; graffiti writers were there first!
• Document the work and process of community involvement.

Location Note: Mural still visible at this location as of September 2023. Fez Phone covered ca. 2020.