Your Hand Shimmering on the Legs of Rain

Your Hands Shimmering on the Legs of Rain is a collaboration by artists Eurhi Jones and Mike Reali, created in partnership with Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) with the Hestonville community. The title comes from “Ten Haikus for Max Roach” by Philadelphia poet, teacher and activist Sonia Sanchez. Ribbons of glass mosaic are integrated with the painted mural to highlight the water theme.

The mural was designed to bring attention to a new rain garden at 55th & Hunter Streets in the Hestonville neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Filled with tough native plants, these filtration gardens are one of the innovative strategies for urban storm water management implemented by the PWD. In correlation to PWD’s “Green City, Clean Water” initiative, the mural celebrates the flow of water through human life. It was the first mural funded solely by the PWD at one of their green infrastructure sites.

The mural shows a glittering rainfall on a city garden. A pattern created by repeating street maps of the neighborhood forms the land in Hestonville. Native plant and animal species; viburnum, bee balm, coneflower, a blue heron, shad and river otters show nature flourishing alongside city architecture, a vision for a greener city. A figure rises from the land symbolizing the necessity of careful human stewardship of precious water resource and the importance of people caring for our environment.