Sep 7, 2017

Find Us At the Parkway Centennial

by: Laura Kochman

Everyone loves a birthday party, and we are no exception. The city is celebrating the hundredth birthday of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway this weekend, Philadelphia’s grand cultural boulevard. The party kicks off this Friday, September 8, with the Parkway 100 We Are Connected Festival from 4–10 p.m. One hundred (!) family-friendly cultural activities will be on offer throughout the Parkway Museums District, including four from Mural Arts.

The Festival begins with a mural dedication at Park Towne Place at 4 p.m., unveiling a brand new, 18-story design from artist Miriam Singer. Parkway Daydreams is a whimsical expression of the views from the Park Towne apartments, overlapping colorful shapes in a vertical abstract cityscape. Park Towne Place, East Tower, 2200 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 4–5 p.m.

Continue your colorful evening with a public paint day on the Rodin Museum Lawn from 4–7 p.m. The new mural for Kensington’s Philadelphia Pharmacy is Curing Community from artist Cesare Viveros, full of large-scale, bright plants and flowers. Have fun with our paint-by-number method, and be part of a public artwork. Rodin Museum Lawn, 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 4–7 p.m.

Curing Community mural design, by Cesare Viveros.

If you need more paint on your hands after that, we’re hosting hand painting activities at the Swann Memorial Fountain from 4–7 p.m. Swann Memorial Fountain, Logan Square, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Vine Street, 4–7 p.m.

And have you heard of Monument Lab? (kidding!) This massive citywide project is coming to life with a preview of Logan Squared: Ode to Philly at the Parkway Central Library from 4–9 p.m. Artist Emeka Ogboh’s project, featuring poet Ursula Rucker, is a monument to Philadelphian’s voices and visions, a soundscape channeling public participation and reflection. Parkway Central Library, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, 4–9 p.m., speaking program at 6:30 p.m. Cash bar.

Logan Squared: Ode to Philly by Emeka Ogboh atop the Skyline Terrace of the Parkway Central Library. Photo by Steve Weinik.


Major support for Monument Lab projects staged in Philadelphia’s five squares has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

An expanded artist roster and projects at five neighborhood sites have been made possible by a significant grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Lead corporate sponsor is Bank of America.

Additional support has been provided by Susanna Lachs & Dean Adler, William & Debbie Becker, CLAWS Foundation, Comcast NBCUniversal, Davis Charitable Foundation, Hummingbird Foundation, J2 Design, National Endowment for the Arts, Nick & Dee Adams Charitable Fund, Parkway Corporation, PECO, Relief Communications LLC, Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square, Stacey Spector & Ira Brind, Tiffany Tavarez, Tuttleman Family Foundation, Joe & Renee Zuritsky, and 432 Kickstarter backers. Support for Monument Lab‘s final publication provided by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.

Media partner: WHYY

List as of 8/28/17

Last updated: Sep 7, 2017

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share Your Thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *