I’m lucky, I live in an area that is relatively close to a lot of cool places. To the north is the Poconos, a little more than an hour a way is Manhattan and to the south is Philadelphia. All these destinations are close enough for a day trip but sometimes we make a weekend of it.
When my husband asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday I immediately chose Philadelphia. Why? Philly is a great city full of history, great food and incredible street art. Philadelphia boasts the world’s largest collection of outdoor public art. The city even has it’s own Mural Arts Program which has been around for over fifteen years and is responsible for working with street artists to create over 2,500 murals across all of the cities neighborhoods.
Interested in a tour of Philly’s great murals? Well, the Mural Arts Program offers both guided and self-guided tours that will take you through Philadelphia’s diverse neighborhoods and treat you to some of the most beautiful public works of art you will ever see. You can even download a map of the Mural Mile Walking Tour and take in the murals at your own pace or there are guided walking tours on Saturdays and Sundays.
Even though I have never taken the tours (though it’s on my bucket list), I have been to Philly enough times to see many of these great murals. Each time I go go into the city I see something new. On my last jaunt to Philly I found a beautiful mosaic mural just steps from my hotel off Race Street hidden on a wall of a public parking lot. Though I have done a lot of research I was not able to confirm that this wall was done by Isaiah Zagar who’s mosaic murals grace the walls and back alleys of Philly and more notably the Philadelphia Magic Gardens which is an attraction unto itself. The mosaic is a beautiful combination of found objects and tile which is a feast for the eyes. Everywhere you look at this mosaic you see something else that you didn’t see before. It was a wonderful discovery in an otherwise dreary parking lot.
If you have a chance, and you love street art it’s worth the trip in to Philadelphia to see all the beautiful work by talented artists. And of course you can always treat yourself to a Philly Cheesesteak afterwords!
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