Jane Golden

This book does a fine job of providing information on the world’s largest outdoor mural collection, and how it came to be. Even though it is lavishly illustrated with color photos of a variety of murals found in Philadelphia, as well as some that are no longer there, it is not short on text. I especially appreciated the organization of content. Equal space is given to the history of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the artists who have worked on the murals, and the communities who were changed by them, however chapters are arranged to allow the various threads to intersect and interact. Since approximately 100 new murals are produced in the city each year, a book can only scratch the surface in showing the actual works, however I found this an informative and visually captivating read. (The later volume, More Philadelphia Murals, chronicles subsequent years of the program and more current murals).… (more)