William Brynt Elementary School

This years Eagles project is taking place at the William Brynt Elementary School located at 60th and Cedar. I am in the process of designing interior murals for different parts of the school. This elementary school is particularly challenging because there is very little large uninterrupted wall space, but there is one large room that the children pass through on their way to the auditorium and cafeteria. This design features Marian Anderson as a symbol of peace and hope, because she used talent to overcome diversity, 2 themes the school chose to focus on.

Gardens at Versialle

Here I am standing in front of the expansive Palace of Versialles Gardens, it was freezing but still stunning. I have made a vow to return in the summer or spring to see it in its full glory. Unfortunately the Palace was under renovation and had very limited access, but still overwhelming and beautiful.

Delights of Paris

This was one of the many delights I had in Paris at a little cafe in Montmartre. It was the largest slice on meringue I had ever seen and I wish I could say I ate it all.

Paris

Through the winter I continued to work with Mural Arts on interior projects and set production with 6ABC, but the real highlight was a trip to Paris with my best friend Emma. I fell in love with all things Parisian, and while some things in Paris were not what I expected the Eiffel Tower did not disappoint. It was truly amazing, and nothing can top spending New Year's Eve under the Eiffel Tower with hundreds of people celebrating, fireworks being set off all around us and a perfectly French bottle of wine.

J. Finnegan Playground Dedication

The dedication for this wall was amazing to me;(1) it was my first dedication of a mural project that I designed, (2) there was an amazing turn out of people, Charles Knox's family, friends and fellow police officers, and (3) Paul "Earthquake" Moore who is a local celebrity and is featured in the mural, always entertains the crowd. The picture is of Paul Downie (left) fellow Mural Artist and Paul "Earthquake" Moore (right) touching fingers a slightly mystical moment as a great reminder of an inspiring day.

J. Finnegan Playground

The J. Finnegan Recreation Center facilitates extracurricular activities for the local neighborhood youth and for their 50th anniversary they commissioned a mural to reflect the spirit of the Center, covering all four exterior walls. I collaborated with fellow muralist Paul Downie to design a mural that includes: (1) the history of the Eastwick neighborhood; (2) a memorial to Charles Knox, a police officer killed in the line of duty; (3) representation of current local sports activities; and (4) children at play. Paul and I also organized a “Paint Day” as part of this project; on this day, children from the local elementary school came and joined in the painting of the mural.

William Dick Elementary Playground Build

I realize I haven't updated in a very long time, so I thought I would take the time to revisit what I have done for the last year. I was honored last summer to be apart of the Eagles Playground Build 2007 at the William Dick Elementary School located at 24th and Diamond. This project is a collaboration between the Philadelphia Eagles, The Philadelphia School District, The Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia, as well as countless local volunteers and businesses. It was a month of prep for one big Paint Day, followed by, a month and a half of finishing Murals that wrapped around the entire school and 13 interior Murals, in hallways, the gym, auditorium and cafeteria. Even thinking back on the venture it is amazing how much we accomplished. When I say "we" I am referring to the entire team of artists that tackled (no pun intended) the complete transformation, Dave McShane, Lead Artist who designed the exterior murals, Paul Downie and myself designed the interior murals, and several Assistants who worked especially hard, my favorite being Mary Ellis Hall. The pictures above is a 2nd grade class painting on cloth outside that was later adherred to an interior wall, and Eagles Players and staff painting with a 3rd grade class on the interior walls.