Philadelphia Phillies Mural Coming To Rittenhouse Square
I’ve never been a fan of murals but this one sounds like something I can get behind. A new Phillies mural is going up on the West side of the SWEAT gym building at 24th and Walnut near the Walnut Street Bridge.
[/caption]The best part is that fans will get to be involved. Fans will be allowed to help paint some of the mural AND vote on which final Phillie will included. The news was announced on the Phillies website:
The Center City skyline is about to get a major league makeover. The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and the Phillies are joining forces on a brand new Center City mural celebrating the history of the Philadelphia Phillies – the oldest, continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional sports. Set to be completed in the summer of 2012, The Phillies Mural will tower eight stories high and face the Schuylkill River and I-76 Schuylkill Expressway. Located on a 24th & Walnut Street building, the 3,750 square-foot mural will feature more than 30 prominent players depicting historical moments from the team’s record-long history – including the 1980 and 2008 World Series championships. The Phillies Mural is being created by award-winning Mural Arts Program artist and lifetime Phillies fan, David McShane, who also created baseball-themed murals Tribute to Jackie Robinson in North Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Stars: A Tribute to Negro League Baseball in West Philadelphia.
Help paint the Phillies mural!…
The Phillies Mural will take about one year to complete and include numerous community paint days, giving fans of all ages the chance to make their mark on the mural. The first event was on Sunday, September 18 at Citizens Bank Park when the Phillies hosted the Cardinals. Painting took place inside the Third Base Gate beginning at 6:05 p.m. Stay tuned for details on future community paint days!
Vote for your all – time favorite Phillie…
Help choose the final Phillie! The Phillies Mural includes space for one more player – to be chosen by fans via online voting on phillies.com. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.
You can see how the mural is progressing by clicking here
David McShane received a bachelor’s degree in biology (with a concentration in pre-med) from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, but decided to enroll in art school instead of medical school. He studied at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (P.A.F.A.), where he received his M.F.A. in 1995. From 1991-1999 he served as the director of the P.A.F.A. School Gallery. David has been painting for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program since 1996, and has completed over 75 murals in the Philadelphia area. Most of these murals are large outdoor community-based murals, which were painted as collaborations between specific neighborhoods and David. Besides offering input of ideas for themes and subjects for the murals, community members (and especially neighborhood children) also participated in community paint days and assisted with painting many of the murals. Other baseball-themed murals created by McShane for the Mural Arts Program include Tribute to Jackie Robinson in North Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Stars: A Tribute to Negro League Baseball in West Philadelphia.
