Abstract
GIS for Arts Outreach: Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Track: Benefits of GIS
Author(s): Lindsey Rosenberg, Megan Heckert
The walls of Philadelphia are covered in murals – more than 2,800 of them. Established in 1984, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program's (MAP) mission is to engage in art education and community public arts collaborations, and to increase public access to art. The reach of these services, however, is limited to local residents, and the opportunities are restricted by organizational capacity. To overcome these limitations, MAP developed an online catalog of its murals, a catalog that is organized by location. MuralFarm.org enables user to find murals based on their location in the city and to access information about them. The system will also be used for e-commerce, as users purchase images of the murals, and a mobile component will further increase its reach. MAP's murals are designed using a collaborative, community-driven process, such that each mural is the product not just of the artist or artists who drew the final design, but also of the community whose wall (or walls) it graces. GIS offered MAP a way to display and share their murals in their community context, painting a richer picture than might otherwise have been possible.
Lindsey Rosenberg
Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
1729 Mt. Vernon St.
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19130
United States
Phone: 267-971-0155
E-mail: lindsey.rosenberg@muralarts.org
Megan Heckert
Avencia Incorporated
340 N. 12th St.
Suite 402
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19107
United States
Phone: 215-701-7712
E-mail: mheckert@avencia.com