|
| |  | Ridge Avenue’s Dr. J (Julius Irving) mural painted by Kent Twitchell with Mural Arts Philadelphia. (Matt Katz / City Cast Philly) |
| Mural Arts Philadelphia announced Emily Mello as its new executive director, taking over for Jane Golden who has led the organization since its founding in 1986. | - What is Mural Arts Philadelphia? The organization began in the 1980s as part of the city's Anti-Graffiti Network to encourage graffiti artists to paint murals instead of tags.
- Who Used to Lead It? Jane Golden, an artist, convinced leaders of the network to accept giving Philly's once notorious graffiti artists a chance to showcase their mural-painting abilities. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to help build an organization that believes in the transformative power of public art," said Golden about her retirement.
- What has Mural Arts accomplished? Since its founding, it has created more than 4,000 works of art around Philadelphia, employing 250 artists and producing 80 public projects annually. Mural Arts encourages dialogue between citizens to boost Philly's standing as a center of public art — some might say the "Mural Capital of the World," as we talked about in our exit interview with Golden marking her departure.
- Who is taking over? Emily Mello will be the new executive director and has held a number of leadership roles at museums around the country, including at New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Her career has mainly focused on community and education in the art world.
|
|
|
|
|
| What Philly's Talking About |
|  | An Italian flag highlights the European peninsula's strong presence in the Italian Market. (Trenae Nuri / City Cast Philly) |
| Italian Market Tours Tell Local History | You know the South 9th Street Curb Market as the Italian Market, with its hoagies, cheap produce, and cannolis, but a new initiative is trying to expand how we think of this iconic Philly landmark. “Our Market Project” turns stories and art into guided tours and installations highlighting Ninth Street's immigrant communities and local history. This month, the project inaugurated an exhibit focusing on the workers behind the market, "whose dedication gives the place this heartbeat," said founder and organizer Michelle Angela Ortiz. [WHYY] | | Philly Resident Detained by ICE at PHL is Released | One month after she was detained by ICE at Philadelphia International Airport, Argentinian Iliana Lick was released from a detention center in New Mexico. The attorney for the South Philly nanny said she had been waiting for an asylum interview when she was arrested in July en route to see a World Cup match in Kansas City. [NBC 10] | | Pennsylvania A.G. Sues TikTok | State Attorney General Dave Sunday said that the suit was about "protecting children," citing the app’s addictive design and mature content. Other states are suing the tech giant over safety concerns as a Pew Research poll shows that more than 60% of American teenagers use TikTok. [WHYY] | | Democrats Lead In New Voter Registration Count | Democrats are winning the voter-registration game, and now have 200,000 more than Republicans in our swing state. The number of independent voters is also growing, with non-party affiliated voters now making up 20% of the state's electorate. [Politics PA] | | Abandoned Cars, E-Scooters & LeBron's Big Debut | Today on the pod, host Trenae Nuri is joined by executive producer Matt Katz and contributor Nic Esposito to break down why Philly has an abandoned car problem, what we can do about those e-scooters and e-bikes that we’ve heard your complaints about, and when to expect LeBron James’ big debut. | | | |
|
|
|
| |  | Every Thursday, we highlight shoutouts from our City Cast Philly Neighbors. Become a member to tell us what you love about Philly. |
| 📣 City Cast Philly Neighbor Jena O. loves Good Buy Supply. “You can get all kinds of eco-friendly products and refill your own containers with soaps, lotions, cleaning products. They also collect glass bottles for Bottle Underground. The owners are very helpful and super-nice!” | | Thanks, Jena! Here are other tips for living plastic-free in Philly. | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
