Pennsylvania Murals- Dennis McNett aka Wolfbat in Philadelphia

 Art, Artists, Collage, Films, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Printmaking, Public Art, Street Art
Aug 112026
 

There Is Trouble ‘Til The Robins Come was created by artist Dennis McNett (aka Wolfbat) for Mural Arts Philadelphia in 2025. It incorporates layers of printed woodcut patterns along with painted elements.

The mural is a tribute to David Lynch, who passed away in January of that year.  Lynch lived in Philadelphia’s Callowhill neighborhood, where the mural is located, when he attended Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in the late 1960s.

From McNett’s artist statement on the Mural Arts website:

“The loss of David Lynch leaves a huge void to those he effected with his work and wisdom. As a young artist, I saw Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks in 1991 when I was 18 and it changed my perspective on what art could be. It made it ok to be weird and feel out of place. It was one of my first introductions to art outside of an art history book and contributed to my development of becoming an artist. I still revisit his work almost yearly. When I was talking about doing a small mural with [Mural Arts Philadelphia], David Lynch had just passed and I was rewatching his films and a documentary. I really wanted to do a mural dedicated to him.

Philadelphia was his biggest influence. 1965-70. The character played by Jack Nance, Eraserhead, had a very memorable head of hair that stood straight up like he had been electrocuted. I put this head of hair on David Lynch’s portrait. Eraserhead was David Lynch’s first film released in 1977.

In Blue Velvet (1986 film) the character played by Lauren Dern, Sandy, describes a dream of robins. In her dream the world is dark and all there was [was] darkness because there was no love. Suddenly thousands of robins flew in and created this blinding light and the light was love. At the end of the movie when all the turmoil is resolved, there is a robin on the windowsill. The robins in the mural are from Sandy’s dream. There is also a drape of blue velvet in the bottom part of the mural. The ear is also from Blue Velvet and is the ear the Jeffrey finds.

The iconic zigzag patterned floor and deep red curtains are from Lynch’s 1990-91 Twin Peaks and later in 1992 Fire Walk With Me. They are the setting of the Black Lodge. The symbolic blue key is from the 2001 movie Mulholland Drive and is tied to Camilla’s reality. The edges or the mural are not cut straight but intentionally extend past the edges like Lynch’s unbound imagination and subconscious mind.”

McNett has a few other murals around town, including the one below, created in 2014, located on the side of what once was Philly Home Brew.

Throwback- SHINE Mural Festival 2022 – Egypt Hagen

 Art, Artists, Florida Street Art, Installation Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Tampa
Aug 062026
 

Artist and muralist Egypt Hagen created With Thunder in Our Hearts for the 2022 edition of St. Pete’s  SHINE Mural Festival.  Her most recent projects can be found on Instagram.

From her website about the mural:

With Thunder in Our Hearts celebrates the courage to create, dream, and flourish. Through symbolic gestures of offering and exchange, the mural reflects on how compassion, creativity, and shared experiences can spark transformation within ourselves and our communities.

Her work can also be found brightening the walls of Ybor Urban Mart, located in the Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa.

Delaware Art Shows- “Living Indigenous” at Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Collage, Delaware, Fiber Arts, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Wilmington
Aug 062026
 

Leonard A. Harmon, “Untitled”, c.1980s, Oil on masonite

Leonard D. Harmon, “Last Copper Moon”, 2025, Acrylic, spray paint, oxidized copper shavings, paper on wood panel

Leonard D. Harmon, “Last Copper Moon”, 2025 (detail)

Delaware Art Museum‘s Living Indigenous showcases and celebrates Indigenous communities and artists in multiple locations in the museum. The exhibition is part of the museum’s programming for the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Developed in partnership with the Nanticoke Indian Museum, one room dedicated to works created by Indigenous artists includes paintings by Leonard A. Harmon and his nephew, Leonard D. Harmon.

From the museum and artist about Last Copper Moon (pictured above):

Leonard D. Harmon notes the rich artistic legacy that precedes him. He explains, “I draw inspiration from my ancestors to infuse a modern twist into traditional arts.” This painting references the architectural forms his uncle, Leonard A. Harmon, was creating in the 1980s. A copper moon, or total lunar eclipse, is a sacred Indigenous occurrence, and the images Harmon includes refer to associated rituals.

The exhibition continues upstairs with two different series of portraits of members of Delaware’s Indigenous communities– Will Wilson‘s Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) and Andre’ L. Wright, Jr.’s Indigenous Faces of Wilmington. In 2022 the museum invited Wilson to continue his CIPX project in Delaware and facilitated a photoshoot of citizens of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware (The Original People) and the Nanticoke Indian Tribe (The Tidewater People). That same year the museum also commissioned Andre’ L. Wright, Jr. to create a project showcasing diverse Wilmingtonians, two of which are pictured below.

Two portraits by Andre’ L. Wright, Jr. from his series “Indigenous Faces of Wilmington”

Living Indigenous is on view until 8/23/26 and the museum is free to visit every Thursday from 4-8pm.

Pennsylvania Art Shows- “Rising Up: Rocky and The Making of Monuments” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fiber Arts, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania Art Shows, Philadelphia, Photographers / Photography, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Video and Film
Jul 272026
 

Caproni Brothers, “The Boxer at Rest”, 19th century Painted plaster cast from the original bronze which was produced between the late fourth and second centuries BCE

Lisa Brice “Untitled”, 2025 Pigment and natural water-soluble binders on linen

Jeffrey Gibson, (l to r) “Power, Power, Power”, 2017, “People Like Us”, 2014, and “You Can Feel It All Over”, 2015, Repurposed punching bags, glass beads, artificial sinew

Rashid Johnson, “Self-Portrait Laying on Jack Johnson‘s Grave”, 2006, Durst Lambda print mounted on panel

Approaching the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you will find people of all ages and backgrounds taking photos with the statue of Rocky out front, often imitating his famous pose. Through a variety of works from antiquity to the present day, Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments looks at the history of this statue, the meanings attached to monuments, and the allure of boxers and boxing culture.

From the museum about the exhibition:

Blending the worlds of art, sports, and popular culture, Rising Up takes on the life of monuments by exploring the meanings and mythologies of the Rocky statue. The exhibition looks to the statue of the most famous Philadelphian who never lived as a way to better understand our complex and vital relationships to our public monuments.

The statue first appeared on-screen in the Oscar-winning Rocky film series. The third installment, Rocky III (1982), featured the dedication of a monument that celebrated the boxer as both an underdog and a hero. The movie-made statue was placed outside the actual museum during filming, a dynamic blurring of art and life that continues to this day. Since that introduction, and through the statue’s departure and prolonged absence from the museum grounds to its prodigal return to the steps, the statue has sparked debate over its aesthetic value and its role in the city. Today, the power of the Rocky statue as a monument stems from its ability to summon public participation.

From antiquity to modernity, Hollywood to contemporary art, Rising Up spotlights both popular narratives and undertold stories surrounding the Rocky statue. Each gallery offers a response to the exhibition’s central question — why do millions of people visit the Rocky statue at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art each year? — and further explores the relationship between art, boxing, and civic identity. It offers a renewed context to consider the statue through works and artifacts that reflect on the deep legacies of boxing monuments across time.

Rising Up marks the first time that the Rocky statue has been displayed inside the museum, explored alongside Philadelphia’s landmark boxing culture and multigenerational artists’ interpretations of sport and society. At its core, the exhibition looks at how monuments are made — by artists and by us — through the lens of the Rocky statue and the ways people engage, debate, and gather around this site of memory.

This exhibition closes on 8/2/26.

Places to Visit- Calder Gardens in Philadelphia

 Architecture, Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania Art Shows, Philadelphia, Places to Visit, Sculptors / Sculpture
Jul 242026
 

As you approach the Calder Gardens building, you will first notice the gardens and, if you visit in spring, the flowers. Once inside you’ll find a selection of Alexander Calder‘s works, including a few of his paintings. The space is organized in a way that never feels crowded, encouraging visitors to look at the work from different angles or watch how some pieces move with the slightest change in the air around them.

For the month of July, Philadelphia residents can visit Calder Gardens and the Barnes (which is located across the street) for free.

About Calder Gardens from their website:

Calder Gardens is a new art institution dedicated to Alexander Calder (1898–1976), one of the most acclaimed and influential artists of the 20th century. Building on the artist’s enduring legacy, it is conceived as a place where an evolving interplay between art, architecture, nature, and programming encourages contemplation and self-discovery.

Set within a landscape featuring more than 250 varieties of plants in gardens conceived by Piet Oudolf, Calder Gardens’ 18,000-square-foot building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, houses a rotating installation of artworks by Calder. Spanning the artist’s 50-year career and diverse bodies of work, the objects on view respond to architectural moments rather than art historical narratives. This selection of artworks slowly changes over time, echoing the natural rhythms of the seasons. Some will remain for years, while others are only on view for a few months, creating an ever-changing environment that encourages close looking and repeat visits.

In dialogue with Calder’s own experimental practice, programming at Calder Gardens presents performances, sonic experiences, screenings, lectures, and other events that connect the artist’s legacy of innovation to contemporary art. Emphasizing mindfulness and environmental awareness, Calder Gardens is a space that foregrounds the interconnectedness of all elements of life. Straying from fact-based learning, Calder Gardens offers daily walks that encourage personal introspection as visitors move through the building.

Calder Gardens is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia, a city with deep connections to the Calder family across several generations. It extends this lineage to the present day and joins Philadelphia’s rich artistic and cultural communities.

Artist Birthdays- Edward Hopper

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Delaware, Painting / Painters, Wilmington
Jul 222026
 

American artist Edward Hopper was born today, July 22nd, in 1882. He created numerous portraits of people in New York City, including the one pictured above, Summertime, painted in 1943.  It is currently on view at the Delaware Art Museum.

Delaware Art Shows- “Citizen Artist” at Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Collage, Delaware, Design, Drawing, History, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Performance Art, Photographers / Photography, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Wilmington
Jul 092026
 

New Deal Posters

Willie Cole, “Rolanda”, November 5, 1978, Pastel on brown paper bag. This work was created while Cole was a CETA employee in Delaware

Photographs from the 1975 CETA-funded project “CITYSIGHTS/CITYSOUNDS” in Wilmington

Dorothea Lange, “Migrant Mother, Nipomo, CA”, 1936

Clockwise from top left: William Davidson White, “Children in the Tree”,1934; Michael J. Gallagher, “A Man’s Job”, c.1933-1934; Philip N. Yates, “Broken Nets”, 1934; Walter Willoughby, “Winter Landscape”, c. 1933-1934

Helen Farr Sloan, “W.P.A. Theater”c.1935, Oil on board. It depicts a Federal Theater production during the Depression in NYC’s Washington Square Park. These productions were often free or heavily discounted.

At a time when government arts funding and jobs programs are needed more than ever, Citizen Artist at Delaware Art Museum reminds visitors of the positive and long lasting impact of two past initiatives- The New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s, and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA). Featuring artwork created during these both of these time periods, the exhibition also highlights the important contributions made by artists in their communities.

From the museum about the exhibition:

Citizen Artist highlights diverse artists working for America during 1930s and 1940s Depression-era programs and federally funded initiatives of the 1970s. The New Deal and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act were catalysts in Delaware and across the nation as economic relief programs amplified the arts, creating new possibilities for creative employment. This exhibition centers artists as historians, storytellers, and visionaries during the Semiquincentennial.

Through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA), the Department of Labor supported a nation’s worth of art programs on a scale not seen since the conclusion of the New Deal in 1943. Those New Deal artists that outlived the Federal Art Project never forgot the significance of their work for the public, and they took that knowledge to the classrooms and administrative offices where they carried out the rest of their careers. CETA was designed as a jobs program, not an arts program, but Title VI of the legislation funded opportunities for the cyclically unemployed —artists—in public service roles. When CETA arrived in the 1970s, artists and their allies across the nation quickly understood its potential in the context of the legacy of the New Deal.

Citizen Artist is a story about reciprocal support between artists and communities. The exhibition celebrates artists who found lasting success through their participation in fine art programs like the Public Works of Art Project and CETA-funded contemporary art spaces. We also honor the public service work undertaken by tens of thousands of New Deal and CETA-funded artists, especially the painters, puppeteers, and photographers who produced educational resources and performances for children across the nation. Citizen Artist looks back at the intertwined histories of CETA and the New Deal to elevate how artists can and do support the public. By working in graphics offices, writers’ programs, and darkrooms, New Deal and CETA artists created and transformed the physical and cultural infrastructure of the United States.

Included within Citizen Artist is Citizen Photographer, an exhibition of images created by Delaware photographers for the U.S.’s 250th anniversary.

From the museum about Citizen Photographer:

What does it mean to be a Delawarean at the nation’s 250th anniversary? The Delaware Art Museum, collaborating with Wilmington’s Teen Warehouse, the Smyrna Opera House, and the Lewes Public Library, invited residents across the state to engage in civic reflection and contribute to shaping public perceptions of identity through photography. Citizen Photographer is inspired by the federally funded initiatives of the past, such as the Farm Security Administration and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. These were times when documenting the nation and the many people who called it home was an earnest endeavor, the means to understand and appreciate our individuality, humanity, and common needs.

At the United States 250th anniversary in 2026, this project offers multiple ways for Delawareans to engage as learners, artists, and citizens contributing to the state’s shared story. Photographers Morris Brown II, B. Proud, and Andre’ Wright, Jr. led workshops across the state and selected the 24 photographs on view. For Wright, Jr., Citizen Photographer is “about perspective, voices, and the stories people choose to tell about where they come from.” Proud reflects how local photographers “captured the many facets of Delaware, from its cities to its farmlands, from its people to its landscapes, revealing why the state truly lives up to one of its nicknames, ‘Small Wonder.'” Morris invites us to “take the time to treasure each photograph and to experience each Delaware love story on exhibit.”

This exhibition closes 7/19/26.

 

Artist Birthdays- Frida Kahlo

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, British Art Shows, London Art Shows, New York Art Shows, Painting / Painters
Jul 062026
 

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was born today, July 6th, in 1907. She painted many self-portraits, including the one pictured above, Me and My Parrots (Yo y mis pericos), from 1941. The painting was on view as part of the 2020 exhibition Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945 at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Her work can currently be seen in the exhibitions Frida: The Making of an Icon at the Tate Modern in London and Frida and Diego: The Last Dream at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

 

Pennsylvania Murals- Meg Saligman’s “Our Flag Unfurled” in Philadelphia

 Art, Artists, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Public Art, Street Art
Jul 032026
 

Artist Meg Saligman created this mural, Our Flag Unfurled, in 2001, for Mural Arts Philadelphia.

From the Mural Arts website:

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, artist Meg Saligman volunteered to paint this now iconic mural, Our Flag Unfurled on the massive south facing wall of Philadelphia Warehousing and Cold Storage building. The design was intended to appear slightly sad, as if unfurling down the side of the building.

Painted just north of center city, between I-95 and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the size and location of the mural make it a gateway to the city for thousands of daily commuters.

Originally intended as a temporary display of resilience, the 6,000 square foot image of the flag has remained one of Mural Arts’ most visible and iconic works since the fall of 2001. Although Sherwin Williams donated their highest quality paint for the original project, 15 years is a long time for any work of public art. In 2016, the mural received a refresh in time for the Wawa Welcome America July 4th ceremonies, and the Democratic National Convention later that month.

Philadelphia Murals- Roberto Lugo at The Clay Studio

 Art, Artists, Music, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Public Art, Street Art
Jul 022026
 

The Talented Mr. Trotter: You Can Be Anything, located on the wall of The Clay Studio building, was created by Philadelphia artist Roberto Lugo in 2022.  It is a portrait of Philadelphia musician Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, of The Roots.

From Mural Arts Philadelphia about the mural:

The Talented Mr. Trotter: You Can Be Anything by artist Roberto Lugo is located in the Olde Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lugo has taken inspiration from musical artist Tariq Trotter of The Roots, particularly his story of growing up in Philly as a renaissance man. The mural design explores Trotter’s personal and artistic influences, while materially representing his myriad elements of inspiration and support through combining textile and ceramic patterning from across the world. Trotter’s central portrait is elevated in being formally honored on a highly decorative vase, flanked by his grandmother, who raised him, on the left and Afrika Bombaataa on the right. Traditional floral patterns are spread across the background but are filled with primarily non-Western and street culture patterns. Visual references range from African and South American textile prints, to the graffiti-esque fonts of sneaker culture.

A Kensington-born potter, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator, Roberto Lugo sees his pottery as a process of transforming the ground we walk on into something we eat from. His studio practice communicates with diverse audiences that, in some cases, are not so invested in using art to understand the world. Over the past two years, Lugo has led ceramic workshops at Tyler School of Art and several virtual design challenges with youth in Mural Arts’ Education program. These workshops have tapped into everyday patterns and ceramic traditions from all over the world. Lugo has created a large mural inspired by Roots leading member and proud Philadelphian, Tariq Trotter. Trotter’s multi-talented and visionary approach to his creative practice and humble dedication to his home city are core aspects of Lugo’s mural homage.

A longtime advocate for The Clay Studio and its community programs, Lugo’s mural is installed on The Clay Studio’s building in Olde Kensington at 1425 N American Street that opened in spring 2022.

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