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South Philly is getting a new mural that celebrates the diverse people, history, and landmarks of the colorful neighborhood. The festive mural unveiling and dedication ceremony, complete with a Mummers string band and performance, will take place at Fulton Bank's newest South Philly
branch, located at 1722 South Broad Street.
A Community of Champions: The Extraordinary and the Everyday celebrates the rich and spirited South Philadelphia community through vibrant color, symbolism and historical markers!
The mural, located on the south facing wall of the bank, is 100 foot wide and 17 feet tall, and took nearly a year to complete. Lead Artist Keisha Whatley, founder of Custom Arts Studio, was commissioned by the bank to develop this one-of-kind project. “This is no ordinary mural,” explained Whatley. “A Community of Champions came to fruition after many interactive focus groups with South Philly’s senior citizens, community members and high school students.” Whatley and her creative team worked closely with Mastery Charter School - Thomas campus and St. Edmond Senior Center to obtain feedback about what South Philly means to community members. Local residents also took part in a community paint day at the mural site. As a result of the tremendous feedback from what the community thought South Philly represented, the imagery displayed on the artwork highlights the extraordinary arts and cultural institutions, the food and sports culture and the iconic references and landmarks that make South Philly uniquely South Philly. Another aspect is that the mural is interactive. Visitors can vote on their favorite cheesesteak spot by scanning a QR code on the lower right side, and view the continually tabulated results of the survey online. In addition, each of the 28 neighborhoods are listed along with their zip codes. The mural’s “Culture Portrait” style blends surrealism, traditional portraiture and research, and is a Custom Arts Studio signature visual storytelling technique.
“As a community bank, we recognize every neighborhood we serve is unique, and we appreciate when our financial centers are able to reflect that,” said Sean Killen, Consumer Sales Manager for Fulton Bank. “That’s why we were excited to partner with Keisha Whatley and the Custom Arts Studio team to create a mural highlighting South Philly. Thanks to everyone involved, from our neighbors who helped brainstorm ideas to those who participated in the community paint day!”
“What I loved about this project is that Fulton Bank did not want it to be a bank commercial or about them. They literally wanted this to be a celebration of the South Philly community as a whole and a way of introducing themselves to the community,” noted Whatley.
