CBS Philly: Local Kensington Residents Grab Paint Brushes and Make New Mural
KENSINGTON (CBS) — A new mural was put up in Kensington Saturday that celebrates the neighborhood's past, present and future. The mural was actually painted by residents of the neighborhood.
Kind of like a giant paint-by-numbers, a couple dozen residents worked on the mural under the watch of artists Jeffro Kilpatrick and Brad Carney, who were selected to create it last year. Carney says the mural includes things like the iconic trolleys, sculptors, mechanics, and many more people who are part of the area's history.
"People who were cobblers, like shoemakers from back in the day in Fishtown. We even have an amalgamation of a woman who used to, they used to hand-make baseballs in this neighborhood, just for the kids," Carney says. "There was a preacher who owned a lion and he would walk around in the late 1800s, and try to get the kids to do things."
Carney says the mural is a thank you of sorts for the people who live there.
"It's already a great community. So we're just reflecting the greatness that's already here," he said. "We're not trying to make it better by a mural, it's like a 'thank you for being great, everybody. You're doing a great job. Keep going.'"
When finished, the canvas, which is the 4th commissioned by Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, was plastered to the side of a building at Trenton Avenue & East Dauphin Street.
– Written by Dan Wing for CBS Philly