After a new development obscured a beloved mural depicting Martin Luther King Jr., West Philly community members protested. Next week, the artwork will return and grace the wall of the very building that blocks it.
The intersection of Haverford Avenue, 40th Street and Lancaster Avenue is the site where King gave a speech on Aug. 3, 1965, as part of his Freedom Now tour, addressing a crowd of over 10,000 people.
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A historical marker and bust of the civil rights leader commemorate the occasion, and a mural commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia and made by Cliff Eubanks has adorned the building at 3950 Lancaster Ave. since 2010.
But a new property that developers were building on 3952 Lancaster Ave. — formerly a parking lot — threatened to block the public's view of the art. Jane Golden, executive director at Mural Arts Philadelphia, said the community reacted to the news with protests and declarations of love.
"Poems were recited. People had personal experiences connected to the mural," Golden said. "It was so moving, and it was just a testament to the power of art to reach into our hearts and souls."
According to Golden, the property moved between several companies before in 2020 it ended up in the hands of Full Court Development, who promised to preserve or re-create the mural.
The new building, dubbed Nova Commons, will house 15 residential units and include retail space on the ground floor. On the front is a large wall reserved for the mural, which Eubanks will begin re-creating on Monday.
On Aug. 16, Full Court and Mural Arts hosted a community cleanup and paint day to prepare the space for the artwork.
"I think what the developers did at Full Court is a role model of how I would like other developers to think about public art," Golden said. "When people are going to build in front of or tear down a mural, they are taking away a civic asset from the city of Philadelphia, and it behooves them, it behooves all of us, to work together to preserve this iconic collection."
Philadelphia has over 4,000 murals, which to Golden are critical to remembering the city's history.
"I feel that if we don't hold on to moments like that, they can easily get lost as our city changes and evolves," Golden said. "And I think that's one of the many things that murals can do: It can remind us what happened before. Memory is powerful. It's why people create monuments, to mark a moment."
While this restoration project was a victory for Mural Arts, Golden estimates that only 20%-30% of developers are open to conversations about preservation.
One mural that was lost to economic redevelopment was artwork depicting musician John Coltrane, which was painted in Strawberry Mansion in 2017 before it was covered by adjacent construction in 2020 and painted out in 2022. A new mural dedicated to Coltrane was completed the same year blocks away.
"One person said (to me), 'When I see when a mural goes away, I feel our lives are being erased. 'And yet that doesn't have to happen, as we see from Full Court," Golden said. "They were able to negotiate a solution that was workable. And if you can't re-create it on your building, maybe down the street, maybe around the corner."
As Golden points out, the preservation of the MLK mural was not solely the work of Mural Arts and Full Court, as local community groups Mantua Civic Association and the HUB Coalition were heavily involved in discussions about its restoration.
"If you look at all the community people involved in the work, it's a huge statement on behalf of hope and possibility," Golden said.