(Photo by Elijah Evangelos)

Her temporary James Baldwin mural in Fishtown was stunning and ultimately became one of StreetsDept.com’s most read/liked posts of 2018. Her work for our Streets Dept curated #ToThePolls exhibition last fall was a downright showstopper. Nilé Livingston is without a doubt one of the most talented muralists we currently have in Philadelphia, which is why I’m SO excited to tell y’all…

Streets Dept’s Conrad Benner and Mission Taqueria are thrilled to announce​ Art at Mission’s Spring 2019 exhibition: GRACE, a mural tribute to the legendary Grace Jones by artist Nilé Livingston!

GRACE by Nilé Livingston – Exhibition Opening
WHEN: Tuesday, March 12th from 5-7pm (free)
WHERE: Mission Taqueria, 1516 Sansom Street
HASHTAGS: #GraceAtMission, #ArtAtMission

Nilé Livingston is a native of West Philadelphia whose ancestral roots in the city go back three generations. She holds a BA in Studio Art from Kutztown University and works across an array of media, including computer graphics, mural arts, and drawing. Awarded ‘Rad Girl Artist of the Year’ in 2018, Nilé has exhibited at the African American Museum, the Philadelphia International Airport, and has work in the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

“I wanted to paint this portrait of Grace Jones because I believe her image functions as a symbol of power and I admire how she is a dark skinned woman and queer icon that challenges notions of identity. What’s electrifying about Grace Jones in this moment is that we are celebrating something that we couldn’t celebrate before; she was navigating entirely new circumstances and spaces. In her autobiography she asserts that she did things for the excitement, the dare, the fact that it was new, not for the money, and too many times she was the first, not the beneficiary. I see this portrait of Grace Jones as a way of amplifying her as a trailblazer and of picking up the baton of a kind of work that is undoing centuries of racial and gender stereotyping that people around the world have.” -Nilé Livingston

See y’all soon!

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Art at Mission​ is a new arts project that’s transforming Mission Taqueria’s courtyard into a rotating outdoor arts space. Curated by StreetsDept.com’s founder Conrad Benner, we aim to use the space to highlight the work of artists that create in the public space! Exhibitions rotate quarterly.