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Amy Sherald Completes New 5-Story Mural in Philly’s Gayborhood

1 minute

Absolutely love this! Hand painted over the last several weeks, it now appears that Amy Sherald’s new Philly mural is complete.

Amy Sherald is, of course, the Baltimore-based artist who famously painted First Lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait that’s displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“I paint everyday people and want the images to be recognized as universal,” Amy wrote in a 2018 Time magazine article about her work. “For black viewers, it’s a place of rest and a place to receive love, to walk into a space like a museum and see an image of a person that looks like you looking back at you. People take for granted that not seeing yourself can lead you to not loving yourself.”

Amy’s new mural, created with Mural Arts Philadelphia, is located on Sansom street between 11th and 12th streets in the Gayborhood!

6 responses to “Amy Sherald Completes New 5-Story Mural in Philly’s Gayborhood”

  1. Bisa Butler

    So fresh. That’s a dream of mine 🙏🏾

    Bisa Butler

    >

    Reply
  2. Artist Jason Andrew Turner Creates Mural with Lutheran Settlement House to the Women Who Helped Build Fishtown | Streets Dept

    […] likes of Jim Houser, Jessie and Katey (both those murals also curated by Ryan Strand Greenberg) and Amy Sherald, to name a few. It’s so refreshing to see different artists’ styles on the street and […]

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  3. Philly’s Top 15 Street Art Moments of 2019 + The Streets Dept Year End Review | Streets Dept

    […] #6) A new series of wheatpastes started popping up all over Philly this year calling for a revival of Philly handmade stickers. Streets Dept Contributor Eric Dale investigated this summer! (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #5) Replacing the old Johnny Rockets signage (that was in business at 5th and South streets for 20 years, closed Jan 2018), Philly-based street artist Kid Hazo briefly took-over the storefront signage to create a Philly themed “Jawnny Ratchets”. The owner of the building took down Hazo’s sign nearly immediately, but photos last forever! (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #4) For a few days this July, Philadelphia became home to arguably America’s largest monument to our nation’s failing for-profit healthcare system, a massive mixed media installation of signs hung in the windows of the former Hahnemann University Hospital located at Broad and Vine streets. And while this work of art was not created by, let’s say, any sort of traditional artist or artist group, it nevertheless created one of the most somber works I’ve ever photographed. Of the many signs one read “Medicine was here!”, another calling out the simple reason for the hospital’s closure “#Greed”. I was enraged when I saw the building. I had goosebumps all over. And the effect must have been felt by many more people, because like any great piece of art it clearly scared the people it was punching up at enough that none of the window signs lasted more than a dew days. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #3) In celebration of the next season of Netflix’s Queer Eye being filmed in Philly over the summer a pair of Philly street artists, Nicole Nikolich (aka Lace in the Moon) and Symone Salib, created a street art scavenger hunt featuring wheatpaste and yarnbomb collaborative portraits of each of the show’s five hosts. And yes, each of those hosts eventually posted about their Philly street art portrait to their Instagram, spreading these artists’ works to a massive audience. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #2) Philly street artist Joe Boruchow has been one of the strongest critics of Trump and his administration ever since 2015, using wheatpastes to regularly question the current state of the world and U.S. politics. And an ad takeover Joe did last winter criticizing the Union League of Philadelphia for hosting the likes of Mike Pence received a lot of attention. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #1) This year’s top post/artwork is unique for being the first in this blog’s eight year history of yearly round ups for being created by an artist not based in Philly. And that’s Amy Sherald’s stunning 5-story mural located on Sansom street between 11th and 12th streets in the Gayborhood, created with Mural Arts Philadelphia with supporting artists Arthur Haywood and Emily White! Amy Sherald is, of course, the Baltimore-based artist who famously painted First Lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait that’s displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. “I paint everyday people and want the images to be recognized as universal,” Amy wrote in a 2018 Time magazine article about her work. “For black viewers, it’s a place of rest and a place to receive love, to walk into a space like a museum and see an image of a person that looks like you looking back at you. People take for granted that not seeing yourself can lead you to not loving yourself.” (Read/see more about this artwork here.) […]

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  4. Philly’s Top 15 Street Art Moments of 2019 + The Streets Dept Year End Review | Streets Dept

    […] #6) A new series of wheatpastes started popping up all over Philly this year calling for a revival of Philly handmade stickers. Streets Dept Contributor Eric Dale investigated this summer! (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #5) Replacing the old Johnny Rockets signage (which was in business at 5th and South Streets for 20 years, closed Jan 2018), Philly-based street artist Kid Hazo briefly took over the storefront signage to create a Philly-themed “Jawnny Ratchets”. The owner of the building took down Hazo’s sign nearly immediately, but photos last forever! (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #4) For a few days this July, Philadelphia became home to arguably America’s largest monument to our nation’s failing for-profit healthcare system, a massive mixed media installation of signs hung in the windows of the former Hahnemann University Hospital located at Broad and Vine Streets. And while this work of art was not created by, let’s say, any sort of traditional artist or artist group, it nevertheless created one of the most somber works I’ve ever photographed. One of the many signs read “Medicine was here!” Another called out the simple reason for the hospital’s closure “#Greed”. I was enraged when I saw the building. I had goosebumps all over. And the effect must have been felt by many more people, because like any great piece of art it clearly scared the people it was punching up at enough that none of the window signs lasted more than a dew days. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #3) In celebration of Netflix’s Queer Eye being filmed in Philly over the summer, a pair of Philly street artists, Nicole Nikolich (aka Lace in the Moon) and Symone Salib, created a street art scavenger hunt featuring wheatpaste and yarnbomb collaborative portraits of each of the show’s five hosts. And yes, each of those hosts eventually posted about their Philly street art portrait to their Instagram, spreading these artists’ works to a massive audience. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #2) Since 2015, Philly street artist Joe Boruchow has been one of the strongest critics of Trump and his administration, using wheatpastes to regularly question the current state of the world and U.S. politics. And an ad takeover Joe did last winter criticizing the Union League of Philadelphia for hosting the likes of Mike Pence received a lot of attention. (Read/see more about this artwork here.)     #1) This year’s top post/artwork is unique for being the first in this blog’s eight year history of yearly round ups for being created by an artist not based in Philly. And that’s Amy Sherald’s stunning 5-story mural located on Sansom street between 11th and 12th Streets in the Gayborhood, created with Mural Arts Philadelphia with supporting artists Arthur Haywood and Emily White! Amy Sherald is, of course, the Baltimore-based artist who famously painted First Lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait that’s displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. “I paint everyday people and want the images to be recognized as universal,” Amy wrote in a 2018 Time magazine article about her work. “For black viewers, it’s a place of rest and a place to receive love, to walk into a space like a museum and see an image of a person that looks like you looking back at you. People take for granted that not seeing yourself can lead you to not loving yourself.” (Read/see more about this artwork here.) […]

    Reply
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    […] most talked about murals created in Philly in the last number of years was this five-story stunner completed in the spring of 2019 by Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald on Sansom street between 11th and 12th […]

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    […] most talked about murals created in Philly in the last number of years was this five-story stunner completed in the spring of 2019 by Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald on Sansom street between 11th and […]

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