Streets Dept Walls Presents “BLOOM” Mural Exhibition at 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show

So excited to announce today that Streets Dept Walls will be presenting a trio of new artist murals at the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show!

If you haven’t heard the news yet, for the first time in its 193 year history the Flower Show is outdoors this year in a section of FDR Park in South Philly! The nation’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is a stunning and educational look at the world of floral design and gardening. Annually, the event features breathtaking displays by the world’s premier floral and landscape designers. And now, three new murals from us!

Streets Dept Walls: BLOOM is a celebration of the power of nature and our public space. Through this pandemic year, for many it was our local outdoor public spaces that routinely nurtured, focused, and connected our hearts, minds, and bodies. For “BLOOM,” curator and StreetsDept.com founder Conrad Benner has invited three Philly-area artists to creatively interpret the role of nature in our lives.

Artists A’Driane Nieves and Dora Cuenca are both returning for “BLOOM” after creating murals for our very first Streets Dept Walls at the Fashion District in 2019. (A’Driane’s 2019 Streets Dept Walls mural was eventually sold to Queer Eye‘s Jonathan Van Ness, if you hadn’t heard that exciting news!) Le Josh will also be joining us, an artist whose work I’ve admired for years but yet to have a chance to work with. I’m so excited to see what these three create for “BLOOM”!

Click here to get your tickets today to attend the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show kicking off from June 5-13! If you’re unable to attend for any reason, our three “BLOOM” murals will be moving to one of the PHS Pop Up Gardens for the rest of this summer, which is free to check out, and we’ll have more info on that after the Flower Show.

A’Driane Nieves, “Lilly’s Garden”

ARTIST STATEMENT: My great grandmother Addie B. Lilly Rhodes was a businesswoman and patron of the Philadelphia arts community who loved helping North Philadelphians access the resources they needed to take care of themselves and their families. She also deeply loved making and growing flowers. Every Mother’s Day, she would make beautiful bouquets of paper flowers that my grandmother Glendola and her sisters Gypsy, Joyce, and Charlotte would then sell to neighbors. She purchased the empty lot next to her home and turned it into a garden full of rose bushes and a variety of flowers she doted on. Pink roses were her favorites. I created this piece in honor of her memory, legacy, and all she gave to both her family and community. She was our matriarch; I am one of the many flowers blooming today because of her love.

Le Josh, “Fruition”

ARTIST STATEMENT: Sitting in the park one day I found myself gazing at a single tree. As my eyes explored the shapes and patterns of its long branches and dancing leaves the vision continued to evolve as hidden and harmonious patterns revealed themselves. That moment was an inspiration and reminder to appreciate this natural beauty wherever there is life.

Dora Cuenca, “Flower Grown”

ARTIST STATEMENT: Plant a seed in live soil. Give it water, but not too much. Let some light shine through. Patience is the game. Perseverance is the lesson. Once it blooms, beauty isn’t the only gain…for you too have grown.