An awesome new collaborative mural was just completed in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia! Curated by lead artist Alloyius Mcilwaine, the mural features the work of 12 local and visiting artists: Alloyius Mcilwaine, Bernard DelaCruz, Bobby Hunter, Busta, El Toro, Jae Martin, John Zerbe, Kariem Young, Leon Rainbow, Lizzie (aka The Lady Egg), Seper, and WET!

Located at Oxford and Randolph Streets outside of The Story Factory, the mural is titled Concrete Chameleon. It’s a spin-off of the Chameleon Art Show that Alloyius created this past August inside The Story Factory. For that show, Alloyius collaborated on the creation of dozens of artworks with over 40 artists. Streets Dept covered that show in a social media video that you can watch on our Instagram or TikTok. 

“The Story Factory was looking to get more mural work done on their property, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to continue the Chameleon collaboration project and take it from a gallery setting to the streets,” Alloyius wrote over text. “So I contacted a group of artists that I wanted to work with on it. The overarching theme being about beauty and positivity.” 

As for the placement of each artist, Alloyius explained that he “organized the wall based on the subject matter and when the artists were able to arrive and start working.” 

Each artist then created their part, and on the Oxford Street side Alloyius connected the mural together with his iconic style as background. “Part of it was serendipitous in nature–where there was a lot of on the spot collaboration based on what was going on–and then I tied everything all together with a kind of stained glass window design.” 

Absolutely love how this all came together! And for the potential of continuing to extending the mural on the Randolph Street side, as you can see in the last four photos above.

P.s. If you’re a longtime reader and this is brining up a little deja vu, then you might be remembering the other side of this wall where Alloyius created a mural with The Story Factory in the summer of 2022. You can see/ read/ remember more about that mural here!