Words and photos by Streets Dept Contributor Siena Christopherson.

WET is an artist, musician, and muralist from Philadelphia. In the beginning of 2023, he painted a mural, called A Prediction of Unity, at 4202 Main Street in Manayunk. It’s a mural that changed the street forever.

“The lady who was working in the gallery next door came outside, she’s a Black woman, And she was in tears and was like, ‘it was beautiful to see somebody of color put up a mural this big in this town.’ And it just means so much on so many levels. So the wall was bigger and it was more impactful than even I expected, honestly.” WET said. 

The mural lives on the wall of the Unity Recovery organization, an inclusive nonprofit supporting those with substance use concerns. 

The mural includes the portraits of three iconic and historic Black Philadelphians. On the left is Charlene Arcila, a Mississippi-native who founded the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference. This is now the largest conference providing healthcare to trans and gender-nonconforming people. Charlene also took part in the movement to ban gender markers on SEPTA passes.

In the center of the mural is of civil rights activist, Leon Sullivan. “He was the founder of the OIC building and Zion Church. And he’s done a lot throughout the community and employed a lot of people too.” said WET. “OIC” stands for the Opportunities Industrialization Centers, whose mission is dedicated to the elimination of poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy through education and job training. Started in North Philly, the OIC has now grown into an international movement serving two million people. Leon was also a Baptist minister for the Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

The final figure on right-hand side is Marian Anderson, the first Black person to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. Born-and-raised in Philadelphia, Marian overcame many obstacles throughout her life, including having many performances protested because of her race. She proved to be resilient and performed at many highly-esteemed stages from the Lincoln Memorial and New York’s Town Hall. Through her life she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Johnson in 1963, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Lifetime Achievement award at the 1991 Grammy Awards. 

“To be honest with you, these are people before my generation. So I wasn’t really too familiar. But once I did my research, and I asked others in my community about it, they were very touched and moved that I was even able to have the opportunity to put these people up in this area. Because these are figures that are very respected in the Black community.” WET elaborated.

Having murals, specifically that commemorate figures from marginalized communities, is important to memorialize and honor historic figures. “All these people are gone now. But then their legacy is very, very heavy. My uncle came to the wall. And he shed a tear, he was like ‘Leon did a lot for me’ like, save his life type thing.” said WET. 

On the leftmost side of the mural are two hands holding open a book. This symbol represents knowledge and learning, something important to the lives of all three figures. Also on the left side of the mural, WET includes a quote from Charlene Arcila. The quote states, “The important thing is to feel connected to people or communities beyond yourself.” This quote reflects back to what Unity Recovery aims to do.

Finally, in the top center includes WET’s signature, three squid-looking figures with black halos. “A lot of people will say ‘are they octopuses?’ because, you know, I’m Water [referring to the artist’s Instagram handle.] But they’re demons with halos. They represent being miscommunicated and misunderstood–everybody in the world has their own different story, their own situations that they go through. They represent all of us.”

See past work from WET around Philly here and here!

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