Philadelphia: The City of Murals

Brady Dreasher, ISA AM

By Brady Dreasher, ISA AM

Street artists work when they can, sometimes around the clock, during the day but mostly at night, under street lighting, amid all weather conditions and unforgiving laws that most wouldn't dare go up against. I believe that says a lot about their underlying passion for producing art -- mural art. 

They find the largest and sometimes most undesirable medium base possible and turn it into something that causes people to excavate walls and pay large sums of money to acquire. Real Estate moguls like Tony Goldman (also curator of Houston Bowery Wall), Thierry Guetta a.k.a. Mr. Brainwash, and their counterparts have all capitalized on these opportunities, creating a cross-over effect from personal, intellectual property into commercial property appraisals.

Street artist, Eduardo Kobra, works in Wynwood Arts District on Nov. 29, 2011. www.eduardokobra.com: Photo by Brady Dreasher

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is much bigger than what I could ever expand upon here in a blog. In short, the organization hires unemployed, often troubled inner city youth (over 1,800 annually) to assist professional artists in the creation of murals in the hopes of creating income, skills, optimism, culture and community for those who may not otherwise have those opportunities, while at the same time raising land values and brightening the neighborhood. Murals change the overall mood of the inner city neighborhoods to one of hope and vibrancy. The director, Jane Golden, is widely considered an expert in urban transformation through art and has been featured time and time again in many publications. Watch a segment here on Squawk Box on CNBC that aired in November of 2014.

First stages of prep work for Katharina Grosse mural: Photo by Steve Weinik with Philadelphia Mural Arts Program

RJ Rushmore at Mural Arts - who will be assisting Nancy Davis with the Mural Arts Tour at Assets 2015 - will be discussing the legal precedents, consequences and elements of finding, removing, buying, selling and collecting street art as we tour the city via foot and trolley. Appraisers, consultants, curators and auction consignment departments will likely find this tour insightful and helpful in many ways.

Mural Arts Tour: Photo from City of Philadelphia: Mural Arts Program

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is arguably the first program with this type of core mission, but more importantly, it’s the largest Mural Arts Program in the world, having produced more than 3,600 murals around the globe. Take a Philadelphia-style trolley ride visiting murals by Kenny Scharf, How and NOSM, Gaia, Freddy Sam, Shepard Fairey, Jetsonorama and many other great muralists.

If you're interested in learning more about any of the following topics, your $40 will be well spent on the Mural Arts Tour, taking place Thursday, March 19, from 1:00-3:00pm.

• Restoration
• Appraising
• Graffiti
• Collection Management
• Authentications
• Public Murals
• Installations
• Consulting
• Street Art
• Curators
• Protocols for Auction Consignment Departments
• Urban Art
• Assisting Corporate Collections & Collectors
• Nonprofits
• Collection management
• Acquisitions
• Urban Renewal

Sign up here for this tour specifically designed for those in our industry.