The mural “Ethiopian Garden” at 44th and Ludlow. (Photo West Philly Local)
New construction underway on the corner of 44th and Ludlow will cover up a striking mural honoring the Ethiopian community.
Artist Shira Walisky painted the mural, entitled Ethiopian Garden, along with a University of Pennsylvania class in consultation with the Ethiopian Community Association of Greater Philadelphia in 2006. It includes stunning and intricate patterns and images of doves. The mural faces a vacant lot at 17 S. 44th Street, which was purchased in October 20014 by a Norristown-based firm, according to city records. The city issued a construction permit for the lot, which is zoned mixed commercial and residential, on April 24 and work has begun on a residential building that will conceal the mural.
“It’s my favorite mural in the city,” said neighbor Veronica Slaght, who lives nearby on the 4400 block of Chestnut. “It would be a shame to lose it.”
Cathy Harris, the director of community murals at the city’s Mural Arts Program, said the city loses about three murals a year to construction. Usually when one is about to be destroyed or covered, they photograph it, notify the artist and, sometimes for iconic works, ask the developer for money to reproduce the mural if the community is interested.
“I’m sad to see this one go,” Harris said. “It’s really beautiful.”
The mural also includes mosaic tiles from artist Joe Brenman. Penn students helped out as part of the Urban Studies course class “Big Picture: Mural Art.”
– Mike Lyons
June 4th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
This sucks. We shouldn’t be covering up murals. Especially the ones done with the cooperation of community associations.
June 4th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
It’s a bummer but we’ll be filling a vacant lot which is a plus. All things are transitional in the end and the mural program specifically does murals to help areas blighted by vacant lots like this to make them look better. It’s a bandaid (but a great one). With luck the artist can be invited back for a new work. It’s good to note it’s passing, but I don’t get the logic of opposing it in favor of a vacant lot.
June 4th, 2015 at 4:02 pm
instead of an apartment building though, they could have set up a community garden or park which would have saved the mural and been better for the community than another (probably) overpriced apartment building. These developers are only concerned about one thing, and it’s not bettering the people of the community. This has been a favorite mural of countless residents and the space could have been used to bring people together rather than raise rent prices in the neighborhood.
June 4th, 2015 at 5:38 pm
This WAS a CITY owned property. How did a private builder get their greedy hands on it? Another sell out by our city officials. Sad so sad
June 4th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
It’s my favorite mural too. I hope those two artists get support from Mural Arts to create another similar one in the East African parts of the city.
June 5th, 2015 at 9:22 am
Wait, so the city should forgo putting this lot back onto the tax rolls for the sake of this mural? Forever? People are instead advocating that the city SPEND money annually maintaining the lot so the mural can be viewed? Does no one understand how our city services including SCHOOLS are funded?
Jane Golden has done many great things in Philadelphia but she has done a terrible disservice to the city by allowing people to forget that these murals backing vacant lots were and are always supposed to be temporary placeholders.
I like murals. I like having neighbors more. I like murals. I like having the real estate taxes that fund our schools more.
June 5th, 2015 at 10:04 am
I checked the city records and deed information, and this corner was never owned by the city, so calm down concernedcitizen.
June 6th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
UH yes it was I walked by there every day and it was a prd property remember the plaque “This property is maintained by Phila. redevelopment assoc. The garden was “dedicated” by Jannie Blackwell. The same plaque that was placed on the lot across the street behind the chinese food. You know the one…It’s full of trash…
June 6th, 2015 at 2:10 pm
SHAME!!!
The Ethiopian community, the artist, the class, and all residents who enjoy the work should be respected and a replacement commissioned at developers’ expense. Way to go, Shira. I still regret the Sartre mural (“Ce nest pas use pipe!) in Café Nothing at the Arthur Ross Gallery….but you gave a new lease of life to the reality of the no longer vanishing steam ship on the Delaware. WE REMEMBER VANISHED WORKS!!!!
June 6th, 2015 at 4:55 pm
yes, it’s a shame to lose a well-loved mural, but anyone who doesn’t understand that vacant lots may someday be developed is not living in reality. Also, mandalas.
June 8th, 2015 at 8:44 am
WHERE’S THE RCO WHEN YOU NEED THEM another development slipping through without community involvement. LAND RAPE!
June 8th, 2015 at 9:59 am
As far as Zoning and RCOs, it is a by-right project:
http://www.phila.gov/data/Pages/default.aspx?entity=locationhistory&eid=687702
For why this lot was being cleaned by the city when it was privately owned, one need only look back to the previous owner, For The People Housing LLC, which has a mailing address frequently used by Frankie Francis.
It seems to me that the people the most hysterical on here are often missing the actual West Philly intrigue.
June 8th, 2015 at 10:04 am
There was a house, perhaps two on this lot when the row was developed 100 or so years ago so I would hardly call it land rape. What I would call the present lot is underutilized. An apartment building will provide housing, perhaps more than the original house or houses did that occupied the lot a century ago.
Also am I the only one who thinks this mural is tacky? Those bright contrasting colors would give me a headache if I had to look at it long enough.
June 8th, 2015 at 10:16 am
If the developer is not seeking a zoning variance for the property, they don’t consult the RCO about the project. A developer building within the confines of the zoning code, can pretty much build whatever they like. They call it “by right” because it is literally their right as the owner of the property. You don’t have to like it, but I think anger at the RCO is misplaced.
June 8th, 2015 at 10:26 am
According to the L&I site it is in violation
http://www.phila.gov/data/Pages/default.aspx?entity=violationdetails&eid=469584
17 S 44TH ST PHILADELPHIA, PA
CASE NUMBER
469584
CASE GROUP
DISTRICT WEST
CASE LOCATION
SITE
DATE ADDED
February 25, 2015
DATE UPDATED
February 24, 2015
STATUS
OPEN
RESOLUTION DATE
N/A
PRIORITY
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
VIOLATIONS
VIOLATION CODE VIOLATION TYPE VIOLATION DATE STATUS LOCATION
A-504.1/3 SWO- CONSTR W/O BLDG PERMIT February 24, 2015 Not Complied
June 8th, 2015 at 10:48 am
Only on WPL could people be outraged that a landowner is developing their own property, even going as far as to compare it to rape. It’s amazing and actually quite funny.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:09 am
I actually shared the link to the listing for the entire address as opposed the building permit directly as test to see who would be so reactionary and have such poor attention to detail to notice only the violation and not all of the subsequent permits that were issued to correct the violation. I don’t love that the owner got started without permits but it’s obviously not in violation currently.
PERMIT NUMBER
589726
APPLICATION TYPE
NEW CONSTRUCTION PERMIT
PERMIT TYPE
ANC-FOUNDATION
STATUS
ACTIVE
DATE ISSUED
March 13, 2015
LAST UPDATED
June 5, 2015
WORK DESCRIPTION
FOR THE ERECTION OF A CONCRETE FOUNDATION FOR A FIVE STORY STRUCTURE AS SHOWN PER APPROVED PLANS. IF FIELD CONDITIONS VARY, CONTACT STRUCTURAL ENGINEER PRIOR TO THE START OF ANY WORK. SEPARATE PERMITS REQUIRED FOR ALL OTHER ALTERATIONS.
CONTRACTOR NAME CONTRACTOR ADDRESS
PELICANS CONSTRUCTION GO 2313 E CLEARFIELD ST
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19134
PERMIT NUMBER
600273
APPLICATION TYPE
ZONING/USE PERMIT
PERMIT TYPE
Z/U-NEW CONSTRUCTION
STATUS
COMPLETED
DATE ISSUED
April 24, 2015
LAST UPDATED
April 24, 2015
WORK DESCRIPTION
FOR THE ERECTION OF AN ATTACHED STRUCTURE. SIZE AND LOCATION AS SHOWN IN APPLICATION.
CONTRACTOR NAME CONTRACTOR ADDRESS
PELICANS CONSTRUCTION GO 2313 E CLEARFIELD ST
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19134
PERMIT NUMBER
612937
APPLICATION TYPE
ELECTRICAL PERMIT
PERMIT TYPE
ELE-EZ ELECTRICAL
STATUS
ACTIVE
DATE ISSUED
May 27, 2015
LAST UPDATED
May 27, 2015
WORK DESCRIPTION
TEMP 100AMP SERVICE WITH 2 WEATHER PROOF GFI OUTLETS TO BE IN PLACE FOR 6 MONTHS FROM TODAY AS PER 2008 NEC (WEST DISTRICT)
CONTRACTOR NAME CONTRACTOR ADDRESS
DWIGHT FRANCIS ELECTRICAL LLC 821 BALTIMORE AVENUE
LANSDOWNE, PA 19050
June 8th, 2015 at 8:09 pm
If this was a City-owned property, then Jannie Blackwell gave her personal OK to it being sold, because no City-owned land gets sold without explicit endorsement of the council member. It’s actually required to go through legislation, which would be her.
This is like the “Funeral For a Home” house. Jannie Blackwell green-lighted it.
Just like she did when her office was trying to push James Dupree out of his artists studio with the help of the PRA’s power of eminent domain.
June 8th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
When you read the thread of comments on this article you will see that the previous owner was an entity called For The People Housing LLC and not the City of Philadelphia. While I am no supporter of our council person, it appears in this case that she had no hand in the sale of the property, which appears to have gone from one private owner who sat on the land for years, to a developer is doing something productive with it.
June 8th, 2015 at 9:36 pm
Property taxes pay for my kids school. A higher density city builds demand for non-carbon emitting infrastructure like transit and bike share. Its ridiculous to oppose infill on private land. If you never built infill on lots left by fire and such. The existing apartments would just get more and more expensive, property taxes for the remaining houses would have to go up and up for schools and services and SEPTA would suffer the long slow death if diminishing ridership.
June 8th, 2015 at 9:40 pm
Perhaps everyone should remember that Mural Arts murals are anti-graffiti measures and not, actually, public art. This one has had a good run but now it’s time for the land to be put to productive use. And the fact that it is one of the better murals in our neighborhood is not reason to preserve it, but reason to demand better murals anytime Mural Arts comes a’calling.
June 8th, 2015 at 9:58 pm
To clear up the ownership of the land: the corner lot is 17 S 44th St annd regardless of the current owner it has been a taxable property going back at least the last 5 years. Properties owned by the Redevelopment Authority are tax exempt. The lot bewteen 17 S and the mural (yes, the article only mentions one property but there are two separate vacant lots next to the mural) is 19 S. 44th Street and has also been a taxed vacant property going back the past 5 years. This information can be found at the OPA website (phila.gov/opa).
Next, go to this PWD map (www.phila.gov/water/swmap/) and click on addresses across the street from 17 S 44th Street. Here, you will see that some are listed as being owned by the PRA and are tax exempt because of this fact.
Tomorrow morning, when I get to work, I can log into my database to further confirm this information. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention… I work at the OPA in the EXEMPTIONS DIVISION, so I have all the information at my fingertips.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:23 pm
Hmm. Snooty bureaucrat is snooty. I went off “concernedcitizen”‘s comment hoping that the community and WPL had at least thoroughly researched the parcels at issue. Oops!
Back to the topic: Mural “Arts” is an art program, putting art… (murals)… onto blight to dissuade tagging and make blight look a lot less like downtown Beirut circa 1985. It is undeniably, unmistakably, art. But it’s not permanent art, meant to exist forever until the end of days.
The program was never, nor will it ever be, removal-proof. That wasn’t the intent back in its creation (1984?). That was known at the beginning and that has never changed. Imaging very intricate pieces is always good and funding should be juiced to help transfer some of the more acclaimed pieces that are up when cover-ups happen. Good art doesn’t have to disappear forever. It can be put back up on some other ugly wall begging for a makeover.
If a good inspiring mural is a hit piece, then it would be a good idea to transfer the piece to somewhere else that needs the pizzaz. The MAP is not meant to encase vacant and abandoned property forever in amber simply because it would block view of a piece. That wasn’t the mission of the program, nor should it be.
June 9th, 2015 at 12:21 am
I wasn’t trying to be a jerk, but when concernedcitizen became the expert simply because they “walked by there every day,” I felt justified in finding and reporting the correct information.
June 9th, 2015 at 12:52 am
Point taken. To be fair I took my contacts out and my tired eyes didn’t feel like running the Google map and lining up the PWD ESRI map to match up the ParcelID and BRT# to the ground condition, then pulling up PHILADOX to get the title and abstract, pulling the Revenue dataset, etc. because I figured WPL et. al. would have this homework already done. A thousand apologies on that one.
June 9th, 2015 at 5:33 am
No need to apologize. You will always have my vote, sir.
June 9th, 2015 at 6:57 pm
If you look on google maps there is a sign stating this is PRD property cared for by Jannie Blackwell.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ludlow+St+%26+S+44th+St,+Philadelphia,+PA+19104/@39.957262,-75.209593,3a,66.8y,90h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s_WNnmRpDoDJGkyfNUk7utg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c6c6fa5148532f:0xd893bc0871566fb7
June 9th, 2015 at 6:59 pm
go to google maps put in 44th street and ludlow street view I see the sign clearly.
It makes me wonder what the truth is…
June 9th, 2015 at 7:14 pm
@DanS 17 south 44th street phila pa on google maps clearly shows the sign.
June 9th, 2015 at 7:40 pm
@Christopher Sawyer see google maps street view there is clearly a sign stating PRD and Jannie Blackwell. So I ask. What kind of tomfoolery is happening as the property clearly was maintained by PRD according to their own signage. So a private property was maintained by the city? Or was the paperwork fudged for the purchase? IMO this should be looked into further. Something is not kosher here.
June 9th, 2015 at 7:45 pm
https://picasaweb.google.com/112690661904751969818/MuralArtsWestTour#5402137706098445458
heres another shot of the lot with sign
June 9th, 2015 at 8:12 pm
and this Frank Francis Character well: Francis, who Blackwell described as “the guy with all the money,” also owes the city $53,000 in back taxes on nearly a dozen properties, according to the Department of Revenue. When I brought this fact up with Blackwell, she admitted that debt, along with past resistance from the community towards placing a surface parking lot at a prominent intersection, had effectively stalled the funeral home’s attempts to get land from the city.
http://citypaper.net/Blogs/With-Blackwell-MIA-meeting-on-Baltimore-Ave-lots-leaves-more-questions-than-answers/
June 9th, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Something is NOT RIGHT.
June 9th, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Something is NOT RIGHT. And the LLC I can’t find it anywhere. How does a guy who owes taxes to the city get such a cushy deal.
June 10th, 2015 at 10:36 am
Those signs don’t denote ownership of the lots on which they appear. They say “This beautification project was sponsored by” and went up on private lots all the time. I believe it was mostly as part of the “Blight Elimination” goal of Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. http://www.phila.gov/ohcd/conplan31/strategy.pdf
As for the company, no where like the Pennsylvania State Bureau of Corporations?
“Business Name History
Name Name Type
FOR THE PEOPLE HOUSING, LLC Current Name
Limited Liability Company – Domestic – Information
Entity Number: 3281843
Status: Active
Entity Creation Date: 2/7/2005
State of Business.: PA
Registered Office Address: 1409 S 58TH ST
PHILA PA 19143-
Philadelphia
Mailing Address: No Address”
June 10th, 2015 at 11:28 am
I tried to do some digging at work and I do find it interesting that the prior owner of 19 S. 44th (where the sign is located) has a c/o address associated with the property at 5624 Malcolm Street which ties in to the LLC and to the Frankie Francis guy. I can’t tell if there are shady dealings going on, sloppy documentation, or both.
June 10th, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Perhaps part of the beauty of Philly murals is their ephemerality.
(I tried to use a big word today.)
June 19th, 2015 at 1:12 pm
Just want to add to the chorus that the purpose of the Mural Arts project is not to put up permanent murals but to beautify an (often vacant) lot until it is developed and to deter tags. As someone else said, famous ones are often moved the rest are covered up. More murals are painted. circle of life. I sometimes find it odd that people spent decades trying to revitalize the city and now that it’s happening it’s like, “Hold yr damn horses!”. 🙂