The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program will unveil a new mural in Southwest Philly on Saturday that honors the commitment of incarcerated fathers to their children.
The mural, entitled Fathers and Children Together (FACT), will be installed at 55th and Woodland on Saturday (the day before Fathers’ Day) at 11 a.m.. The public is invited and light refreshments will be served.
The mural is the result of collaboration between the Mural Arts Program, the United Community Action Network at SCI Graterford, the maximum security state prison outside of Philadelphia, and the Fathers and Children Together (FACT) program. The FACT program helps incarcerated fathers reconnect with children in the hopes that they can become positive role models and encourage their kids to choose education over incarceration. During FACT session inside Graterford, kids are able to interact one-on-one with their fathers.
About a third of the mural, which is painted on parachute cloth, was painted inside Graterford. Christy Bottie, who has led art workshops in the FACT program, is working on the rest of the mural with lead muralist Ernel Martinez.
Drawings created together by fathers and their children during FACT sessions make up the border of the mural.
June 23rd, 2015 at 6:29 am
If these men in the picture are reuniting with their kids …………………..
Then why the hell aren’t they smiling ? It’s a lovely mural .
It seems as though it’s meant to push the father as a stoic
figure instead of someone over joyed at being reunited with
their children. Plus the kids are looking up at the Dads but
the two fathers are looking over and past the children.
I think it’s a lost opportunity at showing incarcerated men
as caring individuals. . They show be laughing and crying
and hugging their kids.