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N. Phila. mural featuring Cosby, defaced by graffiti, gets broad brush

The Father’s Day Rally Committee had commissioned the mural. It was painted in 2008 on Broad Street near Indiana Avenue.

Left, a portrait of Bill Cosby under the bridge on North Broad Street. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer). Right, Whitewashed walls are all that remain of the mural. (Colin Kerrigan / Philly.com)
Left, a portrait of Bill Cosby under the bridge on North Broad Street. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer). Right, Whitewashed walls are all that remain of the mural. (Colin Kerrigan / Philly.com)Read more
    by JOE BRANDT, Daily News Staff Writer <a href="mailto:brandtj@phillynews.com">brandtj@phillynews.com</a>, 215-854-4890
    Published 

A MURAL that included embattled comedian Bill Cosby among civil-rights crusaders was wiped away Tuesday after spray-painters had tagged it with phrases including "rapist" and "dudes with ludes."

The Father's Day Rally Committee's mural on Broad Street near Indiana Avenue was painted over with a gray coat, according to Jane Golden, the Mural Arts Program's executive director.

"It was attracting a lot of graffiti," Golden told the Daily News yesterday. "We moved it up on our decommission list."

Mural Arts curates about 3,000 outdoor artworks and retires some if they're not in good condition.

Program spokeswoman Cari Feiler Bender told the People Paper earlier this month that recent headlines about the comedian contributed to the decision to remove the mural.

Cosby, who has not been charged with a crime amid allegations of sexual assault dating back to the 1960s, was seen on the mural next to leaders including Malcolm X, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The mural, painted in 2008 by Gabe Tiberino with the help of Josh Backus, was on a wall of an overpass where Amtrak trains cross Broad Street. It featured a quote from Bilal Qayyum, the committee's president.

"Fathers stand up every day to be responsible," it read. "Let's celebrate these fathers so others can follow." That was next to an image of a father holding his laughing daughter.

The mural was intended to recognize black historical figures who were fathers, Qayyum told the Daily News last night.

"His image is up there as Bill Cosby the father, not whatever Bill Cosby other people see him as," said Quayyum, who knows Cosby. "All indications are that he's been a good father."

Golden said the mural had issues in addition to the graffiti, including potentially damaging water leaking from the overpass.

Mural Arts plans to work with the committee to re-create the work, likely without Cosby, on a wall instead of an overpass, Golden added. Painting would begin next summer.

Meanwhile, in West Philly, another image of Cosby remains.

His face is painted on a pillar supporting the SEPTA Market-Frankford Line's 52nd Street Station. Other pillars at the intersection feature portrayals of singers Patti LaBelle and Teddy Pendergrass.

"We need to have some discussions internally, and with the community, on what to do next," said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.

The SEPTA mural was created within the last three years in collaboration with community organizations, he said.

It is not a Mural Arts Program piece.

- Staff writer Vinny Vella

contributed to this report.