Editorial mirrors the Heretical Society essay 'No More Ugly Murals'

BY MICHAEL MACFEAT

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ALTHOUGH IT is great to see the Daily News endorse the work of a living Philadelphia artist, the photographer Zoe Strauss, the most interesting part of this article is that the Daily News shares the concerns regarding the Mural Arts Program put forth a decade ago by the Heretical Society, which was an independent artists' organization that provided a critique of the culture industry in Philadelphia, and which disbanded in 2001. The final statement of the Daily News editorial is very similar to the last line of the Heretical Society tract, the essay "No More Ugly Murals."

The city of Philadelphia provides more than $1.5 million to the Mural Arts Program yearly, yet is forced to cut funding to libraries and social programs. This situation is untenable and, given the dire economic times we collectively endure, it is utter madness! The entire budget of MAP is $6 million, which means it drains an additional $4.5 million from the small pool of arts funding that isn't provided to it by the city.

This money would be put to better use funding more viable and less aesthetically embarrassing cultural institutions and social programs. The Philadelphia Orchestra is suffering financial difficulties. It is unconscionable that the Mural Arts Program continues to drain $6 million from a shrinking pool of funding for cultural organizations. We do not need additional illustrations on the walls of buildings. We need programs that address the crime on the streets that overlook the murals. We need to address the problems of homelessness, poverty, unemployment and our ranking as the No. 1 per capita murder capital of the United States.

There are more than 3,000 murals painted on the walls of Philadelphia. The economy of Philadelphia is considerably worse than it was 10 years ago, yet this ineffectual program still receives taxpayers' money. When "No More Ugly Murals" was written, the city was blighted by only 1,500 of these amateurish and saccharine odes to political correctness. If the Mural Arts Program had the same budget it does now every year for the last decade, it would have consumed $60 million in arts funding. Can anyone who is not employed by the bureaucracy of the Mural Arts Program possibly think that this situation makes any sense at all? The taxpayers of Philadelphia deserve much better treatment than this.

The city definitely has more pressing concerns than the irresponsible and unnecessary decoration of architecture. That $1.5 million of taxpayers' money could have an impact in restoring cuts to social programs. As long as even one child goes to school hungry in this city, the funding of the bureaucracy of the Mural Arts Program is unthinkable. We do not have the luxury of decorating walls while poverty and crime keep our elderly citizenry trapped behind them.

Michael Macfeat is an artist, writer and curator involved in independent artists' groups since 1980.

Comments

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:38 AM, 01/26/2012

Well said! NO MORE MURALS!

— Palin, no way

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:16 PM, 01/26/2012

The Mural Arts Program gives opportunities to Philadelphia artists and makes artwork that gives our neighborhoods their own voices . I think that the services they provide are well worth the funding they receive. I have contracted with Mural Arts and can tell you first hand that they stretch their funding as far as possible to the benefit of our communities.

— juan dimida

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:24 PM, 01/26/2012

Juan,

Perhaps the Mural Arts Program should stop trying to stretch those 6+ million dollars each year and give the city its share back!

NO MORE mMURALS!

— Palin, no way

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:10 AM, 01/27/2012

Can't even believe I'm even commenting on this drivel, but if philly.com ever cares to do a real piece of journalism investigating this very topic I'm positive that every single person writing commentaries such as these will change their tune. The simple fact is that the program is a CIVIL program using art as a form of social work. If the funding was simply ARTS funding without the heavily community-generated content they would look a hell of a lot "better". Philly .com, please stop allowing commentary that is so ridiculously misinformed and perpetuates strife in a city that has done one of the best jobs of turning itself into a culturally relevant place for public art and artists in the country.

— cocobanal

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:14 AM, 02/04/2012

Thank you, Cocobanal, and can I just add that it would be magnificent if we managed to INCREASE all arts funding. The arts budget throughout the nation has been decreased to an embarrassing extent, especially when compared to the countries of the EU.

— Nik Felt

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